John Kramer's Blog
June 20, 2017
鈥淥ne of mankind鈥檚 greatest sins is inaction in the face of injustice.鈥
The first words anyone from my family can remember me saying were in a seedy little bar in Barcelona, Spain.
It was the summer of 1968.
I was three years old.
My father died the year before. He was 43 years young and, like JFK, he was a handsome man who would never age because of a sad fate he couldn鈥檛 foresee.
My mother was left alone to raise 9 kids ranging from 15 to myself鈥攖he youngest鈥攁t two.
Before that tumultuous summer would begin, the summer that would see the shocking deaths of MLK and RFK, she decided to pack all 9 kids into a VW bus鈥10 of us in a bus built for 9鈥攁nd travel across Europe. She told me years later she had to get away from the home that still echoed with my father鈥檚 voice. (My mother wrote about that adventure and the dying and death of my father in her own book, The Road Taken: A Memoir - One VW Bus, One Widow, Nine Kids.)
On one of our stops, we ducked into the aforementioned Spanish bar for a bite to eat as our culinary options were more limited back in the day.
An old woman started harassing my brother, Pete, who was 13-months my senior. We couldn鈥檛 understand the words she was saying, but her hostility to him was evident. Not wanting to see anything bad happen to my best friend, I put myself between Pete and the old woman, looked up at her with all the confidence in the world, pointed my index finger up at her, and declared, 鈥淟eave my brother alone.鈥
And, to everyone鈥檚 surprise, she did.
All that was needed to stop her aggressive action against this child was someone鈥攁nyone鈥攖o stand up to her and even in a foreign tongue, to tell her to knock it off.
I had a similar experience decades later, on July 4, 1987.
Just weeks before, I met the love of my life鈥擧olly, who unbeknownst to me at the time, I would marry in September of the following year. Holly, Pete, his girlfriend and I were celebrating the Fourth of July at the Esplanade in Boston, enjoying Johnny Cash, John Williams and the Boston Pops. Everyone was in a good mood, including an elderly woman in a low-profile folding chair in front of us. Out of nowhere, a grape pelted her in the back of her head. And then another. And another. The fruity projectiles were coming from behind me and were rightfully upsetting her.
I casually got up and walked off to the side, then circled back to get behind whomever the grape chucker might be.
Sure enough, some guy about my age, showing off for his girlfriend, was pegging the poor woman.
I walked over and told him directly, 鈥淜nock it off.鈥
He looked up, surprised someone caught him in the act and that anyone would challenge him. His first response, however, was pathetically weak: 鈥淪he鈥檚 blocking our view,鈥 he whined.
I told him, 鈥淭hen move.鈥
His next response was more what I expected, albeit with more colorful vocabulary than I could have guessed: 鈥淪hut up or I鈥檒l . . . .鈥 Let鈥檚 just say it involved tearing off a couple of items I was pretty attached to.
Anticipating a fight, the crowd around us went absolutely quiet.
I looked at him square in the eyes, and with the best John Wayne slow burn I could muster said, 鈥淪tand up if you think you鈥檙e man enough to do it.鈥
Like so many bullies, he was a coward when confronted.
He didn鈥檛 move. The conflict was over.
I turned to go back to my seat and was shocked to see a sea of people standing in a semi-circle around me, including my own smiling one-day-bride-to-be.
We walked back to our blanket, the concert got under way, and there were no more grapes thrown at the old woman.
About a decade later, I met an elderly woman named Vera Coking. Years before the casinos moved in, Vera brought a humble little boarding house next to Atlantic City鈥檚 famed Boardwalk, which was her pride and joy. Vera loved her home and living so close to the ocean. For those who don鈥檛 know, the board game Monopoly is based on Atlantic City鈥攖he closer you get to the Boardwalk, the more expensive the properties grow. Located only one block from the Boardwalk, Vera鈥檚 property was a goldmine.
But Vera didn鈥檛 want to sell her land to anyone for any price. And, in this country, that was her right.
Even Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse magazine, understood so basic a constitutional right. He offered Vera $1 million for her home, so he could construct a casino on that land, but she refused. So Guccione constructed an enormous steel cage of girders around Vera鈥檚 home as the skeleton of his construction project.
Vera, her home, her property and her air rights were respected.
His project ultimately fell through and the steel structure was eventually removed, but Vera and her home remained.
Guccione was followed by someone who didn't respect this widow鈥檚 constitutional rights. Donald Trump convinced a government agency to take Vera鈥檚 home and hand it over to him with few restrictions on its use. He said he wanted to construct a limo parking lot where her home stood, but nothing would stop him from breaking ground the next day on a casino if he got possession of the land.
I was fortunate enough to represent Vera through my work at the Institute for Justice. I directed the PR campaign that rightfully heaped mountains of media criticism at The Donald, calling into question the abuse of Vera鈥檚 constitutional rights on behalf of another private citizen for his own private gain. The one-two punch of effective courtroom advocacy by my colleague, Dana Berliner, and our media campaign ended up winning the day and saving the home Vera Coking would reside in for another decade, just as she wished.
Throughout your life, you will see injustices perpetrated on the innocent, the widow, the weak, the old. We may think we don鈥檛 possess what it takes to make a difference, but, in truth, we do. We just need to stand up, take some action and make our voices heard.
That is a theme that plays out time and again in my novel, Blythe.
One of mankind鈥檚 greatest sins is inaction in the face of injustice.
For justice to have its day, men and women of character must be its champion.
It was the summer of 1968.
I was three years old.
My father died the year before. He was 43 years young and, like JFK, he was a handsome man who would never age because of a sad fate he couldn鈥檛 foresee.
My mother was left alone to raise 9 kids ranging from 15 to myself鈥攖he youngest鈥攁t two.
Before that tumultuous summer would begin, the summer that would see the shocking deaths of MLK and RFK, she decided to pack all 9 kids into a VW bus鈥10 of us in a bus built for 9鈥攁nd travel across Europe. She told me years later she had to get away from the home that still echoed with my father鈥檚 voice. (My mother wrote about that adventure and the dying and death of my father in her own book, The Road Taken: A Memoir - One VW Bus, One Widow, Nine Kids.)
On one of our stops, we ducked into the aforementioned Spanish bar for a bite to eat as our culinary options were more limited back in the day.
An old woman started harassing my brother, Pete, who was 13-months my senior. We couldn鈥檛 understand the words she was saying, but her hostility to him was evident. Not wanting to see anything bad happen to my best friend, I put myself between Pete and the old woman, looked up at her with all the confidence in the world, pointed my index finger up at her, and declared, 鈥淟eave my brother alone.鈥
And, to everyone鈥檚 surprise, she did.
All that was needed to stop her aggressive action against this child was someone鈥攁nyone鈥攖o stand up to her and even in a foreign tongue, to tell her to knock it off.
I had a similar experience decades later, on July 4, 1987.
Just weeks before, I met the love of my life鈥擧olly, who unbeknownst to me at the time, I would marry in September of the following year. Holly, Pete, his girlfriend and I were celebrating the Fourth of July at the Esplanade in Boston, enjoying Johnny Cash, John Williams and the Boston Pops. Everyone was in a good mood, including an elderly woman in a low-profile folding chair in front of us. Out of nowhere, a grape pelted her in the back of her head. And then another. And another. The fruity projectiles were coming from behind me and were rightfully upsetting her.
I casually got up and walked off to the side, then circled back to get behind whomever the grape chucker might be.
Sure enough, some guy about my age, showing off for his girlfriend, was pegging the poor woman.
I walked over and told him directly, 鈥淜nock it off.鈥
He looked up, surprised someone caught him in the act and that anyone would challenge him. His first response, however, was pathetically weak: 鈥淪he鈥檚 blocking our view,鈥 he whined.
I told him, 鈥淭hen move.鈥
His next response was more what I expected, albeit with more colorful vocabulary than I could have guessed: 鈥淪hut up or I鈥檒l . . . .鈥 Let鈥檚 just say it involved tearing off a couple of items I was pretty attached to.
Anticipating a fight, the crowd around us went absolutely quiet.
I looked at him square in the eyes, and with the best John Wayne slow burn I could muster said, 鈥淪tand up if you think you鈥檙e man enough to do it.鈥
Like so many bullies, he was a coward when confronted.
He didn鈥檛 move. The conflict was over.
I turned to go back to my seat and was shocked to see a sea of people standing in a semi-circle around me, including my own smiling one-day-bride-to-be.
We walked back to our blanket, the concert got under way, and there were no more grapes thrown at the old woman.
About a decade later, I met an elderly woman named Vera Coking. Years before the casinos moved in, Vera brought a humble little boarding house next to Atlantic City鈥檚 famed Boardwalk, which was her pride and joy. Vera loved her home and living so close to the ocean. For those who don鈥檛 know, the board game Monopoly is based on Atlantic City鈥攖he closer you get to the Boardwalk, the more expensive the properties grow. Located only one block from the Boardwalk, Vera鈥檚 property was a goldmine.
But Vera didn鈥檛 want to sell her land to anyone for any price. And, in this country, that was her right.
Even Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse magazine, understood so basic a constitutional right. He offered Vera $1 million for her home, so he could construct a casino on that land, but she refused. So Guccione constructed an enormous steel cage of girders around Vera鈥檚 home as the skeleton of his construction project.
Vera, her home, her property and her air rights were respected.
His project ultimately fell through and the steel structure was eventually removed, but Vera and her home remained.
Guccione was followed by someone who didn't respect this widow鈥檚 constitutional rights. Donald Trump convinced a government agency to take Vera鈥檚 home and hand it over to him with few restrictions on its use. He said he wanted to construct a limo parking lot where her home stood, but nothing would stop him from breaking ground the next day on a casino if he got possession of the land.
I was fortunate enough to represent Vera through my work at the Institute for Justice. I directed the PR campaign that rightfully heaped mountains of media criticism at The Donald, calling into question the abuse of Vera鈥檚 constitutional rights on behalf of another private citizen for his own private gain. The one-two punch of effective courtroom advocacy by my colleague, Dana Berliner, and our media campaign ended up winning the day and saving the home Vera Coking would reside in for another decade, just as she wished.
Throughout your life, you will see injustices perpetrated on the innocent, the widow, the weak, the old. We may think we don鈥檛 possess what it takes to make a difference, but, in truth, we do. We just need to stand up, take some action and make our voices heard.
That is a theme that plays out time and again in my novel, Blythe.
One of mankind鈥檚 greatest sins is inaction in the face of injustice.
For justice to have its day, men and women of character must be its champion.
June 12, 2017
Author Q&A About Blythe
1) What is your novel Blythe about?
Blythe is a story of two lovers separated after an act of betrayal. Blythe is drawn into a dark, despotic and threatening world where the depth of her love and her morals are tested, as her life hangs in the balance. With a crafty turn of phrase, however, readers are suddenly confronted with what the novel Blythe is really about. It is that deeper and surprising allegorical meaning that gives Blythe its punch.
2) What is the genre of Blythe?
As one reader describes it, Blythe 鈥渟hatters the conventional boundaries of genres.鈥 I think that鈥檚 a good description. At its core, the quality of its writing and its timeless, universal themes lend themselves to literary fiction, but it borrows from other genres including mystery, science fiction, detective novels, and even philosophy and public policy.
3) Readers can鈥檛 tell for certain when Blythe takes place. Why did you write the novel in that way?
Blythe is purposefully told as a timeless tale鈥攎eaning that you can鈥檛 tell definitively when this story unfolds鈥攂ecause its themes of faith, freedom and forgiveness, along with the conflict between tyranny and self-determination鈥攁re themselves timeless. As such, I wrote Blythe so readers can experience it in such a way that it seems it could take place today, or perhaps 500 years ago鈥攂oth would be equally accurate ways of reading this novel.
4) Tell us about your characters. What inspired them?
Each character sprang organically from this story; none of them, with the exception of Mab, was based on any real-world person. It all started with Henry, whose impact is seen throughout the story, but who is never seen in the flesh. Henry was the first character I created, and all the other characters flowed from him. Next was Blythe, who would be drawn into Henry鈥檚 world, followed by Nott茅, who would be Henry鈥檚 agent to draw in Blythe. He was followed by Aaron, Blythe鈥檚 love, who would fight to free her. And the rest of the characters organically grew from those three more tangible characters鈥擝lythe, Nott茅 and Aaron.
5) What makes the character Blythe so special?
Blythe鈥檚 appeal lies in her transformation. When you first meet her, she makes for poor company鈥攁lthough she is beautiful, she is completely self-absorbed. By the time the tale is told, she is transformed by circumstances that break her until she has nowhere to go but up鈥攖o improve. From that place, she learns to forgive, starting with forgiving herself, and she learns to forgive others from there.
6) A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain to write this book?
I think the core of what comprises every villain is a desire to think for others鈥攖o take away their self-determination, and to dictate to them their destiny. <spoiler>Nott茅 does that throughout Blythe. He decides other characters鈥 fates, sometimes for what he sees as a necessity, but often, he does so merely for pleasure, out of spite, and for the sport of it. He sometimes does what he does out of boredom, which might be the worst reason of all. </spoiler> Johnny Cash鈥檚 鈥淔olsom Prison Blues鈥 contains the line, 鈥淚 shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.鈥 Cash wrote that line because it was the pettiest reason he could conceive of to kill another man. <spoiler> Nott茅 is a vindictive and sadistic predator, and he also has a terrible boredom within him that leads him to make those around him suffer as a result.</spoiler>
7) Do any of your characters represent something deeper or broader than just the characters themselves?
Absolutely. I won鈥檛 get too deep into the details with this or other characters, but the character Lucre, for example, represents the marketplace. <spoiler> Though vilified in the novel by others, it is Lucre who amasses his resources through the voluntary exchange of goods and services and then employs them to try to solve the dilemma faced by the entire valley where he lives. </spoiler> By and large I think that鈥檚 what the private sector does every single day: take on struggles faced by humanity and tilt the balance toward a better life for men and women around the globe. I have many friends who have survived cancer and other diseases and who enjoy a high quality of life as a result of the work of individuals pursuing this kind of work. Are they and the companies they work for perfect? Certainly not. But we should recognize the good that they do.
8) Why did you decide to become a writer?
I really didn鈥檛 have a choice. Once that seed of this story was planted in my mind, I had no choice but to cultivate it until it was ready for others to experience as this novel. I鈥檝e been possessed by this work for more than a decade and a half, and I couldn鈥檛 let it go until it was as perfect as I could make it.
9) What makes Blythe stand out from the crowd?
The single most-striking discovery is how Blythe has been so well received by individuals across all walks of life鈥攃onservatives and liberals and libertarians, people of faith and those guided by reason, gay and straight individuals, each have found something in Blythe that hits home for them in a deep and true way. In an era when we鈥檙e bombarded by others who demand we focus on our divisions, Blythe reminds readers across social divides that we can and should unite to elevate humanity and work together to a better, more caring and nobler destiny for us all.
10) In what forms is Blythe available and where can readers reach you?
Blythe is available at in paperback and as an e-reader. Readers and the media can reach me at johnekramer42@gmail.com.
Blythe is a story of two lovers separated after an act of betrayal. Blythe is drawn into a dark, despotic and threatening world where the depth of her love and her morals are tested, as her life hangs in the balance. With a crafty turn of phrase, however, readers are suddenly confronted with what the novel Blythe is really about. It is that deeper and surprising allegorical meaning that gives Blythe its punch.
2) What is the genre of Blythe?
As one reader describes it, Blythe 鈥渟hatters the conventional boundaries of genres.鈥 I think that鈥檚 a good description. At its core, the quality of its writing and its timeless, universal themes lend themselves to literary fiction, but it borrows from other genres including mystery, science fiction, detective novels, and even philosophy and public policy.
3) Readers can鈥檛 tell for certain when Blythe takes place. Why did you write the novel in that way?
Blythe is purposefully told as a timeless tale鈥攎eaning that you can鈥檛 tell definitively when this story unfolds鈥攂ecause its themes of faith, freedom and forgiveness, along with the conflict between tyranny and self-determination鈥攁re themselves timeless. As such, I wrote Blythe so readers can experience it in such a way that it seems it could take place today, or perhaps 500 years ago鈥攂oth would be equally accurate ways of reading this novel.
4) Tell us about your characters. What inspired them?
Each character sprang organically from this story; none of them, with the exception of Mab, was based on any real-world person. It all started with Henry, whose impact is seen throughout the story, but who is never seen in the flesh. Henry was the first character I created, and all the other characters flowed from him. Next was Blythe, who would be drawn into Henry鈥檚 world, followed by Nott茅, who would be Henry鈥檚 agent to draw in Blythe. He was followed by Aaron, Blythe鈥檚 love, who would fight to free her. And the rest of the characters organically grew from those three more tangible characters鈥擝lythe, Nott茅 and Aaron.
5) What makes the character Blythe so special?
Blythe鈥檚 appeal lies in her transformation. When you first meet her, she makes for poor company鈥攁lthough she is beautiful, she is completely self-absorbed. By the time the tale is told, she is transformed by circumstances that break her until she has nowhere to go but up鈥攖o improve. From that place, she learns to forgive, starting with forgiving herself, and she learns to forgive others from there.
6) A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain to write this book?
I think the core of what comprises every villain is a desire to think for others鈥攖o take away their self-determination, and to dictate to them their destiny. <spoiler>Nott茅 does that throughout Blythe. He decides other characters鈥 fates, sometimes for what he sees as a necessity, but often, he does so merely for pleasure, out of spite, and for the sport of it. He sometimes does what he does out of boredom, which might be the worst reason of all. </spoiler> Johnny Cash鈥檚 鈥淔olsom Prison Blues鈥 contains the line, 鈥淚 shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.鈥 Cash wrote that line because it was the pettiest reason he could conceive of to kill another man. <spoiler> Nott茅 is a vindictive and sadistic predator, and he also has a terrible boredom within him that leads him to make those around him suffer as a result.</spoiler>
7) Do any of your characters represent something deeper or broader than just the characters themselves?
Absolutely. I won鈥檛 get too deep into the details with this or other characters, but the character Lucre, for example, represents the marketplace. <spoiler> Though vilified in the novel by others, it is Lucre who amasses his resources through the voluntary exchange of goods and services and then employs them to try to solve the dilemma faced by the entire valley where he lives. </spoiler> By and large I think that鈥檚 what the private sector does every single day: take on struggles faced by humanity and tilt the balance toward a better life for men and women around the globe. I have many friends who have survived cancer and other diseases and who enjoy a high quality of life as a result of the work of individuals pursuing this kind of work. Are they and the companies they work for perfect? Certainly not. But we should recognize the good that they do.
8) Why did you decide to become a writer?
I really didn鈥檛 have a choice. Once that seed of this story was planted in my mind, I had no choice but to cultivate it until it was ready for others to experience as this novel. I鈥檝e been possessed by this work for more than a decade and a half, and I couldn鈥檛 let it go until it was as perfect as I could make it.
9) What makes Blythe stand out from the crowd?
The single most-striking discovery is how Blythe has been so well received by individuals across all walks of life鈥攃onservatives and liberals and libertarians, people of faith and those guided by reason, gay and straight individuals, each have found something in Blythe that hits home for them in a deep and true way. In an era when we鈥檙e bombarded by others who demand we focus on our divisions, Blythe reminds readers across social divides that we can and should unite to elevate humanity and work together to a better, more caring and nobler destiny for us all.
10) In what forms is Blythe available and where can readers reach you?
Blythe is available at in paperback and as an e-reader. Readers and the media can reach me at johnekramer42@gmail.com.
