“He fed his spirit with the bread of books.” That soulful sentiment comes from American poet Edwin Markham (1852 – 1940). By the time of his death,Markham amassed a huge library of 15000+ books. This collection was bequeathed to Wagner College’s Horrmann Library, at Staten Island, New York.

Most noted for his poem, The Man with the Hoe, Markham recognized the enduring power of books to transform us. Books are the repositories of the human spirit, a reflection of our complex selves, a roadmap connecting our past with our potential.

I’ve often heard writers say, “My book wrote itself. It started out as my concept but took on a life of its own.” Sometimes a character redirects the plot. Sometimes the plot morphs into something unexpected with a different denouement for a character. It’s as if a spirit speaks through the writer to tell a story that has to be told. In my own writing, that experience is felt as goosebumps, a tingling up my arms and across my shoulders, as if some other “presence” was slipping through me.

The phenomenon of a spirit directing a book is not restricted to the realm of fiction. This past week, author Sue Baugh’s interview on Book●ed told how her magnificent book, Echoes of Earth, went from a project to identify the earth’s oldest rocks to the revelation of how the origins of our planet exist in each of us today and what the earth can teach us. . . if we listen. You can find Sue’s interview in the Archives at www.bookedwebcast.com.

Tell My Sons by Lt. Col. Mark Weber, the next show on Book.ed, is another example of a book that had to be written. Mark Weber was “chosen” to write it. You may know of Mark and his amazing book through national interviews and news stories. Tell My Sons, an inspirational memoir with remarkable wisdom we can all apply to our own lives, made the NY Times Best Seller list. It has been acclaimed by such diverse, notable people as Mitch Albom (author of Tuesdays with Morrie), Walter Mondale (former U.S. VP), John Elway (Pro Football Hall of Fame), General Babakir Zibari (Iraq’s chief of defense), General David Petraeus (U.S. Army, retired; former director of the CIA) and actor Robin Williams, among many others.

Sadly, 41-year-old Mark Weber lost a valiant 3-year battle with cancer three days before Father’s Day this year. In his last year of life, Mark transformed his lifelong personal journals into Tell My Sons with the help of co-writer David Murray. With a devoted wife and three young, adoring sons, Mark had to choose how to spend his very limited time. I believe it was that “spirit” that worked through Mark, telling him he had a story that needed to be told. While Tell My Sons began as a legacy to Mark’s children, it took on a life of its own. We are all richer for that.

The spirit that worked through Mark to get a story told was severely challenged by his death since he was no longer available to promote the book. Out of sight, out of mind rules in the book world. But the spirit that worked through Mark isn’t giving up! Come watch my interview with Tell My Sons co-writer David Murray to hear the incredible back story of this transformative book. The interview goes online at www.bookedwebcast.com on Monday, August 19th at 8 PM, EST. In conjunction with the show, the Book Excerpts page at the Book●ed website offers links to see some of Mark Weber’s interviews.

If you’ve already read Tell My Sons, you will gain new appreciation for it after watching my interview with David Murray. And if you haven’t read the book yet, you will certainly want to!

“There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.” – Edwin Markham.