Journey of Transition Volume 4. Alton PhD Sears

      

      A Journey

      of

      Transition

      Volume 4

      By Alton Sears

      Copyright © 2012 by Alton Sears

      Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com

       http://www.eBookIt.com

      ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0974-0

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.

      About The Author and Books

      I would like to introduce myself to you. I was born October 16, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I joined the Air Force at the age of nineteen, and during my tour of duty became addicted to heroin. After my discharge from the service my life turned around.

Unable to read, I began teaching myself using a dictionary and the Reader’s Digest. At the age of thirty-five I wanted to write poetry. I was introduced to the Dean of Students at Cal-State Los Angeles. The Dean took an interest in me and set up a battery of tests that proved that I did not possess the basic knowledge of rudimentary grammar.

      The Dean informed me that if I were to study remedial English at Santa Monica City College, I would be given a probationary period at Cal-State Los Angeles. I completed and passed the course in my second semester. In my second quarter at Cal-State Los Angeles I met an instructor who taught me to write, and one year later, in 1969, I published a book of poetry called, Something of Feeling. During 1970 I was forced to end my academic pursuits due to personal illness. I later became a Certified Addictions Counselor and became employed by the United States Navy as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor. I remained with the Navy until my retirement at age sixty-four in January of 1997.

      I have continued writing poetry since that time. In the year 1997, I produced and published the accumulation of poetry I had written since 1969 into four volumes of poems. Since I have been selling my works, the public has been very receptive and I have had numerous repeat customers.

      Some of the comments regarding my work are as follows:

      “I read one of your books; I was so touched that I cried.

      When I read it again, I cried again!”

      “I have been using your books as a part of my daily meditation.”

      “I have never read a book that the author let himself be so vulnerable.”

      Another feature of my books is that they appeal to all age groups. At my book signings I have watched as people stop to read my poems out loud to one another, seemingly lost in my verse.

      Since then I have had the good fortune to have written nineteen more books, making twenty-four in all. The latest one merited the same response as the earlier ones. The book I wrote in 2009 is in volume 5.

      That was then. What prompted me to put what I now call booklets into volumes was when I went to a rehabilitation school for the blind (I had become legally blind in 2008). At the school I met another author who suggested I make chapters of what I had written and put them into larger volumes. I considered this for a while but it was not until I was invited to share about poetry to a fourth grade class where I heard and felt the profound effect that it had on the students. It was at that time I realized that what my author friend said was true.

      Since I like to tell stories here is the one about the class. I told the teacher who drove me to the school (and the teacher of the class) that I would start by talking about creativity. I spoke about the many types of creativity: painting, sculpture, designing clothes, art of many kinds and how it improves our imagination. Then I said to them that my creativity is writing poetry, but as you can see on the cover of these books there is artwork, which I also created. So many times we are able to do many kinds of creativity. Now I would like to share with you some of my poetry. Because I am visually impaired I will need your help. I then asked the question “How many of you like to read?”, and many hands went up. I passed out several of my books and told them to find what they would like to read and then read it. Then I asked one of the teachers to start us off. She read and without hesitation the students began to read. Forty-five minutes later, I asked the students if they would like to discuss what they read or did they want to continue reading. They wanted to continue reading. I could not see them clearly but could feel their excitement.

      When the class was over the teacher came up to me and said “That session was amazing”! Later, while the other teacher was driving me home she expressed the same sentiment. She said, “That was amazing, you should have seen how their faces lit up when they were reading”. It was at that point I realized that I wanted to bring into fruition my complete works of poetry into a 5- volume set called “A Journey of Transition.”

      -Alton

      Foreword

      The beginning

      Is always uncertain

      So is the road ahead