A year and a half ago, I released my first book, MUSIC TITANS – 250 GREATEST RECORDING ARTISTS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS. Many of you have read it and have been hugely supportive in my efforts to forge a new career as an author, and I am extremely grateful. I have just completed my second book, and I have begun the process of searching for a publisher (that’s the harder task). The working title for my newest effort is LIFELONG COMPANION – A PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH 100 DYLAN SONGS. Below is a brief excerpt from the Introduction—

There have been thousands of books written about the music, life, and impact of Bob Dylan, literally thousands. Why would you want to read another? As a historian, an educator, a musician, and a writer, I decided to take a novel approach to Dylan, arguably the greatest artist of our time. Bob Dylan has been a deeply intimate part of my life for over 60 years. John Kennedy was still president when I heard my first Dylan song. I’ve spent countless hours listening to his records; I’ve attended numerous concerts, at both ends of the country; and I’ve sung his songs on the beaches, parks, and street corners of Southern California, in assorted wine bars, clubs, private homes, and at youth gatherings in both the United States and Mexico; in church, and with students in the classroom.

            In this book, we’ll look at 100 carefully chosen Bob Dylan songs through three distinct lenses— through the lens of music criticism; through the lens of personal memoir; and through the lens of recent American history. Above all, this book is a heartfelt labor of love, a way for me to express both my understanding of and deep appreciation for the art of Bob Dylan and how it has moved and shaped me for over six decades. Bob Dylan’s profound creations have been intimately interwoven with the various strands of my personal life and with the life of the wider world we’ve all shared these past decades.  My hope is that I have succeeded in capturing something of the timeless, ineffable, beating heart reality hinted at in the songs of Bob Dylan, by looking at 100 of them anew through these three lovingly polished, personal lenses.