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Conversations with Orpheus

by Pierson F. Melcher

151 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-0508; ISBN 1-4251-2104-7; US$16.85, C$16.85, EUR11.51, £8.70

This multi-talented author's latest book . . . his best . . . a charmer. A mystical garden of myth, music, fascinating bits of history . . . both serious and lighthearted without either damaging the impact of the other.

About the Book

There will be a quiz when you have finished reading: Is this science fiction? Non-fiction? A novel? An essay disguised as a novel? A historical romance? A mythological tale? A fantasy in novel form? A treatise on budgeting and spending for the arts in secondary school? A book on travel? A glance at the development of music in the western world? Well, the answer to all of these is, "Yes!" Taking a point of view of a Board President who must decide to cut his school's instructional budget for the year, Pete's little book is a charmer, a wonderful walk through a mystical garden of myth, a close examination of some fascinating bits of world history which manages to be both serious and light-hearted without either damaging the impact of the other.

Ian, our hero and Board President, first meets Orpheus on a park bench in Ian's home town. Thinking the unkempt bum on the bench was of little importance, Ian, a democrat at heart, speaks kindly to him. One thing leads to another until finally the non-plussed Ian realizes that he is speaking to the spirit of the famous musician to the Greek gods.

From that point on, the relationship develops steadily, ultimately including Mallery, Ian's wife. Among the sites visited by the three of them are Chartres, France; Athens, Greece; New York City; and New Haven, Conneticut. In each case we learn something else about music. We even discover that jazz is the music most representative of the new - world government of the United States.

This book touches so many bases that it is prime reading for educators, parents, school boards, students: all will enjoy the repartee and the ideas advocated by Ian and Orpeheus.

About the Author

When we consider that Pete Melcher's life has spanned three quarters of the twentieth century; when we recall that the Great Depression started in 1929, three years after he was born; when we add service in World War II; when we remember that in Philadelphia, where he lived, horse drawn wagons did most of the delivery and clean-up work, while in some areas there were still gas street lights that were hand lighted nighlty; and when we further consider that the world was not yet dependent upon automobiles, airplanes were few, and computers were only a dream; then and only then will we begin to understand the incredible changes that have swept the world during that lifetime. The result has been that his professional and recreational "adventures" have almost stretched beyond belief for his young descendants by whom such things are taken for granted…