S. Ray Cook's Blog

From the beginning of our written history, mankind has been in the middle. Whether it is a Judeo-Christian/Islamic origin or that of any other evolving cultures, we as a race of people have been in the middle of the longest and still ongoing battle history has ever witnessed. This battle is the conflict between good and evil. From Cain to Columbine the world we live in toils with this on a daily basis. Through this conflict both prevail to some degree until the ultimate winner is announced.                                                                          photo by live4god.org
From the towns in Colorado and all over this world this conflict continues on a day to day basis. The little town of Connellsville that I reside in is not immune from this. In 1957 the Connellsville Aerie 493 Fraternal Order of the Eagles placed a monument depicting a sculpture of the Ten Commandments (http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/ten-commandments-monument-part-of-eagles-history/article_57554fe1-0f0d-5375-88b7-e6a5a97fa182.html?mode=image) that at the time was on side of the newly built high school. Now they are boxed up away from the eyes of the Junior High students that call this their campus.

As our scene in this long running drama between good vs. evil, one parent couldn’t live with the fact that their children would be exposed to such a horrific sight as they entered and exited the school. No, this one person felt that they had a voice and this voice will need to be heard. The truth being, the monolith depicting these rules Moses inscribed on Mount Sinai is off on the corner of the building and one must make an effort to not only look at it but be close enough to read it.  This is where irony enters, as it does so many times in the acts we witness as we inhale and exhale our lives away. The community became so outraged that one person can take away the history of their town that the majority of its inhabitants believe in, that they designed signs in the school’s colors and posted them by the hundreds, thousands across the city in their store fronts, on their garages, attached to their front porches and free standing along the roads in their yards.
           



                Where an out of the way, not so easily read structure once laid is Inow replaced with legible signs in every corner of Connellsville for this one parent's children to read everywhere they go. This is just a small example of how we are all in the middle of this battle between the good and the evil that makes its way into everyone’s lives. The protagonist in my first book Memoirs of Dying Man , is in a situation where he needs to reflect on these conflicts so as to determine what he can share with his children about the meaning of life. In this philosophical tale he has epiphanies that will make you think of the how your own battles molded you and yours.
Best wishes you all survive intact, S. Ray Cook

You can follow S. Ray Cook on twitter @SraycookSc or view his most recent reviews on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Dying-Man-Ray-Cook/dp/1627466037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392185793&sr=8-1&keywords=memoirs+of+dying+man

     According to my son it's not if, it's when the zombie apocalypse occurs. Now this is where living in the Laurel Highlands area of Pennsylvania can come in handy. Off route 40 is Laurel Caverns(http://laurelcaverns.com/content/cave-map), a natural wonder that is rumored to reach Kentucky through it's multiple cave structures. This underground wonderland is ideal for escaping the walking dead but a far reach from my location in Connellsville, Pa.


     No, when the world becomes as simple as running and running becomes your only survival plan, then finding a place by foot will be essential. My favorite playground lies only about a quarter mile from my home. This is where I free climb the cliffs above the Youghiogheny River. When I am there it is to find peace and get exercise. A place known as Casparis will have to be my escape plan.

  Here amongst my land of recreation sits Opperman's Cave. As the rock cliffs fall to terra ferma, an opening no bigger than crawling under a coffee table lies. This opening continues on in the dark, as the light from your spelunking head gear displays the path. On belly each inch of the way while enclosed on all sides for the length of a football field, emerges the cavern within.



    When these days come as foretold in the films of the past http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/, as the bodies rise from the graves in Scottdale, Everson and Dawson, I will be standing tall, unable to make the journey inside! The path to this inner world is more than I can bare to think about. Someone will have to seal off the cave from the outside anyways?
The beauty of the Laurel Highlands is one to behold, all the way to the end.

Be safe all,
S. Ray Cook

You can follow S. Ray Cook on twitter @SraycookSc or view his most recent reviews on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Dying-Man-Ray-Cook/dp/1627466037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392185793&sr=8-1&keywords=memoirs+of+dying+man

    Well, where does it all begin when you decide to ink your first book? For me it started several years ago when pondering lifes secrets. The fear of rejection held me back for the longest time, before desperation set in. It became my last resort in a sense and then became a compulsion.

   In Memoirs of Dying Man, the race came to the end of my first tale, as I rode around with Kevin Gray. The first nine pages sat for years before my drive in the fog.




  The ride through the fog became a close to home vehicle to portray what a desperate man can discover once pushed to his last miles. Errors come to light only after you release your works to the world. I never expected so many well wisher to my well being. I need to work the word fiction into the title on future prints!  Either way, I took the misstep of the title in stride and started to ask for cash instead of flowers? 


 With this new blog, I hope to share my experiences and take on current events as the days move forward. I will be tweaking this page over time and look to add a place for reviews of my first book. Through this cyber journey, I hope to lend updates to the completion of my current manuscript, as they occur and looking forward to the interaction of you the reader!


Best Regards,

S. Ray Cook

You can follow S. Ray Cook on twitter @SraycookSc or view his most recent reviews on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Dying-Man-Ray-Cook/dp/1627466037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392185793&sr=8-1&keywords=memoirs+of+dying+man





Hello,

     Where do I begin? As a newly published author,  it is essential that I write for you all on a weekly basis. So what is it that you want to read about.  Those who know me best will attest to the fact that I have bounced off of some really interesting stuff over the years. From being estranged from my beautiful children to being incarcerated  for six months after starting my new bridge selling career. ( Though those two DUI's is three days is a great story in itself.  The fact that I didn't lose my job that I was employed for less than sixty day at and moved on to a promotion shortly after being reunited. Not to mention the 75+ books read that molded me into the writer today)

So this blog will be looking for your input to where I will start blogging?

Subjects like;
Driving in the fog.  How our journey through this life can be obscured at times?

How to live free as a slave. The Pros & Cons of a Capitalist society?Why whiskey and proposals make for a tattered future?The Zen of free climbing the rock ledges of Western Pennsylvania?

Coping mechanism of living a thousand miles away from your children?The way life corrects itself through constant prayer?The benefits of growing up is Western Pennsylvania and the places that make it beautiful? The joy of being one of thirty-seven grandchildren and the way the farm was central to us all?Lastly, the journey I took writing my first book. The who, what and why it came to be?

I want to thank all of you in advance for your input to the direction my blog writing will head in. I am proud to say that book number two is moving along nicely and this new blog will give me a different avenue to write about other topics. If there is a subject matter that you think I can touch base on that was not listed, I will consider and cherish every one's input!

Until the sun rises once again, may all of you find the peace that lies in the cracks, the wrinkles of our lives. It is this peace that we all deserve and should share.

Best Regards,

S. Ray Cook


You can follow S. Ray Cook on Twitter @sraycooksc
or view the reviews and description of his first recently released book at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Dying-Man-Ray-Cook/dp/1627466037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391713990&sr=8-1&keywords=memoirs+of+dying+man