UNKNOWN

This is the second collection of my favorite writings from over the decades. It includes short stories, essays, profiles, flights of imagination, even short plays. I consider them to be too good to be relegated to a password-protected computer file or dog-eared file folders in my desk. I hope you agree these were worth saving, and reading. The subjects are varied. A Chuck Berry sculpture, stolen and hunted down by a private eye. A Charlie Chaplin Christmas Eve fantasy which includes Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle.. My imaginary meeting as a writer with Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner. My mother's 93-year-old baby grand piano, which I play today. The pain of quitting softball. The benefits of writing my own obituary. The true story of a woman WWII pilot. A profile of a nationally-known, incredibly prolific sculptor. Plus a lengthy excerpt from a novel-in-progress about Chaplin making "The Great Dictator" as Europe plunged into war.

I like to write. I did that for 35 years as a writer and creative director for major ad agencies. I sold beer, dog food, salsa, snowmobiles, and telephone service (in the days before the internet and cell phones). But writing is only half the mission. The other half is finding readers. It's the same equation for artists who need viewers and actors who need an audience.

Several items were published in magazines and collections. Two of the plays were produced-one about the unusual waiting room between life and death, and one about duck hunting.

Gerry Mandel's previous books include "Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin," a highly-acclaimed novel; "Where the Mountain Takes Me" and "Roads, Paths and Forks," both biographies; and the novelette, "The Negro in the Basement." His writings have been published in a variety of literary journals and magazines, and his plays have been staged by several regional theater companies.