Sunset In The Rear View Mirror: Recollections Of The Flapping Edges Of Falling Night

By Michael Jerry Tupa

One phone call. Your sister has passed away. With that message, my world went off its axis, my heart crumpled and darkness replaced the perpetual light in my heart that shone as lone as least as my final surviving family member lived. Mom left us in 1990 — Pam lived with and cared for her to her final breath. Dad died in 2000. He had only one-half of one lung. During my final visit to him three weeks earlier, he excused himself so he could go out and smoke a cigarette. Then, Pam went through the one-way door in June 2021, her brave and resilient body finally wearing out at age 63, following two successful breast cancer operations, MS, diabetes and nearly 20 years of taking the bus to and from work in all the kinds of nasty weather Utah can dish out. Now there is only me. I searched through my memories and hearts for some special moments, or thoughtful opinions, which I used to create this book. The thoughts range from two paragraphs to 15 pages, with most of them around a page. There are 50 components to the book. I hope you'll run over something that will make you stop and think, perhaps even strike a chord of recollections or thoughtfulness that might add to your emotional treasury. Thank you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Jerry Tupa
• Release date: Sep 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005170899

Michael Jerry Tupa

A native Californian, I've resided in seven different states -- spread out from California to South Carolina -- as well as in Italy and stint in Japan (U.S. Marines).For more than 30 years I've worked as a newspaper journalist -- mostl of that time as a sports writer, although I also garnered significant experience as a police/courts beat reporter.More than three dozen of my poems have appeared in several different literary journals; I've also self-published four volumes of poetry/short stories. Some of my most cherished honors/accomplishments/opportunities is being the sports editor of a sports section twice named by the Oklahoma Press Association as the sports section of the year in our circulation division, receiving an honorable discharge from the Marines following four years of active duty, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Weber State, living nearly two years in Italy (church service) among the Italians and learning the language, interviewing a Native American U.S. Olympic champion, receiving the Joseph Orengo Annual Award for sportsmanship and sports contributions in Oroville, Calif.I've also won my age division (25-29) at a 5K run road race in Memphis, Tenn.; shook Ronald Reagan's hand in 1990; interviewed numerous pro and high-level college athletes, including at least two former Heisman Trophy winners (Archie Griffin and Jason White); written a full-length history of American Legion Baseball in Bartlesville, Okla.; and enjoyed numerous other once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to interview some of sports' most significant personalities from the past half-century.

Book preview

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