The Final Cover for Hard Knocks

I just received the final cover for Hard Knocks. I’m very grateful to Jim Brown, an accomplished author, who took the time to support and encourage me; to Don Markos, my old professor from back in the day, who early on recognized that I could write; to Vinny Carbone, my brother in Christ, who sharedContinue reading “The Final Cover for Hard Knocks”

A Portion of Chapter 12-Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, for Anthony Randazzo and Bobby Darrell

12 SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING The Hooligans offered power, always ready to fight with Commack South or Kings Park, the next town over. And we knew where to find trouble—the Commack Drive Inn, where everyone hung out. One Friday night, we got into it against some guys from South. The irrelevance of who startedContinue reading “A Portion of Chapter 12-Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, for Anthony Randazzo and Bobby Darrell”

Don Marcos Review of Hard Knocks

Donald W. Markos: Review of Hard Knocks: Memoir of a Small Moment by Ray Lopez Hard Knocks is a biography that engages the reader just as a good novel does. Lopez writes in a sophisticated but vivid plain style that calls attention to what’s going on in the world in which the author confronts hard knocks and givesContinue reading “Don Marcos Review of Hard Knocks”

For my cousin Tom Lopez-an excerpt from Hard Knocks (Memoir of a Small Moment)-Chapter 1-No (being released by Wipf and Stock Publishers this summer)

A Latino machismo heritage exists on my Dad’s side of the family. In the public eye, the father, the head of the family, ruled. But the mother, the heart of the family, really ran the show. Pop stood 5’2” tall with 140 pounds of ripped muscle packed onto his diminutive frame. My favorite story —Continue reading “For my cousin Tom Lopez-an excerpt from Hard Knocks (Memoir of a Small Moment)-Chapter 1-No (being released by Wipf and Stock Publishers this summer)”

Captain Ahab and Tom Sawyer are kindred souls: an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Out West: A California Memoir (wipfandstock.com) coming out Winter 2021

How hard is it to determine whether Moby Dick or Huck Finn is the greatest American Novel? I know it’s a short list. Yes, Twain deals with the societal issue of the time that was tearing the country apart, slavery and in that respect it is as real as it can be. In contrast, the lyricism of his writingContinue reading “Captain Ahab and Tom Sawyer are kindred souls: an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Out West: A California Memoir (wipfandstock.com) coming out Winter 2021”

An Excerpt From Out West: A California Memoir (working title)-Chapter 1

 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  Romans 7:15  “I should have been a pair of ragged claws. Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” T.S. Elliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock                                                 Out West: A California Memoir 1                                                                  TheContinue reading “An Excerpt From Out West: A California Memoir (working title)-Chapter 1”