Kirjahaku

Charles McTague, "Father Charlie" to those who knew him, was an unforgettable man, a kind and caring Catholic priest who began his life as a sailor and kept a special care for sailors during his priesthood, when he was stationed for many years at Port Newark, NJ, one of the nation's busiest ports. Author George Pereny was on his own spiritual quest when he met Father Charlie, and the two formed a bond that lasted for decades until the priest's death in 2007. George decided he would write a special recollection of Father Charlie that is part biography, part memoir and part theological discourse. Was Father Charlie a saint, as many who knew him think? This luminous book will help you come to your own decision.

George Pereny is the child of Holocaust survivors; he and his family escaped from Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Pereny taught in the inner city for over forty years, the last twenty-nine at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he taught English and Martial Arts, and wrote/performed educational rhymes. And where his students called him Grand Master P.

George Pereny is the real shit, says Jim Klein in his intro to George's From the Sounds of Chewing. That may seem a strange way introduce From The Sounds of Chewing, but I have my reasons. First, I've known George ever since the fall of 1972 when I started teaching English at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutherford, and George was doing grad work there. George's voice is as clear and pure as George is. He's had the experience all right, but his voice is natural and innocent. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, George actually combines both. The apparent effortlessness of his work even gets me thinking back to the Aeolian harp, the Romantic image of inspiration caused by the wind blowing through the mountains. George has distilled the complexities of who he is, and was, and yearns to be into the verse testimony you have in your hand.

George Pereny's "My Life, the 90s," continues the exciting story begun in "My Life, the 80s." We see George's continued progress as a writer, teacher, martial artist and devoted family man.

THE BUS FOR AMERICA George Pereny's great new book is a mixture of memory, history and poetry, telling the story of a remarkable life that started under the repression of Soviet rule in his native Hungary. His family made a brave and dangerous escape from Hungary when Pereny was a boy, crossing the ocean and coming to the United States after a momentous decision to take the bus for America rather than the bus for Canada. Pereny had an adventurous education in America, coming to love rock music and words, eventually deciding on a teaching career that took him to inner-city neighborhoods and kids in desperate need of his poetry and vision. Along the way he discovered an aptitude and passion for the martial arts and had a spiritual rebirth in Christ. George's story is also a quest for love that brings him to many women until he finds the right one. Like many great books, THE BUS FOR AMERICA ends with a wedding and a new chance for a happy life in Pereny's adopted America.

George Pereny is the real shit, says Jim Klein in his intro to George's From the Sounds of Chewing. That may seem a strange way introduce From The Sounds of Chewing, but I have my reasons. First, I've known George ever since the fall of 1972 when I started teaching English at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutherford, and George was doing grad work there. George's voice is as clear and pure as George is. He's had the experience all right, but his voice is natural and innocent. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, George actually combines both. The apparent effortlessness of his work even gets me thinking back to the Aeolian harp, the Romantic image of inspiration caused by the wind blowing through the mountains. George has distilled the complexities of who he is, and was, and yearns to be into the verse testimony you have in your hand.

My mother's family, my godfather, and my confirmation sponsor, were all from a small Hungarian town called Gyongyos in Heves(mountainous) County an hour north of Budapest at the feet of the Matra Mountains on the northern end of the Great Hungarian Plain. In 1944, there were 22,000 people living in Gyongyos, including about 2500 Jews, most of whom, like my mother's family, perished. A handful, including my mother, survived. This is their story.

Biographical from the 1980s. including prose and poetry.

Grand Master P is a novel true to the experience of teaching at an inner-city high school. Mr. Polgar starts as an idealistic young man but soon learns of the challenges of teaching in the inner city. A poet as well as a teacher, he begins writing inspirational rhymes to motivate his students to achieve an education. At first they make fun of his rap stylings and label him "MC Nerd," but over the years their appreciation for his dedication grows and finally he earns the respectful title of "Grand Master P."

Everything That's Important Having known and written songs with George for 30 years now, I can honestly say he writes from the gut and from the heart. There is nothing phony or contrived about his lyrics. They are a reflection of his experiences, his loves, his hates, his fears, and everything that is important to him and the world around him. He's not afraid to be totally honest in his words, which may not always please the buying public, but he states his beliefs and is true to them. George also writes some very good tunes. I have recorded many songs that he wrote the music and words to, and they are unquestionably as good as anyone in the business. After reading his lyrics about his family (Because of You, I Miss You, Family Man, Samuel...), his beliefs (Something Good Will Come, Mercy Wave of Time, Love Is Alive, Our Only Hope...), his struggles (Black Magic, Love's So Strong, It's Pain, My Father's Darkness, To Kiss the Sky...), his profoundness (The Eternal Morning, Ocean, Mother of the Rains, Night Time...), or just songs about fun and good times (Dancing Outside, To Surf the Hurricane, Ridin' with My Brother-in-Law, The Girl Next Door...), I'm sure you will feel you know George very well. So here's to you, George, and to your book of songs. Keep 'Em Coming -LOU LEO