The Top of the Book Pyrimid: The Brown and White?

I remember years ago when a Chicago Catholic radio station was getting started it just broadcast non-stop Bishop Sheen programs all day long. I remember seeing actual programs when they first appeared on TV.  My parents loved Bishop Sheen and I don't know how to describe it, but when you watched Bishop Sheen, you were at ease and inspired at the same time.  You felt like it was really cool to be Catholic. 

When I hopped in the car in the early morning about 20 years ago and heard Bishop Sheen once again, it was little different. The signal was not very strong, but it was almost like you were hearing Bishop Sheen come from the grave--he was speaking to me one-on-one. At the time, it was during our short Chicago days of winter and I was always listening in the dark. The lights on the radio glowed on the dashboard as the Bishop talked through all kind of Chicago weather. 

As I get older, I hate to say it, but I do wonder if we will ever have a speaker quite like Bishop Sheen.  I like to think we will. 

If you were a Father Corapi fan, you remember he was excellent as well. Father Corapi could talk about Catholic doctrine and somehow make it clear, painless and interesting.

I suppose everyone has his or her favorite speakers and writers. I am always amazed to see the C.S. Lewis classic Mere Christianity on top seller lists as it approaches 70 years old. As a publisher, I have to say that kind of success is just unbelievable. 

I am an author myself and I certainly don't put myself in the same company as these great authors and speakers. But I will say that when I was writing The Brown and White I was trying to convey the emotions of Catholics at the time in the late 1960s. The world was a very scary place for many of us, but we did find comfort and faith in our homes and with our friends. 

I also tried to capture some of the Irish sense of faith and humor. I hope I did.  On Amazon, I do have some good reviews from people I respect very much. I just need a few thousand people to pay the $12.50 price for the book on Amazon and life will be very good!  

The Brown and White is a fictionalized memoir and when people express a positive view of it, I feel like they would like my family in those days. And I do find that very exciting. Of course, if it turns out I just sell a few hundred copies of the book, I will start feeling a lot smaller.