My idea for this series was to shine a light on voices that are barely ever heard. Marketing genius that I am, I almost didn’t do a book on Brother Blue because he was a known figure in Boston and the worlds of storytelling, theology, public radio and education. Still I was very drawn to this man, and in the end I decided that he was not nearly as celebrated as he deserved to be. While his retelling of Shakespeare and Hans Christian Anderson and his parables of struggle and hope are worthy of their own volume(s), this book is inspired by Brother Blue’s own life stories and philosophical ruminations. That Blue and his wife Ruth Hill opened themselves to me, and shared their memories and dreams, will forever be one of the great privileges of my life.

Brother Blue and I did several readings together in the Boston area. Where he first confessed to to feeling somewhat naked at the sight of all these books stacked up in bookstores, he has since gone on to embrace the book as in important part of his legacy. He’s read from the book in Saint Petersburg, Russia; at Storytelling festivals; and recently recorded excerpts for a Shambhala audio book recording.