Guest Post: Perspective and balance by Jerry Amernic

 

The call came on a Wednesday morning. They were a group whose guest speaker had suddenly taken ill and was in the hospital, and could I come and take his place. And when might that be?

The very next day.

Well, they say it’s best to be flexible in life and so, I did it. My topic was A Crusader for Preserving History and while it was short notice – this was as short as it gets – I did manage to bring some books and give them an hour of my schtick which sort of goes like this.

First, put them at ease and offer to speak to their book clubs; this particular group had four of them! Then explain that I’m a writer who talks about heroes, history and ‘perspective.’ What does that mean?

Remember the movie ‘Back to the Future?’ It takes place in 1985 and Marty McFly returns to the 1950s where he tells the crazy scientist played by Christopher Lloyd about the future.

“Who’s the President in 1985?” Lloyd asks.

“Ronald Reagan,” McFly says.

“The actor?” replies the surprised Lloyd. “Who’s the Vice President? Jerry Lewis?”

Funny as that exchange was then, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched now. In 2018. Because it’s all about perspective. We’ve been there, we’ve seen the future and anything is possible.

That accomplished, the presentation continues with a discussion about my books – fiction and non-fiction – and the hero in each of them. And not losing sight of this thing called perspective.

Perspective means you can be a college student who just saw the film ‘Dunkirk’ and loved it, but you don’t know who Winston Churchill was.

Perspective means you can be a refugee from a war-torn country who comes to the West only to wonder what everyone is complaining about over here.

Perspective means you can be a woman who’s fed up with a lifetime of men taking advantage and so, you take part in a march and carry a sign that says ‘Men ruin everything’ and really believe it.

It’s all about perspective. But alas, each of us has different experiences and tends to reach conclusions based on what we know, what we’ve done or what we were told.

This could be why so many people hate so many other people. And yet, perspective is a two-edged sword. On one hand, it can open up the world and on the other, it can be a killer.

In a court proceeding, they start with a Statement of Facts which is a good starting point as long as we realize that an apple is an apple and a banana is a banana. However, nowadays that is fast becoming a blur with so many charlatans out there who put their own fanciful spin on history with alternative facts, fake news, what have you.

Which makes the Statement of Facts more important than ever.
 

Jerry Amernic is a Canadian writer of fiction and non-fiction books. He is the author of the  Holocaust-related novel 'The Last Witness' and the biblical-historical thriller 'QUMRAN'

   

Jerry Amernic
Ph: 416-284-0838
Mobile: 416-707-8456

www.jerrythenovelist.com

Guest Post: Reading is bad for your eyes but... by Jerry Amernic

When Jean Chretien was Prime Minister of Canada he once said something about the country’s founding in 1864, but Canada became a country in 1867. Every Canadian knows that. Right? Well, apparently not. By the same token U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t exactly up on American history.

His interview the other day with The Washington Post revealed that he doesn’t know why the Civil War took place and that Andrew Jackson was “really angry” about it. This is quite a stretch when you consider that Jackson died in 1845 and the Civil War began in 1861.

One week earlier Trump was interviewed by Reuters. In that one, he wondered why the Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting all these years.

“There is no reason there’s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians – none whatsoever,” he said.

Uh-huh.

Isn’t it important for world leaders to know a thing or two about history? One would think it should be a prerequisite for office. How can a world leader make informed decisions if he or she doesn’t know anything about the past?

Welcome to the brave new world of the 21st century. It’s a world where we have more information at our fingertips than ever before and people seem to know less than ever. Why? Here are a few reasons.

1.    The education system is sadly lacking (I’m being generous when I say this).

2.    There is so much choice out there, in terms of what information we want and how we get it, that many take the easy route. Put another way, in the old days you went to the library, but now you go to Wikipedia.

3.    Extension of point no. 2 – There is so much choice and so little time that people, by and large, no longer read anything of substance.

A 1968 film called Charly with Cliff Robertson was about a man who is intellectually slow and who undergoes a medical procedure that makes him a genius. He is asked what was raising the standard of living (this was 1968) and he said: “A TV in every room.” Then he is asked about the current state of education and he said: “A TV in every room.”

Which is kind of where we are today, only worse. For the record, here are a few items from my bookshelf that I recommend to young people and current world leaders.

•    The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
•    Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
•    Roots by Alex Haley
•    The Source by James A. Michener (a novel)
•    Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden (another novel).

It’s only a beginning. But it’s something.



Jerry Amernic is a Canadian writer of fiction and non-fiction books. He is the author of the  Holocaust-related novel 'The Last Witness' and the biblical-historical thriller 'QUMRAN'