Robert Lathrop Hale Sr.

I was raised by two English teachers, so that gave me a start on writing, which I have done all my life. In my poetry phase, I had about 200 of my poems and other writings published in 50 periodicals from Mennonite to Catholic. I included many of these in Creation and Re-Creation and in some of my other books.

My newest book is Babykins, the Littlest Elf, which is a children's picture book illustrated by the talented Christine Stude and edited by my daughter, Beth Lindsey. Our team plans to issue a companion coloring book to Babykins.

My best seller is the Glen Meadows Book of Memories, a collaboration of 26 residents of my retirement community. It contains hundreds of years of memories.

Having some writing skills helped me through the University of North Dakota (UND) and Garrett seminary. At UND I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (a scholastic honorary) and was nominated by UND and the state selection committee to compete for a Rhodes Scholarship, which I did not win, but I won a beautiful bride from UND. Elaine Behl is the inspiration for the "angel" in Honeymoon Parish. (The cover picture shows us ready to go on our honeymoon.) We celebrated our 66th wedding anniversary. Honeymoon Parish is not an autobiography. Although it contains some events that happened to us, it also contains many funny incidents that happened to our friends and people we heard about. I hope that my books will brighten your day. Elaine and I have 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren plus a number of "honorary" grands and greats.

Here's a review of Honeymoon Parish:

"Honeymoon Parish could just as well have been called 'Hilarious Parish.' Looking for laughs? They never stop. Page after page, chapter after chapter, the surprises are continuous. You won't want to put it down. When you reach the end, you'll want more. It's the perfect gift for all your friends, particularly when they need a pick-me-up that won't let them down."

Bruce Robinson, Bruce's Basement Books (on the web)

Jesus and His Friends was my first book. It shows the human side of the disciples.

Grampa Hale's Tales is a collection of stories for children. The cover is by an artist friend, the late Jim Sizemore. It contains a fairy tale by granddaughter Janine Hale Reter, some tall tales, and a delightful story-poem by Wesley Brown, a childhood friend.

Imagine That! contains stories and poems about the future and the past. Ray Bradbury wrote: "I shall treasure your poems always."

Thanks, Bob.