Dear Readers,

Twelve weeks, twenty letters to my dear, dead friends. Let it never be said that the end of one's life is the end of one's story. “Why, in a certain sense we may be said to feel affection even for men we have never seen, owing to their honesty and virtue.” To quote Cicero, yet again.

We live as long as our name and our deeds are remembered. “Writing is the only true form of immortality one can achieve.”, for Cicero is endlessly quotable, and furthermore, his words contain their own proof.

But I am writing to you today, my readers in Italy, Germany, Spain, Panama, Canada, Romania, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, India, Sweden, the United States,Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, to name just a few of the nations among the growing readership of this blog.

I am writing to you all to say, thank you. I feel your eyes upon the page, and I am grateful to be able to share this with you. There is much to be learned from these ancient books, and I am learning more every day, for this has become a daily project of passion. It takes about four weeks for each letter to reach its final edited state before uploading. I am often writing many letters simultaneously, and studying in preparation for the next letters to come. My youngest son calls them my letters to dead dudes, or my bromance with Cicero.

Twelve weeks, twenty letters. So lets say that Book One is complete.

Book Two will continue the overall philosophical narrative arc I have been developing, with new dead friends being added as I read new authors, not all of which are from the ancient Greek and Roman world. My most recent letter to Herodotus (at four thousand words), has shown me that I want to be writing longer and longer letters, as deeper parallel historical connections reveal themselves to me. However, I am keenly aware that these peculiar essays of mine might be better presented in shorter forms, to make them easier to absorb.

So I ask you, my dear readers, what do you think? Do you like the very long rambling explorations of interconnected historical, ethical, social and philosophical ideas? Would you prefer that I write shorter letters, more compact in their delivery? Or have you enjoyed the way I play back and forth between these styles? Or, a fourth option...I have been experimenting with audio recordings of these letters, with the notion that I might release them as a podcast, so what do you think of that idea?

So if it matters to you one way or the other, feel free to write a comment on the blog page, or you can contact me through Facebook or email me at zebulonstoryteller@gmail.com .

Book two will begin next week.

'til then, dear readers,

thank you for reading.

Morgan.

PS. If you have enjoyed this blog, you might enjoy my previous work, Indivisible from Magic, a completed nine month long writing project exploring the blurry edge between fact and fiction. Prior to that was Music of an Invisible Enclave, also a nine month project, a journal detailing my life as a musician during the year I recorded my solo album, of the same name. The album is still in the mixing/mastering stages, so in the meantime you can listen to my music on my youtube page.

Links to all these things are at the top of this page.

Thanks again.

m.

This photo was taken in 1981.  My Grandfather, Frederick "Snow" Pedersen is holding me.