Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
Loading
GS![]()
author
Gerald Schaefer
Schaefer grew up in Cut Bank, Montana, a town close to Alberta, Canada, Glacier National Park, and the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. His best friend at St. Margarets school was a Blackfoot, "Beaver...view moreSchaefer grew up in Cut Bank, Montana, a town close to Alberta, Canada, Glacier National Park, and the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. His best friend at St. Margarets school was a Blackfoot, "Beaver" Bird. The Bird family offered a window into a different version of family life, one very different from the German/Scandinavian one he inhabited. Beaver's mother, Wizzie," seemed to be always happy, smiling and laughing.He attended St. Norbert High School, a Catholic boarding school in Wisconsin. He joined the Norbertine monastery after high school. Four years later, he joined the army for a short stint. After graduating from St. Norbert College in 1965, he studied theology at Marquette University. He taught theology at Ottumwa Girls'College for a semester then went to study at the University of Iowa.He and his wife divorced in 1974 while living in Madison, Wisconsin. He lived in Merrill, Wisconsin for a few years, becoming an amateur clown before moving to Long Beach, California in 1979. He left behind two young children. He remarried in 1981 and soon began teaching for the Los Angeles Unified School District, retiring in 2000.His first book, Women: Down Through The Ages, How Lies Have Shaped Our Lives, was published in 2007. In 2008 he read Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now. He immediately realized that the problems he'd been having in his present marriage resulted from the constant stream of thoughts going on in his mind.Shortly thereafter, his wife had a hip replacement, then spinal surgery. In the aftermath of that, AZ appeared. And from 2013 till her death in 2018, he cared for her at home. He credits Tolle's influence, first for getting his marriage back on track, and then for transforming the experience of caring for his wife. He readily admits, "It would have been impossible for me to do it, without that perspective."That perspective is simply the realization that his identity is not the self that he parades before the world, but is contained within his "inner self," accessible in silence and stillness. When one gets in touch with that, it's "cruise control," as he alludes to in the book for teens.Tolle's influence is on display in his writing. First, The Story of You, an illustrated book for young children, published in 2019.Again, Cruising through The Teens, Easier Than It Seems, in 2021. And, Isn't It Kind Of Funny That..., published in 2021.He loves to travel, going to Spain and France in 2019, to Australia in 2020. Wherever he went, he made it a point to check out the local discos. And dance.He presently lives in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach. The Pacific Ocean is nearby, as are shops and restaurants. He walks to the weekly Farmers Market with his dog, Emma, a papillon rescue. The market is near a large grassy area. Local bands play, families picnic, kids from a nearby school come, and he gets a chance to indulge in his favorite activity, dance.Life is good.view less
Books by Gerald Schaefer
The Story of You Cruising through The Teens, Easier Than It Seems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsn't It Kind of Funny That...? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5