An Open Letter to Frank McCourt
Ivan R. Bosanko
March 09, 2010
An Open Letter To Frank McCourt
Mister Frank McCourt:
I read your inspirational article in Parade Magazine on March 9,2008. And I applaud the fact that you said:"we all can have second acts and third acts." For us non-celebrity types, I could make a pretty compelling case for yet a fourth, fifth or even a sixth act to our lives. May I call you Frank? Your photo strongly suggests that you're a "people type of guy," so please allow me this informal greeting.
Frank, from your article, you always loved pen and paper. So did I. At the ripe old age of twelve, and with my sixth grade teacher's urging, I wrote and published a bi-weekly newspaper in a farming community in the mid-west. When my typesetting blocks and printer's ink gave out, I borrowed a mimeograph machine to keep on getting the word out. I interviewed farmers, grain elevator operators and managers, local merchants, gas station owners and just about anyone who had something to say. One day an old German farmer said in his best broken English : " Vere ist da funnies? ( where is the funnies, meaning comic strip) You got to haff (have) dat (that) or else ya got notting (nothing). He'd beaten me out of the dime I charged for my paper, so I was determined to get that dime back even if I had to create my own comic strip. Meet "Lightman," my own hero, whose super human qualities fell somewhere between Captain Midnight and Superman. Next Saturday night, he bought my newspaper.
Those photos of you as a young man in the service brought back memories of my Korean War days. I'd been married but a scant six weeks, when Uncle Sam drafted me. To say that I was totally unprepared for uniforms and military life was the understatement of my life. Two years later, I packed my "Ike Jacket" in my duffle bag for the last time and put on my "civvies" to rejoin the rest of the civilians in the good old USA. What a feeling! A year later, I decided to put my GI Bill to good use by going to college. Now Frank, I'm living proof that you can exist on $160 bucks a month and still get an education! I'll let you in on a little secret, my wife took in washing and raised our two kids, while I cracked the books. Later, in Seattle, I finally got the break I'd been looking for. My employer had been awarded several Aerospace contracts and needed technical writers. My company was even willing to pay for my books and tuition at a local technical college in an off-hours program in order to meet their needs. To make a long story short, for the next forty-plus years, yours truly has never wavered in "The Pen and Paper Profession."
Frank, I can´t say enough about your accomplishment: a best-seller at age 66. Since you did it, that gives us older scribblers and note- takers plenty of incentive to keep at it. Though I´ve never grabbed the proverbial "brass ring," let me tell you about my near-miss which happened in 1982. My first novel, The Sea of Grain, had been published and out of the blue, famed Hollywood film director Stanley Kramer, read it and said that it had ´movie´ written all over it. He was committed for the next three years, but urged me to find an agent or producer. Heated telephone calls with my publisher went nowhere even though I sent a copy of Kramer's letter to them. I contacted Mr. Kramer soon after he retired and his advice still haunts me to this day: " You need to do something with that story, it shouldn't gather dust." Okay you agents and producers out there, there's still time!
Well Frank, time to close up shop and add a few thoughts to our informal get- together. In 2010, my fifth novel, The Rubber Room, has been published by American Book Publishing. It's about dedication, committment, hard work and love, Right up your alley! One of its main characters is a young Irish Lass, Katelynn McCray, whose unshakeable faith in God is really put to the test. Since your childhood is rooted in Ireland, I'm sure there's more then a few situations in my story that share common ground and thought with you. And should you like my story, I can think of no better person to write the foreword than you,Frank McCourt.
Respectfully, Ivan R. Bosanko
Please note: For advance copies of my latest book, please go to www.pdbookstore.com
Mister Frank McCourt:
I read your inspirational article in Parade Magazine on March 9,2008. And I applaud the fact that you said:"we all can have second acts and third acts." For us non-celebrity types, I could make a pretty compelling case for yet a fourth, fifth or even a sixth act to our lives. May I call you Frank? Your photo strongly suggests that you're a "people type of guy," so please allow me this informal greeting.
Frank, from your article, you always loved pen and paper. So did I. At the ripe old age of twelve, and with my sixth grade teacher's urging, I wrote and published a bi-weekly newspaper in a farming community in the mid-west. When my typesetting blocks and printer's ink gave out, I borrowed a mimeograph machine to keep on getting the word out. I interviewed farmers, grain elevator operators and managers, local merchants, gas station owners and just about anyone who had something to say. One day an old German farmer said in his best broken English : " Vere ist da funnies? ( where is the funnies, meaning comic strip) You got to haff (have) dat (that) or else ya got notting (nothing). He'd beaten me out of the dime I charged for my paper, so I was determined to get that dime back even if I had to create my own comic strip. Meet "Lightman," my own hero, whose super human qualities fell somewhere between Captain Midnight and Superman. Next Saturday night, he bought my newspaper.
Those photos of you as a young man in the service brought back memories of my Korean War days. I'd been married but a scant six weeks, when Uncle Sam drafted me. To say that I was totally unprepared for uniforms and military life was the understatement of my life. Two years later, I packed my "Ike Jacket" in my duffle bag for the last time and put on my "civvies" to rejoin the rest of the civilians in the good old USA. What a feeling! A year later, I decided to put my GI Bill to good use by going to college. Now Frank, I'm living proof that you can exist on $160 bucks a month and still get an education! I'll let you in on a little secret, my wife took in washing and raised our two kids, while I cracked the books. Later, in Seattle, I finally got the break I'd been looking for. My employer had been awarded several Aerospace contracts and needed technical writers. My company was even willing to pay for my books and tuition at a local technical college in an off-hours program in order to meet their needs. To make a long story short, for the next forty-plus years, yours truly has never wavered in "The Pen and Paper Profession."
Frank, I can´t say enough about your accomplishment: a best-seller at age 66. Since you did it, that gives us older scribblers and note- takers plenty of incentive to keep at it. Though I´ve never grabbed the proverbial "brass ring," let me tell you about my near-miss which happened in 1982. My first novel, The Sea of Grain, had been published and out of the blue, famed Hollywood film director Stanley Kramer, read it and said that it had ´movie´ written all over it. He was committed for the next three years, but urged me to find an agent or producer. Heated telephone calls with my publisher went nowhere even though I sent a copy of Kramer's letter to them. I contacted Mr. Kramer soon after he retired and his advice still haunts me to this day: " You need to do something with that story, it shouldn't gather dust." Okay you agents and producers out there, there's still time!
Well Frank, time to close up shop and add a few thoughts to our informal get- together. In 2010, my fifth novel, The Rubber Room, has been published by American Book Publishing. It's about dedication, committment, hard work and love, Right up your alley! One of its main characters is a young Irish Lass, Katelynn McCray, whose unshakeable faith in God is really put to the test. Since your childhood is rooted in Ireland, I'm sure there's more then a few situations in my story that share common ground and thought with you. And should you like my story, I can think of no better person to write the foreword than you,Frank McCourt.
Respectfully, Ivan R. Bosanko
Please note: For advance copies of my latest book, please go to www.pdbookstore.com
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