From the Olympic stadium in Ancient Greece to the banks of the Housatonic River … E.S. Kraay writes stories about things that make a difference.
A native of the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts, I cherish fond memories of Tanglewood, the Pittsfield Public Library, Herman Melville, Norman Rockwell, Richmond Pond, Pontoosuc Lake, the Hashim Boys, Rudy Benedetti, my Auntie and Babcia in Housatonic and my Aunt Sadie in Westfield, and so many, many other people and places that remain dear to my heart.
As a young boy, I was blessed with a wonderful English teacher, Norman Najimy. Mr. Najimy had a passion for the written word, and his passion still burns in me and drives me to write books. He inspired me to read every night. That was half a century ago, and I haven’t missed a night since. Before I was a student of Norman Najimy’s, my life’s dream was to be an archaeologist. After that eighth-grade English class, I wanted to write books.
I wandered for 40 years in the desert and did not fulfill that ambition until 2008when The Olympian was published. Eighteen years and well over a half-million words later, I claim seven novels and two meditative collections.
My heart has led me to each story with the conviction that despite the challenges we face as members of an ever-expanding universe, someone, somewhere will always rise to do what’s morally right for this planet we call Earth and for the billions of creatures who inhabit it.
Mitakuye Oyasin
Where Ideas Come From: Tobit and the Hoodoo Man, A Mystical Tale from the Civil War South
During the two years I worked on The Hamsa, I became very interested in Celtic spirituality. I obtained a Celtic Prayer book authored by William John Fitzgerald. I still use it daily. One scripture reading from the Book of Tobit captured my attention. “Raphael answered, “I will go with him; so do not fear. We…
Where Ideas Come From: The Hamsa [part II to post]
One reviewer from Colorado wrote about The Hamsa, “… Mr. Kraay has fashioned a life of a simple man who lives a life of heroic virtue… If there is a ‘trick’ to the narrative, it might be Bronek’s meeting such historical figures as Franklin Roosevelt, Sonja Henie and Heinrich Himmler ala Forest Gump, but these…
Roots grow deep. I was raised a Catholic. My father’s best friend, Louie Green was a Jew, and I remember attending the Seder Supper at Louie’s home during Passover when I was a young boy. Because of Louie Green and several boyhood friends including Bobby Sandler and Marty Shindler, things Jewish were not foreign to…
