Stories From Someone Older Than Television

(pdf: 115 pages)

A book to make you smile, even laugh out loud. It's all about everyday life, familiar experiences we share and the feelings that go with them.

The author cleverly and insightfully weaves humor and wit throughout each page and creates a serendipitous journey filled with both fun and sensitivity.

Margie Zats, a Paris-trained chef, has also included favorite recipes to enrich your pleasure.

Illustrator Jerry Fearing is approaching legendary status as a gifted artist. For 26 years he was a daily political cartoonist with the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is the recipient of numerous awards.

For years, I’ve had opinions nobody ever asked me about.

This is from Margie's introduction:

I’m not hounded by the paparazzi or contacted by the news media. Not even the neighbor’s dog chases me. I’m just a regular person living on a tree-lined city block.

However, because I’ve been around the block many times, I’ve been observing and pondering—arriving at medium-bright conclusions.

It occurs to me you’ve been thinking about many of the same subjects and have had similar experiences.

So with the help of a small, cheap Boom Box, Rod Stewart joins me at the kitchen table and I now put a ballpoint pen to these reflections.

My initial thought is cosmetic: How he appears on stagewith the same hairstyle I awaken with.

He disarms the clock-ticking silence with a raspy “Embraceable You.” The young girl deep inside me longs to be free to dance again. Her mature counterpart wonders if he has polyps on his vocal cords.

No matter. The mood is set. And, as in a Stardust Melody, I am once again with you.

I hope these stories embrace you, gentle reader.

I hope they’ll be an incentive to give away a smile—and relax a little more tonight.

I hope you find, within these pages, a laugh—and a new old friend.