Good afternoon Everyone.

I’m Pleased and Privileged to introduce to you another Totally Talented member of the Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing (Author, Blogger, Business Assist) family, author Tony Candela.

I promise, when you’re finished reading this, you’re going to want to hop quick like a bunny over to Amazon to pick up his books.

And now, here’s Tony to tell us more.

My name is Tony Candela. I am 67-years old and semi-retired from a 40+ year career as a rehabilitation counselor. I work part-time and assist my lady friend who is an older returning college student to finish up, graduate, and return to work. I am a minor writer. I published a memoir and a sci-fi novella, both with Christian Faith Publishing. Neither book is religious, but CFP appeared to gravitate toward the humanistic aspect of both. I am totally blind although I was partially sighted until my mid-40s, and live in New York City. The memoir reflects on life-lessons learned as a blind athlete (wrestling, running, and a dabble in a few other sports). The novella is all about me and three other blind people who go to extremes in a dystopian society to have 15 minutes of vision per day to use as they wish. I have made very little money on these books, but at the time they were published, I thought I’d met my major goal of their publication and handing out free copies to close family and friends. Now it is time to get more professional and work at spreading the word about them.

Although a city boy, I grew up in suburban New York City and also lived for 16 years in California. I especially enjoyed the San Francisco Bay area, including Berkeley where I lived for seven years, as well as some time in Sacramento, a beautiful State capitol, and Long Beach, about 25 miles south of LA.

My lady friend and my aging mother and two brothers are the most special people in my life, followed by the characters of the entire Star Trek universe, but most especially Captain Kirk who is my leadership model.

Currently, I live alone in an apartment in a nice section of the Bronx. I’ve lived with cats, dogs, and birds on and off through the years, but do not choose to have a pet myself. I am a better uncle than father when it comes to pets. In fact, it is for this reason I have never chosen to pursue a guide dog.

The driving force behind my career work and my writing is the sheer enjoyment I get from doing both. As time has gone by, I have figured out that one should be unhappy only when one is forced to do so, which can be often enough. Thus, when I have the choice, I select work projects where I can be successful and writing assignments where I can be coherent. In a nutshell, what keeps me going is occupation.

I dabble in guitar and although I’d like to say my favorite song is one of my own, in all honesty, I cannot. Instead, I would choose “Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha”. The song reflects the deep feelings of a man struggling to hang onto a fading way of life (chivalry), his alienation, a thing which I have found to be painful, and the courage to keep on striving while falling down and picking oneself up again.

I am a movie-buff. I subscribe to Netflix. Old-fashioned as I am, I am a DVD-only customer. No streaming for me. We spend too much time with streaming data all day. The couch and TV beckon at night when I indulge along with a glass of wine in sports, old TV shows, and movies. I love anything in the Star Trek movie series, anything Robin Williams was a part of, and the classics like “The Wizard of Oz”, “Gone With the Wind”, “Moses”, “The Graduate”, “M*A*S*H”, and more recently, “When Harry Met Sally”, “Platoon”, “Titanic” and any sports movie you can think of.

I try whenever it feels right to read the books behind many movies I have seen, my favorites, of course being science fiction. I read a lot of political non-fiction and am an avid astronomy and cosmology buff. I know more about the physics of the universe and can converse semi-lucidly about why this or that on Star Trek will or will not ever be possible.

I read books all the time, obtaining them from the BARD and Bookshare services. I happen to work part-time for Bookshare and as one of its paying customers, love having its 935,000 volumes at my disposal.

I am also a lover of Broadway musicals. I recently saw “Beautiful” (about Carole King) and “Lion King” (only 20 years after it came out). I have a collection of sound tracks on, you guessed it, CDs. Generally they collect dust, but it is a comfort just knowing they are there to play.

I love to eat. My weight is good, but my appetite is even better. My favorite food is Italian. It is what I grew up with. Among this cuisine, I love egg plants parmesan and for dessert, cannoli. There is almost no dessert I will turn away, the richer and chocolate-endowed, the better.

I have a few favorite quotes. From my leadership model, Captain Kirk, there is the following: “We’ve got to start solving problems faster than we are taking them on” and from Douglas McArthur, especially as my career is winding down, “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.” From of all people, George W. Bush comes a quote about “the tyranny of low expectations” which accompanied his education Law and which I think applies to the public view of people with disabilities. Finally, from the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz comes “Ain’t it the truth, ain’t it the truth?”

I have never thought much about affirmations. However, I recognize they keep us grounded. Thus, I adhere to affirmations that help keep us calm, look before we leap, know that there is almost no problem that cannot be ameliorated or solved, and that it is always darkest before the dawn.

My biggest pet peeve is the misuse of language to mislead us, twist the truth, bully us into false understandings and submission, or that is so unorganized that reality itself is obfuscated. I imagine you can guess a bit about my politics. Thus, I believe my logical mind is my greatest strength. It can be tempered by emotionality, but it helps me navigate the universe and keep myself sane. Thorough thinking assists my writing in that I intuitively as well as consciously map out the pathways of my writing, even this essay in which I am basically following the guidance questions. As you no doubt perceive, my sense of humor is another strength.

My biggest weakness is in my tendency to get overloaded and pull back. I have discovered that these are the times to verbalize my thoughts and feelings and above all else, to get help from other people. Such assistance once I dare ask for it comes from groups such as Tell It to the World. Provided with guidance, I naturally pick up the ball and get stronger.

My dream for the future is personal and political. I hope to remain in reasonably good physical and mental shape as time goes on. My dream is to stay relevant to someone outside myself for as long as possible. Politically, I dream of a balanced world and universe where, human territorial tendencies notwithstanding, we are not fighting with each other all the time – internally or externally. I hope to continue to write short pieces which elucidate an observation, tell a fun story, state a position, or inform the profession of which I am still a part about something I think they should know. I also dream about selling my books more and getting to talk about them. A pie in the sky dream is that someday someone other than myself will get to hear a song or two I have written, even if the singer is someone other than me. That would be a hoot.

I am an e-mail maven and it is the best way to communicate with me. I have taken a shine to texting, partly because it is a short and sweet way to communicate and partly because it can be managed with dispatch. I am still learning how to foster good communications regarding my writing and look forward to hearing about the experiences of fellow writers. Please feel free to get in touch at: acandela

About My Books

Stand Up Or Sit Out: Memories and Musings of a Blind Wrestler, Runner, and All-around Regular Guy

By Anthony R. Candela

Christian Faith Publishing, 2019

Available at amazon.com and barnes&nobles.com in soft cover and digital formats

Also available from Bookshare.org

Back Cover Summary

In this memoir, Anthony Candela, a self-described “all-around regular guy”, traverses a lifetime of challenges. Some of these are accidents of birth like his poor eyesight and slow trek to blindness and some are of his own making like choosing to compete as a scholar-athlete. Infused with lots of New Yorkana, a touch of California, and a few related historical references, this memoir conveys that in any environment, life does not always follow a prescribed course. Moreover, as humans, all of us are imperfect. This includes people with disabilities who are often thought of as transcendent beings, but who should also be regarded as “all-around regular guys”. Just like the rest of the human race, they often strive imperfectly to get through life.

In his descriptions, the author hopes that readers will understand a little more about the nuts and bolts of running and wrestling, not to mention skiing and SCUBA diving. The ups and downs of coping with life and progressive loss of eyesight will be clearer. Readers will come away with a fuller appreciation of the ways people deal with challenges. In the end, we all have a choice whether to stand up or sit out.

The story related in these pages will occasionally give you cause to chuckle or even shed tears of sadness or joy. Above all else, it will enlighten you about why things happen the way they do. Ultimately, this memoir increases our understanding of what it means to be truly human. Perhaps after reading it we will be kinder and gentler to each other. Most important, perhaps we will be kinder and gentler to ourselves.

Vision Dreams: A Parable

By Anthony R. Candela

Christian Faith Publishing, 2019

Available at amazon.com and barnes&nobles.com in soft cover and digital formats

Also available from Bookshare.org

Back Cover Summary – Vision Dreams: A Parable

In this dystopian novella, Anthony Candela, a self-described “Trekor” and “secular humanist”, shows us the extremes to which societies will go if sufficiently frightened, especially if science and technology permit it. Individuals will do likewise in order to achieve, if not happiness, then at least relief from tyranny.

In this story, the narrator who both hovers above the action and is totally immersed in it, tells of the lengths he and his three co-adventurers go to achieve their goals. One wants an even chance at life and, oh yes, to be a star baseball player; another wants to fly. A third seeks true artistic sensuality and the fourth wants nothing more than the Freudian essentials of success at love and work. Unfortunately, the society they live in has hunkered down, devoting nearly all of its resources to self-protection and very little to everyday human comforts – all except for a small group of scientists who appear to be bucking the system.

Ultimately, by extraction this novella increases our understanding of what it means to live in a society that is supportive of its citizens’ daily happiness and humanity. Perhaps after reading it you will be more on guard against what can happen when nations decide to be hyper-vigilant. As the plot unwinds, you will see the lengths to which people will go to achieve their humanity. In the midst of the subtle kinds of strife that leads many to live lives of quiet desperation, there are heroes willing to take risks.

Thank you for reading, Tony.

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Featured Author of the Week,

Author’s Corner,

Anthony Candela,

Stand Up Or Sit Out: Memories and Musings of a Blind Wrestler, Runner, and All-around Regular Guy,

Vision Dreams: A Parable

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May Harmony find You and Blessid Be.