After Woodstock by Howard Reiss

By Karen McCarraher

Jack and Ryan were friends from preschool days.  As they approached high school graduation, they talked about their plans and dreams.  Ryan planned to go to college, then law school and become a partner in a prestigious law firm.  He wanted a penthouse in Manhattan, a beach house in the Hamptons and all the finer things in life.  Jack was a math genius, and he dreamed of solving the world’s most difficult calculations and perhaps inventing a supercomputer.  During the summer after graduation, they decided to go to a concert being held in a farmer’s field in Woodstock, New York.

When they get to the concert, Ryan is mesmerized by the music, the pot, and all the girls.  Jack, on the other hand, meets a girl named Astrid and he spends the weekend in her tent with her.  The weekend marked them both indelibly.  As Ryan prepared to go to college, Jack changes his mind about going.  Instead, Jack takes a bus back to Woodstock and moves in with Astrid.  They resided with people who believed they were one with the universe and the universe never ends.

It was almost a year before Ryan heard from Jack again.  Jack was living simply.  He and Astrid (who had now changed her name to Kai) grew their own vegetables.  Jack worked as a carpenter; Kai embroidered flowers on jeans and belts and sold them in a shop in Woodstock.  Although Jack wrote infrequently, he never provided a return address.  Perhaps he didn’t want Ryan’s outlook on life to invade his peace.  Ryan continued on his quest for money and power and attained it at a very young age.

Eventually, Kai and Jack had a daughter they named Harmony.  When she was in middle school, she traveled to New York on a school trip and met her “Uncle Ry”.  Ryan had never had time to build a family.  He married once but it ended in divorce after two years. Jack continued to protest the Vietnam war as well as corporations who made items used in the war.  His correspondence with Ryan continued and Jack continued to try to get Ryan to embrace a simpler life.

At age 77, Jack was on his deathbed with Ryan at his side.  Their friendship had lasted seven decades.  But who do you think lived the happier life?

About the Author

Howard Reiss is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School.  He co-founded a soup kitchen in Nyack, New York where he lives and runs.

Published by:  Krance Publishing

Available Online

The author describes her book as “a woman’s crime love story set in the urban Midwest during the Great Depression”.

Ella Monroe grew up in the south side of Chicago with an alcoholic, prostitute mother.  After an attack by one of her mother’s “clients”, Dulce moved in with Mama Lee who ran a day care center in her neighborhood.  Dulce dreamed of becoming a couture fashion designer.  She did not go to school; but Mama Lee recognized how bright she was and provided books and materials for her to learn. 

When she was in her teens, she met Perry Savage, an Army Captain, and spent one night in delightful ecstasy.  She left him early the next morning with just a note. Perry searched for her but because she had not given him her true name, he was unable to find her and he returned to the Army.

Dulce’s friends had nicknamed her “Lil Empress”. As she grew older, she despised her poverty and drifted towards the dark side of Chicago.  Although she still dreamed of becoming an international fashion designer, she began running numbers for “Countess” who was a queen in Detroit’s gambling trade.  She saved her money and bought a run-down hotel in Gary, Indiana.  She had it completely refurbished and named it “The Palace”.  It was from there that she launched her gambling and other activities such as money laundering.  These were very lucrative and Empress became very rich.  

Years later, she again met Perry Savage. They fell in love and were married.  Perry became her bodyguard, hotel manager and anything else Empress asked him to do.  All the while she continued to design clothes for herself, Countess, Mama Lee, Perry and all her friends.  

During that time, the Midwest (as well as other parts of this country) was blighted with racial discrimination and police corruption. Empress had managed to keep her business away from them until one day, when she and Mama Lee went out to buy sodas and they encountered the police. Empress was arrested for no reason and when Mama Lee objected, the police chief grabbed her around the neck and choked her to death.  Thus began a war between the corrupt politicians and police and Empress’ organization.  Empress was disgusted with America.  She and Perry went to France and noted that people of color were not treated differently.  Empress longed to move and raise her children there.

So, readers, do Empress and Perry get their happily ever after or is she destroyed by the Chicago or Gary, Indiana corruption?  Does Empress ever fulfill her dream of fashion design?  Read on to find out. 

This is a powerful book about the climate in America in the thirties, the joy of family and friends, and the love and belief in God.  And thank heaven for the teacher who told the author: “Girl, write the damn book”…

About the Author

Tarris Marie was raised by her grandparents who lived in the Midwest.  She grew up listening to their music and hearing their stories which formed the basis for her book. It is our hope that Tarris will continue to bless us with more of her talent.

Published by: 

Black Odyssey Media, LLC, Dallas, TX

Available from Amazon.com