Larry Binion

I was born in Sayre, Oklahoma in 1946. Began writing at age 12 for my own amusement and later for others in high school, giving away more than I kept. I didn't consider writing for pay until a writer's group and my family encouraged me in 1988.

Much of what I write cannot be easily put into a category. "Caricatures of Immortality" is a snapshot of unforgettable people, frozen in time, who have had an impact on my life. They are not character sketches.

I have many nicknames given to me, including "Fonzie," "The elbow man," "Patch Adams," "the wordmaster," and "the fleameister," who deals in humorosity.

As the fleameister, "The Complete Adventures of the flea, fly Floo" came about because of my daughter. It is an epic story on five chapters told in a long ruunning complex tongue twisters that tell of a flea, a fly, and a Dodo bird named Floo. They rob a bank, get arrested, get out of prison. Then they get put back in again. It is fun for kids and adults alike.

Also in this vein, there is "How to Tell/Write a children's Story" featuring the flea, the fly, and the Floo, and "Who Are the Wordmaster and Friends."

Also for fun, there is "Tales of El Lagarto" (Tales of the Alligator), which gently pokes fun at well . . . virtually everyone.

My poem collection is called "Shadow of Love and Life". Arranged in chronological order, they would tell the story of my life.

My (accelerated) autobiography is entitled "The Razing of the Id / the Chrietzberg Chronicles." The name imples the death of self-will and a complete reliance on the will of God, replacing self-will. Submission to God is the secret to health and happiness. Modern man has reduced the four loves that C. S. Lewis describes and has reduced it to one - self-love, which always leads to destruction.

The world does not know what love is or what it looks like. The Bible teaches us how to love. Once it is discovered and we learn how to use it, a person will always be happy, no matter what may befall.

The book covers certain years of my life wherein we visit haunted and abandoned Indian cemeteries to see if the stories were true or not. I tell my stories to Jimmy, a paraplegic and together we try to cheer each other up, all the while getting over a tragic breakup of a friend.