Well, there are times when the drama surrounding the writing and publication and marketing of a book involves more emotion and plot twists than what's in the actual story.

What am I talking about, Heritage Press set up a publication contract with Kathryn Bencriscutto, who just happens to be related to me, to write a memoir about her illustrious father, Mike Bencriscutto, a legendary golf instructor, course manager, and successful player, beloved father, and cherished husband.

 So, Kathy was supposed to send me 40,000 words on August 1st, 2023, when it didn't arrive, and I did not hear from her, I knew something was terribly wrong. Feeling it was imperative to get this done, I pulled the materials we had been working with together, got to work, and four months later Our Life in Golf was produced and published.

 

As things turned out, she had gotten terribly sick, and struggling to simply survive everything else had to be put on the back burner. The days went by, I'd completed her memoir, Our Life in Golf, and sent her some copies of the book not knowing if she was alive or had passed. 

 

From what I learned from Kathy, she was all but on her deathbed when the books arrive, refreshed her Spirit, she sent me an email, and not only is she on the mend but Kathy had a contact with a mover and shaker in Hollywood who knew about her father, had already made a film about golf, and told Kathy that he wanted to read the book and adapt it into a film!

What can I say...why do the best things seem to happen when you least expect them!!

 

 

As the editor and manager of local publishing concern, Heritage Press, I am winding down operations after 30 years of providing regional authors with a path to publication. As a compliment to a lifelong career in education, though local publishing is typically never a lucrative business, helping to shape stories and produce books has been most satisfying. As a result much of my adult life has been spent in the serene environment of various coffee shops working on these projects. I wanted to share some of the details of my last three books because I feel they can inspire others to pursue their dreams to tell their stories, no matter their age. Currently, I have either finished or am in the process of completing the editing and production of three books written by authors still sharing stories in their 90s. 

 

The first book, Journeying Toward Justice, was written by Sister Lois Aceto, her first edition came out when she returned from missionary service as a Dominican Nun from Bolivia in 2008. Last summer she was honored in a Journal Times article on her 91st birthday for her service to the Racine Criminal Justice Community. When I noticed that the book mentioned in the article was out of print I contacted her for permission to edit and produce a Second Edition for her, which I did. Oh, by the way Sister Lois I first knew as Sister Giovanni, my beloved 4th Grade teacher at St. Mary's Catholic School in downtown Racine. 

 

Next, Dolores Foster Williams, formerly a Milwaukee Catholic boarding school student at St. Benedict the Moor, now living in Chicago, contacted me in her 80s to produce her first book. Now, 94, we are completing her sequel, both books encouraging the Catholic Church to organize more diverse parishes. She is currently attending a model diverse Catholic parish, St. Benedict the African, and credits her pastor priest, Father David Alan Jones, for working well with their diverse parishioners. 

 

Finally, John C. Ellis is an inventor who has written a memoir, The Faraday Twins, telling the story of how he came to develop a new form of water with remarkable healing and other physical properties. I am in the final stages of completing the editing and production of his Second Edition. Now 93, John continues to spread the good life-saving news of his groundbreaking accomplishment in print.

 

And so, as I wind down Heritage Press operations after many years of service to our community, let me encourage anyone reading this who has a story to tell and a message to share...no matter your age get out there...It's Not Over Till It's Over!