Book Review Honoring the Legacy of Friend and Author Chris Kuell

March 20, 2023 | Filed under blindness Fiction reviews

Book Review

By Ann Chiappetta

Morris

By Chris Kuell © November 2022

Fiction; Short Stories

Atmosphere Press https://atmospherepress.com/books/morris-by-chris-kuell/

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Morris-Chris-Kuell/dp/163988677X

Kindle$7.99 softcover $15.99 302 pp.

From the publisher

A wounded Vietnam veteran builds a guitar as a first step toward rebuilding his life. A young man is ejected from the foster system and hitchhikes his way across America in search of that elusive feeling of home. An unsatisfied twenty-something questions her relationships and imagines other possibilities. A single father struggles to come to terms with his daughter’s growing up. A street musician touches people with her words and her music.

Morris by Chris Kuell is a collection of fourteen powerful stories brimming with evocative landscapes and memorable characters. Navigating desire, despair, healing, and love—the residents of this collection are all searching to better understand themselves. Woven together through the universal thread of music, these stories, witnessed by a well-worn guitar, expose insecurities and highlight the power of endurance and personal transformation.

***

Full disclosure, Chris Kuell, the author, and I have been friends for over twenty years. We first met in a critique group. Shortly afterward, Chris gained the position as editor-in-chief of the online literary magazine, Breath and Shadow and he invited me to assist in fencing submissions. Needless to say, we’ve witnessed one another grow into our authorly legs, stretched a few inches creatively since we first met. After reading Morris and being captivated by the breadth and depth of the stories, I’ve got to admit a bit of the fan girl thing developing. I think it is because of the play list introducing each story. The nostalgic value of the songs and song lyrics should not be overlooked. Each song attaches a specific emotion to each story and enhances the theatric backdrop of the stories in this collection.

While each story in Kuell’s Morris is a stand-alone piece, the author presents an appealing literary repast. This book is an experience of relationships and life’s vicissitudes. What I loved about the book were the realistic interpersonal connections and how the characters were influenced by either positive or negative circumstances. Each story touched a part of what it means to be human, to feel, love, care, hope and suffer. For example, how sweet or misunderstood a kiss can be, how good intentions are overcome by remorselessness and violence, or how bias and bigotry can escalate into devaluing a human life. Some stories ended tragically and some ended ambiguously, each one resonated. Like a superb meal at a favorite restaurant, I reflected upon them for days. A creative piece with longevity is a great accomplishment and Chris Kuell’s book will stick to your soul and speak to your heart.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reader’s Note: On February 21, 2023, Chris died from complications resulting from cancer. He was sixty years old. His obituary follows:

Christopher S. Kuell

June 14, 1962, ~ February 21, 2023 (age 60)

Christopher Kuell passed away on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023, at 60 years of age. He died in his home, surrounded by family members and love.

Chris led such a unique and interesting life that it is impossible to represent him in a few short paragraphs. He was born in 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts to Paul and Diana Kuell, one of six children. He was a brilliant and hardworking man, earning his Ph. D. in Chemistry from the University of Vermont in 1990 and working as a research scientist with Ciba Geigy before losing his sight at the age of thirty-five. Although becoming blind due to diabetes completely changed his life, Chris applied his brilliant mind, iron will, and open heart to building a new, beautiful, and independent life. He learned to cook, to travel, to play guitar, to shop, to play board games, and anything else a sighted person could do. He became involved with the National Federation of the Blind, attending and leading events, and collaborating with other blind and visually impaired people to make the world a better place for people with disabilities. He also began writing, publishing articles about life as a newly blind person and blind father, which ignited a passion for the written word that motivated him for the rest of his life. Five years after losing his sight, another major health complication threatened this newly built life. However, his brother David’s decision to donate a kidney to Chris in 2002 saved him. Sadly, David passed away in 2013, but his gift allowed Chris to live another 21 years.

When his children were young, Chris dedicated himself to his family – cooking dinner, quizzing his children Nicholas and Grace on multiplication tables while they were in the bathtub, and listening to bedtime books-on-tape at night. As the kids went off to college, Chris pursued a host of other passions. He applied his Chemistry degree to brewing delicious “Blind Wino” brand wine. He began editing Breath and Shadow, a literary magazine dedicated to publishing authors with disabilities. He helped run a monthly book club for friends and members of his community. With his fellow parishioners at Saint James’ Episcopal Church, he prepared food and washed dishes for Dorothy Day, our local soup kitchen. His most recent labor of love was publishing his book, Morris, just a few short months ago. If you want to know something about who Chris was, what he valued, or how he saw the world, you’re in luck – he put his heart and soul into Morris and left it for us to read and re-read whenever we need to be close to him.

Chris was an exceptional man who will be remembered as the blind guy who walked his kids back and forth to elementary school, a faithful and dedicated member of St. James’ Church, a fierce advocate for the disabled, marginalized, and disenfranchised. He will be remembered for his quick wit, his passion, his sense of humor. Those who survive him will miss him immensely: his wife, Christine DiMeglio; his children, Grace Kuell, Nicholas Kuell, and daughter-in-law Alexis Willoughby; his siblings: Cathy and Kenny Halchak, Sandra Kuell, Michael Kuell and Jenn Cobb, Jon Kuell and Maureen Buckley; his soul siblings: Tammy Kuell, Lisa Patey, Mike DiMeglio, Scott Kiem; his gang of admiring nieces and nephews.

To know him was to laugh with him, think with him, lean on him knowing he would always be there, to cry with him, ask his advice, pray with him, talk books or sports or – if you were brave – politics with him. Chris radiated love – love for life, and love for those lucky enough to know him. He will be missed by countless people and in a myriad of ways. We are forever grateful for the gift of knowing Chris Kuell, and for knowing that this wonderful man is now at peace.

A service celebrating the life of Chris Kuell was held on March 11, at 11 am, at Saint James’ Episcopal Church, 25 West Street in Danbury CT 06810.

In lieu gifts of any kind, consider a tax-deductible contribution to Resources for Organizing Social Change (ROSC, PO Box 2444, Augusta, ME 04338-2444), the parent organization for Breath & Shadow, a quarterly journal of disability culture and literature, where Chris served as editor-in-chief. Include a note with the check that your donation is for Breath & Shadow in memory of Chris Kuell. ROSC is a public 501(c)3 charity.

Please share this post and ask friends to support this author’s legacy in the form of a wonderfully written book.

podcast on money and relationships 💵

February 18, 2023 | Filed under blindness Relationships

Sometimes retirement has it’s perks, like being a guest on a blog or podcast, sharing what it’s like to have been a professional therapist. Check out the Penny Forward podcast focusing on money management and relationships. Shout out to Chris, Mo and Liz for inviting me.

https://www.pennyforward.com/penny-forward-podcast-money-and-relationships/

A DNR for My Dog Guide? 😨🦮

February 16, 2023 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs pets and people Relationships

Whoa, pups and people, first of all, this is not a shock jock kind of post. It is my attempt to express the feelings and observations during the events of the past three weeks. We are all okay, so it is safe to keep reading.

🦮

Bailey, my 75 lb. yellow lab raised and trained by Guiding Eyes for the Blind, was diagnosed with a tumor in his lung. It was discovered in a routine vet visit and I am so grateful for the staff veterinarian at Guiding Eyes for listening to me and ordering the Xray and referring us to Animal Medical Center in New York City for a CT and needle biopsy confirming the diagnosis.

We are now waiting for the surgery date to remove it. During the examination of the CT scan/biopsy procedure authorization, I read the DNR clause. It said CPR would be administered unless directed otherwise by the owner. Of course I wanted lifesaving procedures to be performed, my dog is showing very little symptoms and isn’t ready to check out.

I stopped, thinking, OH, shoot, a DNR? And it hit me just how serious this was and how sick my sweet 9.7-year-old lab really is. He showed only a mild cough after playing and slowing down a little when we were out and about. I’m not sure why but Bailey’s diagnosis brought me back to our Mom’s lung cancer and the mind-numbing period of time during her surgeries and treatments. Because of the consultations and speaking with medical oncologists during our Mom’s illness, I believe I have a better grasp of Bailey’s chances and risk factors. I am not saying a dog is the same as a person, but I am thinking that Mom’s passing provided insight and strength for me and my husband to be better equipped to handle whatever comes after Bailey’s upcoming surgery and convalescence. Then again, maybe I am saying a life is worth fighting for, human or non-human. Mom did not differentiate among two or four-footed family, and neither will I.

yellow lab Bailey in our livingroom

January 2023 Annie Shares News V.3 I. 1

January 2, 2023 | Filed under blindness blogging writing

Annie Shares News January 2023 Volume 3 Issue 1

Anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

www.annchiappetta.com

2023 greetings! 🥳 🎉

2022 has been challenging and it’s great to be stepping out more, giving and receiving a hug from friends and colleagues once again. Society has endured and learned how to cope with the physical limitations associated with the pandemic and while we are still being effected by covid, we are adjusting. To hug or not to hug, that is the question.

One mask-wearing phenomenon I’d like to share is the increased level of general disorientation when wearing one. And it isn’t just me experiencing this weird reaction. Whenever I first put on a mask, it causes me to feel dizzy and like I am in a bubble. I can’t hear or rely on my sense of direction, which is usually good. The spatial awareness is the worst and I have spoken with other blind friends who have experienced a similar lack of sensory information from mask wearing. I tried a clear face shield and it was even worse. I hope this is something we can research more to help others.

I want to share some good news about a friend and colleague, Elizabeth Ianelli. She and I worked together and remained friends after we both left the VA. She is one of the most resilient people I know and I am pleased to share the advanced ordering link to her new gritty and powerful book about the troubled teen industry called I See You Survivor: Life inside (and outside) the totally f*****d up troubled-teen industry.

Another author I know, Trish Hubschman, has released her newest book, check it out:

Gayle’s Tales: Tracy Gayle Mysteries

by Trish Hubschman

The book is for sale from Smashwords in eBook formats and from Amazon in e-book ($3.99), paperback ($8.50), and hardcover ($16.50).

175 pages in print.

Full details of this book and Trish’s four Tracy Gayle mystery novels are on her website:

https://www.dldbooks.com/hubschman/

Synopsis:

Gayle’s Tales is a collection of Tracy Gayle mystery short stories.

Everyone’s favorite couple, Tracy and Danny, are still going strong, romantically and professionally, rocking and rolling and solving crimes. The story is a first-person account told in Tracy’s point-of-view, detailing the circumstances as only she can tell it. Through all this, she and Danny are planning their wedding extravaganza at the Plaza Hotel in New York. In the end, she brings long–lost family members and friends back into each other’s arms and lives.

Trish is also appearing on January 25 at 7:00 p.m. eastern time as a guest author hosted by the Behind Our Eyes Book Launch program via zoom. If you would like the Zoom invitation, email booklaunch@behindoureyes.org and make sure you mention it is for Trish’s book.

What’s in store for 2023? Writing, of course! 😉 I am working on a nonfiction book about pet assisted therapy, gathering a third poetry collection, and writing a new crossover novel plus a new chapter of a sci-fi novella. I am reading different genres of books, including an RPG-inspired series penned by Kevin Sinclair, a series by Andrew Rowe narrated by one of my favorite voice actors, Nick Podell and Marshal Arcane by Terry Mancour is waiting in the queue. I also read The Address by Fiona Davis for my local book club. Very good historical fiction/mystery novel. I also must recommend The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. The audio book is performed by a talented voice actor and it is better than Irving’s book, The World According to Garp. It’s brilliant.

Reading is a considerable piece of developing as a writer and I plan to continue the quest. 😈

Until next month, be well and blessings to all.

Enjoy this classic poem about the New Year by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

The Death of the Old Year

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,

And the winter winds are wearily sighing:

Toll ye the church bell sad and slow,

And tread softly and speak low,

For the old year lies a-dying.

Old year you must not die;

You came to us so readily,

You lived with us so steadily,

Old year, you shall not die.

He lieth still: he doth not move:

He will not see the dawn of day.

He hath no other life above.

He gave me a friend and a true truelove

And the New-year will take ’em away.

Old year you must not go;

So long you have been with us,

Such joy as you have seen with us,

Old year, you shall not go.

He froth’d his bumpers to the brim;

A jollier year we shall not see.

But tho’ his eyes are waxing dim,

And tho’ his foes speak ill of him,

He was a friend to me.

Old year, you shall not die;

We did so laugh and cry with you,

I’ve half a mind to die with you,

Old year, if you must die.

He was full of joke and jest,

But all his merry quips are o’er.

To see him die across the waste

His son and heir doth ride post-haste,

But he’ll be dead before.

Everyone for his own.

The night is starry and cold, my friend,

And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend,

Comes up to take his own.

How hard he breathes! over the snow

I heard just now the crowing cock.

The shadows flicker to and fro:

The cricket chirps: the light burns low:

’Tis nearly twelve o’clock.

Shake hands, before you die.

Old year, we’ll dearly rue for you:

What is it we can do for you?

Speak out before you die.

His face is growing sharp and thin.

Alack! our friend is gone,

Close up his eyes: tie up his chin:

Step from the corpse, and let him in

That standeth there alone,

And waiteth at the door.

There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend,

And a new face at the door, my friend,

A new face at the door.

This poem is in the public domain.

Dreya sends her best wishes for the New Year!

Full Circle 💗

December 18, 2022 | Filed under blindness Relationships

Full Circle

How much do we know about a person? I consider myself a private person but also a person who believes sharing a personal success or a challenge could help someone else. I am sharing the following audio vignette produced by the Hadley Institute called Insights and Sound Bites and hope it helps you or someone you know struggling with depression or vision loss.

https://hadley.edu/podcasts/insights-sound-bites/i-came-full-circle

One Dog’s Life 🦮 💖

September 13, 2022 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs writing

Second place winner! this essay will be in the December 2022 issue of the National Federation of the Blind’s Writer’s Division Literary magazine, Slate and Style.

One Dog’s Life

2011

Verona and my daughter play in the lake for an hour. the funniest thing is the way Verona blows water from her mouth after dropping the stick. It makes a loud, spitting sound that can be heard from the patio.

When the assorted waterfowl horde realizes she is visiting, it waddles in masse from grass to the lake weeds beside the dock. Labrador nose dilates, a front paw lifts, instincts override even an offer of a cookie. for just a little while she is the retriever, the soft-mouthed hunting companion, not a guide dog.

Each and every year we have together is a blessing, a time for me to feel unfettered. I try to think back on the way life was before training with Verona but my mind veers from those dark moments and I let them go. We are here, being warmed by the late afternoon sun. We are dog and woman, partners for however long time and fate permit.

2013

Four humans and two dogs fill the little red sedan. I sit in front, along with Mom, who is driving. In the back seat, Music’s furry butt crushes my sister, who, until now has suffered in silence.

“Thank God it’s a short ride,” I hear her mumble from somewhere behind us.

We reach our destination, extract ourselves from the little red sedan. Verona’s excitement is palpable. Once inside the gate, loose dogs run up to us, but I make her ignore them and sit until I’m ready. With a word she’s off. We claim a bench in the warm California sun. moments later Verona lopes by us, a pack of dogs giving chase. I listen for the pack to turn back and run past us again, Verona in the lead.

California 2013

Pebbles and shells litter the meandering path to the beach. The air resonates with surf and sea birds. I release Verona and she lopes off, nose to the ground

Music, my sister’s Golden Retriever, chases Verona into the water. As she turns to give chase, a huge wave crashes down and for a moment she is engulfed, Sucked away by green sea and foam. my heart skips a beat in arrested panic; The wave spits her out onto the beach and she runs to me, weaves in-between my legs and soaks my pants. I look like incontinence has gotten the best of me. Thereafter, Verona avoids the waves and prefers a safer splash in the wet sand and tidal pools instead.

It’s important that Verona has the opportunity to be a dog; so much responsibility is put upon her when waring the harness, it seems that this is the best way to let her know. As she digs a hole in the sand and flops down to dry off, my heart is content because she is doing just what she’s supposed to be doing, living a dog’s life.

close up of Black lab with snow on her face

Annie Shares News Vol. 2 Issue 9

September 3, 2022 | Filed under blindness blogging novel writing

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 9 September 2022

Tell a friend and help me share writing by subscribing to my low traffic email list. it’s simple. send a blank email to:

Anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

🌑 🌓 🌔 🌕 🌙

Wonderful Things Afoot

The creative life is often compared to an ebb and flow, like tidal or moon phases. The last two months were a prime example. I barely wrote anything more than email correspondence due to being removed from our home of thirty years no thanks to asbestos contamination in our old floors. During a vacation in temporary housing via an Airbnb to await the asbestos abatement and installation of new floors, no thanks to hurricane Ida, I managed only one poem. I disconnected and it was probably for the best. I read, I soaked in the blessed silence, basked in the sun, brushed Bailey until my arm was tired, took in the evocative smells of country living and scratched my bug bites with complete complacency.

The day prior to our return the stress flared and another two weeks of creative cut-off overtook me, but this time it wasn’t attributed to adjusting to the ambiance of country living and black bears eating the tasty apples from the tree in the yard next to us. It was frustration and disappointment that shut me down. Our home was in chaos. Boxes from floor to ceiling, many of them unmarked. It was beyond dirty, our appliances were unplugged and left to leak all over the kitchen floor. The list goes on but it is behind us now. It was a helpless feeling, for sure.

The lifeline appeared when I attended a few writing-related zoom meetings. The first was the regular Friday afternoon Writing Works Wonders Community Call podcast streamed by the ACB Media Network. It helped me reconnect with my creativity by providing a writing prompt and it resulted in a poem which will be in a sweet little online literary pub called the Plum Tree Tavern. Then, the following week, the WWW hosts Kathy and Cheryl provided a second prompt that resulted in yet another poem, posted below, which was well received by other writers and is looking for a publication home.

Thanks to a fellow author and editor, Robert Kingett, I signed up for an open mic call and I read five of my more recent poems and was thrilled to receive high praise from the listeners. The facilitator followed up with me resulting in an opportunity to record one of my guide dog poems. It will be added to a poetry project for the Chicago Public Library.

While writing is solitary, the sharing of it is not; the sharing is what pushes me to write, to create and keep a productive mindset. Being good at something like writing and hearing others say my writing is good gives me a feeling of belonging and purpose. I’d lost those two aspects of self when I became blind and reclaiming them over the years felt like gluing the jagged pieces of my soul back together.

Opportunities abound, from online writing prompts given by Writing Works Wonders to focused feedback and email lists to connect like in the writer’s group, Behind Our Eyes. One never knows where the opportunities and connections will appear but one thing is sure, striving to produce good writing and sharing it with readers is the goal.

I value you all, it is you, the reader, the listener, the literary compatriots, for whom I write. I will keep writing as long as you keep reading and listening.

Summer’s Book

By Ann Chiappetta ©

August is

A perpetual ending

Of wilting haiku blossoms

Of Heat and drought and rain on wind chimes

Of crisp leaflets capturing autumn’s promise and

open fields of earth’s parchment

awaiting to harvest and scribe

richness into Nature’s book with stories of Winter white.

2022

Dreya sends her fanciful smile your way, what’s better than a book dragon asking her friends to read more books?

This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative. Dreya the red and green book dragon smiles and floats in the air with her best friends, winged books and musical notes.

Upstate Adventures 🐻🌲

July 31, 2022 | Filed under blindness pets and people Relationships writing

Hello from Windham and Hunter Mountains, Green and Ulster counties, NY, home of the New York Catskills and summer wildlife. Bear and deer and black flies, oh my!

🐻 🦌 🌄

It took us almost as long to pack for the trip Like we were moving out. In a way we were moving out, at least temporarily.

Let me explain. Remember hurricane Ida in the Fall of 2021? We sustained water damage to our entire apartment. In fact, all the apartments on the ground floor and the lobby area took on six inches or more of flood water. Our lobby was completely under over four feet of it. me we all had to first wait for the insurance and FEMA funding to come through, then wait for a move out date. Since we own cats and dogs, this meant finding a location for two weeks that was not going to mean living in one room together like in a hotel. and the most important part of it was also packing up everything to be stored in a pod while the work is being done. Oh, and to add a cherry atop this shit show of bad timing, there is also asbestos abatement along with the replacing the floors from the old glue used on the original flooring being removed. We didn’t know about that one. Now it is a concern and rightly so. It is also bad timing.

A powerful wave of flood water slamming open your front door and engulfing your apartment is traumatic enough but the asbestos thing is just, like, really shitty. It will delay things a bit more for the installation of the new floors and moving back in again when we return.

We are fortunate to be able to make the bad timing and all the packing work to our advantage. we deserve some respite after so much upheaval. The stress exhausted us. If Jerry and April weren’t there helping me, guiding me around all the boxes, extra workers, and taking charge of the packing prior to the work, I’d never manage it alone. This is our family and I am proud of us.

The wildlife is active. The variety of animals eating the apple tree in the adjoining yard included rabbits, a wood chuck, and two black bears, we think a mother and older cub based on size and attitude.

Annie Shares News V2 # 7.5 Lotsa Stuf 🛒

July 10, 2022 | Filed under blindness blogging Fiction writing

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 7.5 July/August 2022

anniesharesnews@groups.io

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www.annchiappetta.com

Hello Readers and followers, a blessed and belated Independence Day to everyone. 🎆 🎇 🧨

I wanted to get this out before we break for a vacation. I’ll share our adventures upon our return. Even the cats are coming with us, so it should be interesting.

The ever-expanding tribe of writers and readers means so much to me and I want to share a bit about them in each newsletter moving forward.

I had a great time being a guest blogger for a June Word Crafter blog tour for Hope For the Tarnished. It was a fun five days of getting to know the host bloggers and exposing my novel to new readers. To find out more about Kay Lynne’s newsletter, book blog tours and her excellent blog, Writing To Be Read, go here.

Leon Stevens writes: Looking for my first review for my second poetry collection. Readers can get a review copy through Story Origin or read on KU (Kindle Unlimited).

Receive a free review copy through Story Origin here: Review copy link

Read with Kindle Unlimited: Amazon link

I caught this great review of my novel, Hope for the Tarnished, from mystery writer and author, Trish Hubschman . Check it out:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1134230

☕ 🍵

Ms. Liz and I shared some TEA on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/IsfJTH_wDEc

Please like and share it and follow Miss Liz, she’s the best and she is making a difference one cup of spiritually-infused Tea at a time!

May the summer breeze and warm winds propel your imagination and soothe your spirits!

Dreya the book dragon

Celebrate July with freedom and Free books 🎇

July 2, 2022 | Filed under blindness Fiction Guide dogs nonfiction Poem

Celebrate July with freedom and Free books

📕 📖 📘 📙 📗

The 14th Annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale has begun, running now through July 31. Visit my author’s page to order your free eBooks from Smashwords during the Summer sale!

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnChiappetta

All my titles are free, a gift to readers everywhere.

Thousands of titles are discounted or free — so why not go to Smashwords and go shopping for your summer reading collection? Visit the sale at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos

Why Smashwords? Electronic choices, of course. It’s simple and get the book delivered to your inbox. Transfer it to your favorite book reading app. It’s great, kindle isn’t the only eBook reading app in town. 😉

Tranquil photo of stacked stones beside circular pattern in the sand.

Thought Wheel

From the mind of Ann Chiappetta