Author Archives: jimmcgarrah

(Parts of this essay first appeared in the book Misdemeanor Outlaw published by Blue Heron Book Works in 2018. You can buy the book on Amazon One hot Sunday in the early nineteen-fifties, Grandpa Bruner hauled me to the county fairgrounds in the back seat of his pea green, fluid drive, ‘48 Chrysler. He depositedContinue reading “My Religious Upbringing”

Brief Bio – Jim McGarrah’s poems, essays, and stories have appeared in many literary magazines including After Shocks: Poems of Recovery, American Journal of Poetry, Barcelona Review, Bayou Magazine, Cincinnati Review, Connecticut Review, December, Deep South, Elixir Magazine, and North American Review, among others. His play, Split Second Timing, received a Kennedy Center ACTF AwardContinue reading “Equilibrium”

“Everywhere man blames nature and fate, yet his fate is mostly but the echo of his character and passions, his mistakes and weaknesses.“                                                                                                                       – Democritus. In a time of horrible tragedy, it is customary to speak polite phrases, to utter soft words of comfort, to offer a pint of Ben & Jerry’s “Chocolate Therapy” instead ofContinue reading “The Gods Are Not Accountable”

My son-in-law has very good taste in music, especially contemporary southern rock, New Orleans (his former home) jazz, contemporary country swing, and rhythm & blues. Consequently, I enjoy the sounds radiating from his super-duper, state-of-the-art, I-could-never-afford, surround sound complete with a turntable to play what many of the younger generation believe to be a newContinue reading “Boomers Were Young Once and Liked Music”

Yesterday I reached what many people might call a milestone in my life while others might laugh and say, “how did he make it this far.” I’m very happy about the former and amazed myself at the latter. I am three-quarters of a century old. And, I thank the many people who wished me happyContinue reading “Playing The Game”

Hint: this note is not a grammar lesson In an ancient time, the 1950’s to be precise, I was a student at Lowell Elementary School is the southern Indiana town of Princeton. My boyhood wasn’t much different than many white, middle-class Midwestern boys. I played Little League baseball, watched Zorro and Gunsmoke and Howdy DoodyContinue reading “Synonyms and Antonyms”

A Christmas Story My father belonged to what many historians refer to as “The Greatest Generation.” But he was just a man, flawed by design and heroic by circumstance, as were all his friends and contemporaries. They drank too much, gambled, some were racist, and most were misogynistic in harmony with societal mores at theContinue reading “A Christmas Story”

A Balancing Act, New and Selected Poems 1998-2018 (LaMar University Press, Texas) A Balancing Act – review by Katering Hoerth, (Southeast Texas Examiner, entertainment magazine)  Can poetry matter? It’s a question that critics have grappled with for centuries, but perhaps more poignantly since the early 1990’s when Dana Gioia, in his now infamous essay inContinue reading “Book Review”

(the reason why all our stories are important) I’ve heard many people use the words mediocre and ordinary as synonyms. I don’t believe that’s reasonable in most instances for writers of stories, especially memoir. Mediocre implies that whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you will deal with it in a less than a creative way.Continue reading “Mediocre or Just Ordinary“

My father loved horse racing. Nothing gave him a bigger thrill than a day at Churchill Downs or Keeneland or Ellis Park. The scent of horse liniment wafting through the air as a line of horses pranced into the paddock for saddling before each race hypnotized him. Add that to a beer in one hand,Continue reading “Genes”