What
can we learn from what people say and do? Are we simply drawn to stories we
enjoy hearing and repeating? Sometimes, we see ourselves in others. I’m always
looking and listening. I write about people I observe because I don’t want to
lose the experience. Writing is a preservation technique. I’ve kept the people
in this book around me. We are a community. I want readers to know them.—PM


     A collection of
portraits. Of family. Of heroes. Of folk. Of celebrities. Of those who shaped
our lives, our places, our memories. From musicians and writers to actors and
athletes, from victims and survivors to changemakers and politicians, we see
the full social spectrum.

     Stretching back to the
1970s, these portraits-in-language include traditional renderings, sprawling
treatments, snapshots, monologues, in-depth profiles, sketches, book reviews, a
journal, an interview, a self-portrayal, and groups in their own frames.

     Readers will recognize Maya Angelou, Bob
Dylan, Tony Conigliaro, Stephen King, Leymah Gbowee, Joan Baez, and Jack
Kerouac. Beyond the known persons, readers will meet remarkable men and women,
not household names, whom the author encountered up close or at a distance,
like Jim Casselton, Katherine O’Donnell Murphy, and Hamid Ismailov.