Atlantis: Lessons from the Lost Continent

by J. Allan Danelek

The lost civilization of Atlantis―whether mythical or historical―offers possible clues about our past and holds important lessons for our future. Join author J. Allan Danelek on a compelling journey of discovery as he attempts to answer questions surrounding the controversial twelve-thousand-year-old Was it a real place or did Plato invent the story? If it did exist, what could have led to the widespread destruction of an entire civilization? And are we heading down the same road to self-annihilation? Fact or Fiction? Bringing new life to Plato's dialogues on Atlantis, Danelek offers original theories about the lost world's culture and downfall. This engaging exploration covers all aspects of Atlantean lore, from historical maps and geological sciences to popular theories both traditional and contemporary. At the heart of every story lies an ultimate truth and timeless lesson. What can Atlantis teach us about the fate of humanity?  

264 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

A native of Minnesota but a resident of Colorado since 1969, my life has been a journey that has taken me down many different paths—some good and some not so good—but all of them useful in my journey. After a stint in the Navy (as a navigator and, briefly, an air traffic controller) I attended the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, specializing in illustration and graphic design. Since then, I have worked for a wide array of employers, from the public school system to the aerospace industry. I even worked for a couple of years laying out an international magazine for a local televangelist (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty). After doing a gig as a part-time driving instructor (lotsa fun and a very educational experience) I'm back in the graphics industry once again while I wait for my "ship to come in"—whenever that might be. In the meantime, I continue to keep my hand in free-lance graphics, teach classes as various Front Range community colleges and other venues, and work on my tennis game—unfortunately with little success. I currently live in Lakewood, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) with my wife, Carol.
Besides writing, my hobbies include—but are not necessarily limited to—tennis, biking, and chess. I am also into political history (I can name all 44 presidents along with the years they were president and what party they were, none of which has proven useful to date), world and military history, religion and spirituality, science fiction (huge Star Trek fan even though I don’t own any uniforms), numismatics (coin collecting) paleontology, astronomy, and such Fortean subjects as Bigfoot, UFO's and things that go bump in the night. I enjoy writing both fiction and non-fiction, much of it with decidedly spiritual, religious, cryptozoological, historical and/or paranormal overtones, and consider writing to be my life's passion.

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't pursue my writing career with the prerequisite determination until fairly recently (I like to think of it as a progressive learning thing) with my first published feature article appearing in the March, 2002 issue of Fate magazine. Striking up a good relationship with Fate's parent publisher, Galde Press, I decided to submit an entire manuscript for consideration and in September of 2003, I was blessed with my first book, Reconsidering Atlantis: A New Look at a Prehistoric Civilization (now out of print). While the book proved to be a financial failure (Galde being a small subsidy press that lacked promotional and distribution capabilities) the experience gave me the confidence to pursue other larger publishers with some other ideas I had been working on. Eventually Llewellyn International out of St. Paul, Minnesota—a publisher known for its astrological and paranormal-themed products—picked up The Mystery of Reincarnation and my career as a “real-life” author began to gain traction. Over the next four years I added six more titles to my repertoire and have branched out to include books on aviation history and even co-authored a book about alien abductions!
Throughout it all I never gave up my first-love, which is novel writing. With a half-dozen unpublished—and largely unseen—manuscripts languishing on my computer hard-drive, I finally approached the owner of Adventures Unlimited Press out of Kempton, Illinois, David Hatcher Childress (yes, that David Hatcher Childress) who had been kind enough to pick up my book on aviation history, to see how he felt about putting out some fiction. David proved to be receptive to the idea and even gave me the opportunity to not only submit a science horror trilogy, but even allowed me to do the layout and cover designs as well, which is a rare thing for publishers to do nowadays. (In fact, I can't think of any full service publishers who do that! As such, my metaphorical hat goes off to David for letting me take the book from concept to final product and, especially, for the faith he has shown in permitting me th

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on the Atlantis myth. The science is general and the author tends to hedge his bets, never really coming down from the fence.