Crítics MatinersVictor Pearn

Swinging Away: A Celebration is Victor Pearn's testament to poetry, friendship, and faith.

The story of his life from ranging from joining the Marines in 1969 to becoming a professional publisher is told with his innate gift for description that captures the personalities and quirks of his colleagues and the literary luminaries that he happens to meet.

For Pearn, becoming a poet was an ongoing series of adventures that took place from Illinois to Colorado and from Mexico to China, where he taught English. The narrative is peppered with poetry samples and musings on the natural world, academia, and spirituality.

Sports fans will especially appreciate Pearn's tales of the 1969 Wyoming Cowboys football team and the 1957 season of the high-school basketball team, the Ashland (Illinois) Panthers. Book buffs will enjoy his take on reading and the great works of literature.

Film buffs will relish his adventure as an extra in a Hollywood movie.

Service members will be entertained by his stories of life in the Marines. Whatever life offered him,

Victor Pearn keeps swinging away to make sure he comes out on top-and manages to put it into a poet's perspective.