Jack Scully’s New Book of Poetry
Critically Acclaimed Mianus Village by Author Jack T. Scully Now Available As an Audiobook
“Jack T. Scully has written one of the best books of poetry I have ever encountered, and I’m an editor, so I encounter a lot!” —Pat Goudey O’Brien, Former President of the League of Vermont Writers, Consulting Editor, Writing Coach, and Author
“If you like intriguing stories about everyday life and people, you’ll love Mianus Village.” —J. Chris Davala – Longtime Radio Broadcaster and Co-Author Beyond Gridlock and Greed
BURLINGTON, VERMONT, November 3, 2022—Lovers of good stories with a whiff of nostalgia can now sit back and listen to an audiobook of the highly acclaimed, Mianus Village—Jack T. Scully’s free-verse tales about life with Greatest Generation parents and neighbors in the years after World War II.
Mianus Village tells the story of a blue-collar boy growing up in the rough and tumble atmosphere of a veterans’ housing project in the1950s and 1960s. Set on the picturesque banks of Riverside, Connecticut’s Mianus River, it is reminiscent of the bittersweet, bygone days of our youth and simpler, safer times for our country.
Above all, it is a celebration of today’s 69-million Baby Boomers, aged 58 to 76, who came of age in the decades after WWII, as well as their children and grandchildren. It was a time of innocence and freedom in which violence against children was rare and not tolerated by politicians and people of all faiths and persuasions. It was a time in which Winston Churchill said, “America stood at the summit of the world.”
Author and University of Vermont Emeritus Professor, David Huddle describes the book as a celebration of "American innocence, decency, humor, and family life” while simultaneously mourning "their loss."
Says author Peter Shea: "Mianus Village is going to sit you down in the easy chair of your mind. With metric simplicity and an uncanny choice of evocative words, Scully will take you to Mianus Village – a real place for sure, and the setting for many autobiographical tales, but also a place that is emblematic of the commonalities within all of us.”
Readers turned off by esoteric modernist poetry will be heartened by Mianus Village. It is written—and now spoken—in the reader-friendly, accessible style of former U. S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins’ lyrical celebrations of common life. Scully’s outwardly simple, evocative tales— which mirror similar post-WWII life experiences throughout America—reflect universal truths often obscured in today’s turbo-charged, materialistic society.
Scully believes a poem should be, in Collins words, “felt and enjoyed” without leaving one “brooding about its meaning.” The two poets share a similar outlook in that a poem should not be bound by set rhyme schemes, rhythms, or metrical patterns. Rather verses should flow together as smoothly as casual talk among friends. Along the way, Scully uses humor to make subtle points while slipping in what Collins calls “profound observations” about the “meaning of life and moral conduct.”
Simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, Mianus Village will slow down “time’s winged flight” in your life and make you a child again — every time you listen to it.
About the Author
Jack T. Scully is a longtime writer of fiction, non-fiction, and professional papers.
He is the author of the novel Eyewitness, numerous short stories and poems, the blog Pilgrim’s Rest, and currently with J. Chris Davala, the Website and Facebook Page Beyond Gridlock and Greed.
He resides in Vermont with his family.
Availability
Mianus Village is available to download from your favorite audiobook sources.
Here’s a partial listing.
Overdrive (Local library website for audiobooks)
Paperback as well as a downloadable version of Mianus Village are available for editors and media reporters upon request from authorjacktscully@gmail.com.
Ratings/Reviews
Quick links to reader comments and critical reviews of Mianus Village: Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
MIANUS VILLAGE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jack T. Scully
Text/Phone: 802-355-5233
Email: authorjacktscully@gmail.com
Publisher: Antrim House Books_Mianus Village
Author: Jack T. Scully_Mianus Village
Mianus Village
Kodachrome Memories for the Mind
Celebrating the Greatest Generation, Boomers, and Their Kin
“Jack T. Scully has written one of the best books of poetry I have ever encountered, and I’m an editor, so I encounter a lot!”
—Pat Goudey O’Brien, Former President of the League of Vermont Writers, Consulting Editor, Writing Coach, and Author.
***
“If you like intriguing stories about everyday life and people, you’ll love Mianus Village.”
—J. Chris Davala – Co-Author Beyond Gridlock and Greed
***
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BURLINGTON, VERMONT, USA; SEPTEMBER 12, 2021: Antrim House Books announces publication of Mianus Village, Jack T. Scully’s debut collection of free-verse stories.
Free-verse stories—the foundation of musical lyrics from folk to country, from rock to rap—tell short personal tales with an emotional punch. Its language—as familiar as a favorite cup of coffee—purposely mimics the speech patterns of ordinary people. The format is becoming increasingly popular among readers in our social-media dominated society with its emphasis on visual media and briefs texts.
Mianus Village tells an eloquent story of a boy growing up in hardscrabble housing, set aside for working-class WWII veterans and their young, growing families.
Scully’s purpose is to tell an “imaginative story of a departed place and its people,” as celebrated novelist William Faulkner once said about his 1936 masterpiece Absalom, Absalom.
Here’s Mianus Village’s backstory: Having won the war in 1945, millions of “Greatest Generation” GIs came marching home to an uncertain future. Of immediate concern: landing a job, putting food on the table, finishing education, and finding a home. The GI Bill helped meet those challenges with business loans, free tuition, and affordable housing.
In Riverside Connecticut, the government built 40 matchbox houses on the banks of the Mianus River for veterans and their families. As kids, author Jack T. Scully and more than a hundred Baby Boomers soon called their village—beside a ‘tinsel-glistening river’—home. It is the setting for a lyrical tale of self-discovery in an era of domestic safety and peace, set against a backdrop of uncertainty and a brewing Cold War.
About Mianus Village, David Huddle (UVM Professor Emeritus and distinguished author) writes: “Jack T. Scully both celebrates American innocence, decency, humor, and family life and also mourns their loss. The poetry here is lucid and straightforward, and the spirit of the book is that of recalling the ‘forgotten debris of forgotten years.'”
Boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—are the second largest demographic in the American population. Today some 70 million aging children of these “Greatest Generation” parents still play a vital role in American society. And yet, they are old enough to wistfully remember a peaceful era often described as the High Noon of the American Experience. For Boomers, it was a time of innocence and optimism. A time before they faced the heart-wrenching realities of assassinations, the Draft, Vietnam, and Civil-Rights tensions.
Readers turned off by modernist poetry will be heartened by Mianus Village. It is written in the user-friendly, populist style of former U. S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins’ celebration of common life. Scully’s 36 outwardly simple, evocative tales— which mirror similar post-WWII life experiences throughout America—reflect universal truths often obscured in today’s turbo-charged society.
About the Author
Jack T. Scully is a longtime writer of fiction, non-fiction, and professional papers. He is the author of the novel Eyewitness, numerous short stories and poems, the blog Pilgrim’s Rest, and currently with J. Chris Davala, the Website and Facebook Page Beyond Gridlock and Greed. He resides in Vermont with his family.
Mianus Village found its genesis in the ‘rough and tumble’ neighborhood where Scully came of age in the decades following WWII.
Availability
Mianus Village is for sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores. Autographed copies at a discounted price may be purchased from the author at his website here.
Paperback as well as a downloadable version of Mianus Village are available for editors, broadcasters, and media reporters.
Ratings/Reviews
Here are quick links to Reader Comments and Critical Reviews of Mianus Village: Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Contact Points
For more information or questions, contact: Jack T. Scully
Text/Phone: 802-355-5233
Email: authorjacktscully@gmail.com
*END of News Release*