THE MANFRED SCHMIDT SERIES
BOOK ONE
June 2025 marked the 53rd anniversary of the Watergate break-in. Less than two years later, President Nixon resigned in disgrace and the nation felt exhausted and disgusted at the details of the scandal. One-term Georgia governor Jimmy Carter would soon declare his bid for the presidency and miraculously get elected in 1976. America was full of hope for renewal.
Deacon Blues transports you back to that remarkable seven year period between 1973 and 1980 as seen by an angst-filled American adolescent. A child of divorce, the protagonist Manfred Schmidt craves for belonging and respect and takes on Jimmy Carter as his hero.
The tale begins in Bethesda, Maryland where Manfred lives with his journalist dad and older brother. Just before his senior year of high school, Manfred moves to Ireland where he follows the ups and downs of Carter from Europe. He starts college in Boston but drops out and moves to New Hampshire to live with his brother. It is there where he finds himself and decides to devote himself to working for Carter's re-election campaign.
BOOK TWO
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This continues the story of Manfred Schmidt and is set between 1980 and 1984. The emerging adulthood of the angst-filled American hero begins in Keene, New Hampshire where he moves to restart college. He quickly makes friends and throws himself into intriguing activities and experiences, trying to make up for what he imagined he missed when he dropped out of college two years previously. With anticipation and trepidation, he enters manhood, determined to balance his desire with his ambition.
In search of adventure, Manfred travels out west with a friend, ending up in California where he visits relatives and an old high school friend he met in Ireland. Back in New Hampshire, he finds romance and also rekindles his commitment with the Democratic Party by volunteering with Gary Hart's insurgent 1984 presidential campaign. The book ends in Boston, where Manfred has moved back to for graduate school.
Even though idealism is still the driving focus of his life, his experiences begin to shape the decisions he makes for his future. Still, he won't allow what is happening to himself and to American politics to overwhelm the power of his dreams.
Yet a disturbing vision he saw in the fall of 1980 still haunts him.
BOOK THREE
Set between 1984 and 1988, Manny's story continues as he returns to Boston for graduate school. He tests personal and legal boundaries, begins an on-again and off-again romance, travels out West once more for adventure, moves to politically act and pursues a doctorate in fits and start.
Yet Jimmy Carter's loss in the 1980 presidential election still haunts him.
BOOK FOUR
Losing My Religion, is the final book of the story of Manfred Schmidt and is set between 1988 and 1992. His emerging adulthood continues in Honolulu, where he has moved to obtain his doctorate. Living in Hawaii forces him to uncomfortably confront his racial identity. He travels to neighbor islands, captivated by their beauty and remoteness. His graduate student colleagues are from all over the world, which intrigues him and broadens his knowledge. Manny dives into the intricacies of postmodern political theory and teaches international relations on Oahu.
Manny is also lonely and misses the mainland. He moves back to the mainland to complete his dissertation and eventually gets a job as a professor in Kansas. At long last, he starts his academic career.
Yet it is difficult for him to ignore the Iran-Contra scandal and the disturbing vision he saw in the fall of 1980 as he grapples with the place of truth in politics.
The Appocalypse and Other Stories
Be prepared to immerse yourself into eleven stories of youth, travel and trouble. This collection has compelling tales of pain, hope, regret, love and wanderlust. It also has stories of technology gone crazy, as inanimate objects come alive and plan necessary acts of nefariousness.
"Crying in the Basement" is the story of an emotional wound passed down from father to son in Depression-era St. Louis. "My Lost Friend," "My Paper Route," "Midnight Madness," are stories of the idealistic, awkward and confusing world of an American teenager in the 1970s. Introverts fall in love in "Penrod and Beryl" and a man leafing through an old photo album generates an epiphany in "When Did It All Start?"
"Hiroshima" and "Looking for the Wind Phone" take place in Japan as an American Fulbright scholar travels the country in search of history and meaning while "The Long Walk" recounts his perilous plod to a bus stop. "The Cake Fork Planned the Murder" is an anthropomorphic tale of brutal justice, kitchen-style. The title story is about the destructiveness created when humans allowed apps take over the world and how the apps responded to rebalance the unhealthy reality of today.
The Underdog in American Politics The Democratic Party and Liberal Values
The Underdog in American Politics is an original analysis of how the underdog concept applies to the Democratic Party and American politics and culture. In particular, it analyzes how the power of the underdog has shaped, and reflected, the politics of Democrats running for president. From Thomas Jefferson to Barack Obama, the author uses biography, ideology, campaign strategy, and public policies to depict the many different points of contact between Democrats and underdogs. The core values of equality, fairness and non-discrimination are analyzed. The role of sympathy and empathy toward underdogs is also examined.
The New Populist Reader
Unlimited Freedom: How Competition, Speed and Fear Frustrate Reform
