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The Blind Man’s Story Book Information

Author: J.W. Linsdau
ISBN: 978-0-9960206-3-3 (paperback)
Market price (U.S.): $8.95
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Page Count: 142
Interior: B&W
Title code: Book111
Available in these countries in eBook and Print: United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom

From the author

December 2, 2014

The Blind Man’s Story comes from nothing more than a common quest to try and understand the purpose of life. It is not an attempt to define it, but to look at that “quest” from a contemporary perspective.

Most have heard the notion that the blind often sees more clearly than those with vision. That notion was the idea behind Larry Flannery, and what better place to start than to try and tackle the origin of life itself.

Since not every reader believes life began in the Garden of Eden is the reason Larry can “see” the garden, but cannot visualize certain aspects of it.

Beau Larson’s role is not uncommon among journalist. He wants to be a great writer and what better way than to author a book. Larry’s visions as a blind man offer a great premise, but Beau is uncertain as to how to go about it.

Also, as a journalist, Beau has one glaring flaw – he hates politics.

I call this a “flaw” because one of the great guarantees of the Constitution of the United States is freedom of the press, establishing it as the Fourth Estate. The purpose was for the press to be the people’s watchdog over government and not an arm of the government; something being called into question today.
Beau’s distaste for politics is a little like becoming a doctor, but not wanting to practice medicine.

Journalists were originally taught to be objective and to look at issues from both sides. In The Blind Man’s Story, Beau is caught up trying to be objective where Larry is concerned while maintaining his own professionalism – could he relate Larry’s “visions” in an objective manner that would have widespread appeal?

The conflict between environmentalists and loggers that takes place in Fools Gold, and the ensuing murder, draws Beau deeper into the story from a journalist’s perspective. Larry’s story is set aside temporarily, but he later becomes an integral part of it; not through his visions, but through the heightened acuity of his other senses.

When it all seems to be over, The Blind Man’s Story really doesn’t end. Beau is now confronted with what to do to try and make sense of it all.

When Beau sits down at his computer to write, there is a realization that “The Blind Man’s Story” has only just begun.

January 12, 2015

Some may wonder why a sportswriter and editor would write a book about a blind man with biblical visions combined with a murder mystery rather than a sports story.
When I was a journalism student, I was asked to be the sports editor for my college newspaper because of my background in athletics. I reluctantly agreed, telling my professor I did not want to be stereotyped in sports because I wanted to experience all that journalism offered.

I got my wish, but found that sports were my forte and surprisingly discovered it was a specialty few journalists had.

Over time, I began to realize that sports offered excellent training for all writers. Each game was a microcosm of life with a beginning, middle and end. In other journalism specialties, stories are often open-end without conclusion combined with an obscure beginning.

What one quickly discovers is the world of sports is filled with an infinite number of characters, personalities, backgrounds and beliefs. Sportswriters interested in those things often find the individual story more fascinating than the game covered. I started with that premise and quickly came to the same conclusion.

“The Blind Man’s Story” came from my fascination with character more than the game being played.

The timeless stories of the Bible had always captivated me and seem to open new avenues of understanding each time they are read; whether it holds up to “science” or if science even has anything to do with it. Consider any character in the Bible and try and conclude them to be mundane or shallow.

We all have a story and The Blind Man’s Story is his. As I delved into the intrigue of his visions out popped his story and it turned out not to be sports.

About the author

Jim has been a writer since grade school. Writing and sports have been his passion and today he is the sports editor of two, Gold Country Media publications in the Sacramento area of Northern California.

He began script writing while in the third grade and produced a class play on ghosts and gold. From that point on, his interests have also included filmmaking and video production.

Jim wrote and directed “A Devilish Tale,” judged best film of the year by the Northern California Amateur Filmmaker Association in 1980. He also wrote a parody play of “Star Trek” that the organizers requested for a “Star Trek” convention held in Sacramento.

He began working with his brother Tim of TVL Video Productions and has helped write and direct productions on gold prospecting, a segment of Emmett Harder’s book These Canyons are Full of Ghosts and a philosophy/theology study on the decision to suspend life support titled “Ice Cream for Tom.”

Jim lives in Northern California with his wife, daughter, three dogs and a cat. He also serves as consulting editor of The Wheatland Citizen newspaper, a publication recently acquired by his wife, Mindy.

Find out more about Jim here.