Hopes and Fears: Past and Present

In his new book of poetry, Peter Petschauer is an astute observer and chronicler of the human condition - his topics range from the horrors of the Holocaust to the tender delights of being a grandfather. These poems will make one cry, laugh, and marvel at how skillfully Peter Petschauer handles the joy and sorrow of his own life and the lives of his World War II contemporaries in Europe and in America. There is no sentimentality, no preaching, just the power of the best words possible chosen to paint vivid pictures of the human condition at its most raw and most beautiful.

Hopes and Fears: Past and Present is an extraordinary poetic collage covering the hopes and horrors of the eras of the times of Hitler to present.  It is also a poetical psychobiography of a an empathetic and special human being whose life spans two centuries, friendships cover two continents, and erudition borders on being limitless. – Paul H. Elovitz, PhD, Historian, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Professor, Director of the Psychohistory Forum, and Editor, Clio’s Psyche.

Peter Petschauer is a poet of remarkable talent.  His topics range from the horrors of the Holocaust to the tender delights of being a grandfather.  The poems made me cry, made me laugh, and made me marvel at how skillfully he handles the joy and sorrow of his own life and the lives of his World War II contemporaries in Europe and in America.  There is no sentimentality, no preaching, just the power of the best words possible chosen to paint vivid pictures of the human condition at its most raw and most beautiful. – Zohara M. Boyd, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, Appalachian State University.

Petschauer’s poetic works are like threads in a fine tapestry. He is a consummate weaver of words. – Noyes Capehart, Professor Emeritus, Appa-lachian State University. Artist and author. His most recent publications are Devils Mark (2013) and Chameleon (2017). 

In his new book of poetry, Peter Petschauer is an astute observer and chronicler of the human condition – from his family during and after Nazi Germany – to portraits of individual people. His use of free verse and narrative poetry takes the reader behind Petschauer’s eyes and ears and into his keen mind and compassionate heart. Readers of Petschauer’s poetry will know the world – and themselves – differently from before they read his book. – Howard F. Stein, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.