Greetings and Blessings! In my last post I mentioned that I have finished my newest book, Lifelong Companion: My Journey through 100 Dylan Songs, and am beginning the search for an agent and a publisher. Lifelong Companionmay be characterized as a hybrid memoir, mixing music history and criticism with memoir and an overlay of recent U.S. history.

To whet your appetite, here are just a few Dylan and book-related facts. Bob Dylan hails from Minnesota and is 84 years old; he continues to record and play live. His big break occurred when he was 20 and received a glowing NY Times review, leading to a Columbia recording contract. His first album of mostly covers flopped, but he became a folk sensation with “Blowin’ in the Wind”, a big hit for Peter, Paul & Mary, and the release of his second LP. I’ve been following him closely since 1965 and have seen him in concert a dozen times, meeting him in Santa Monica in 1979. It is estimated that Dylan has sold over 125 million records. His most celebrated LPs are The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Blonde on Blonde (1966), and Blood on the Tracks (1975). Though not known for his singles, 1965’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is widely considered one of the most ground breaking, influential singles of all-time. One of the most covered songwriters in history, some of his best loved songs include— “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”, “The Times they Are a-Changin”, “Chimes of Freedom”, “It Ain’t Me, Babe”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Desolation Row”, “Visions of Johanna”, “Just Like a Woman”, “All Along the Watchtower”, “Lay Lady Lay”, “ I Shall Be Released”, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, “Forever Young”, “Tangled Up in Blue”, “Every Grain of Sand”, “Blind Willie McTell”, “Mississippi”, and countless more.

Dylan has won Grammys, an Oscar, a Golden Globe. He is in the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has been honored by the governments of France, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S. His work is taught in universities, from Harvard to Texas to British Columbia. He’s even been awarded a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize in Literature. I’m thrilled to tell the story of how my life has intersected with Dylan’s music these past 60+ years. I’m hopeful my book will be available soon. Thanks for reading.