NEWS RELEASE
CREATIVE AGING BOOKS AND IDEAS
*************************
When you get a full-page article written about you in the New Yorker you know that you’ve made it on the big stage.
Which is exactly what happened for English author Marc Hamer in the April 2, 2023 issue of the magazine. In it, staff writer Rivka Galchen says, “Hamer has gifts for observation, compression, and tone.”
Take a peek into Marc’s background and you’ll quickly understand why he is such a brilliantly engaging author. At 16, he was thrown out of an abusive home; in fact, his father blamed him for his mother’s death.
“If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have argued, she would still be alive,” the teenager was told.
Marc went on to spend a couple of years on the street homeless and what he himself describes as a “tramp.”
Ever the gardener, Marc describes this state thusly: “The homeless are our weeds, our very own wildflowers that grow in the cracks where they are not wanted.”
However, after a stint as a mole catcher (yes, there was such a thing at one time), then working on the railway, Marc went on to study art, working in a variety of art-centric careers, including teaching creative writing in a prison.
Working as a professional gardener for many years eventually inspired Marc to take up writing. His new book, Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens (Greystone Books), is the third in the trilogy. How to Catch a Mole was his first book in the series, which was followed by Seed to Dust, both of which were Indie Next picks, as well as being shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize.
Veritable connections and a sincere fondness for different types of flowers resonate with colourful and meaningful description, nurturing an understanding of the journey that these beautiful gifts of nature bestow upon us, which in effect transforms the ordinary into extraordinary offerings.
To read the rest of Cece’s review and to register for Creative Aging Books and Ideas’ (a division of Art Your Service, artyourservice.org) virtual event featuring Marc Hamer (May 25 at 2 p.m.), who will be sharing some of his rich life experiences as well as the profound and fun-filled impact that gardening has had on his life, please click here and prepare to have fun.
You will find the link to the New Yorker article there as well.
*************************
