School Security Guard Writes Novel
Jersey Journal Newspaper
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
As children walked through the halls of School 14 over the past 14 years, few knew the story of Clarence Matthews, the 76-year-old Jersey City Board of Education security guard. Now that he has published a novel, that might change.
His first book, entitled "Jacob's Rite of Passage, Vol. 1: Young Jacob," focuses on the youngest of four children from a family of sharecroppers in Fayetteville, N.C. Jacob learns various life lessons, such as "mother-son over-bonding," the observation that a woman can't teach a boy how to be a man.
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Page Turners: A Rich Mystery
Fayetteville Observer
by Meredith Jacobs
Clarence V. Matthews coming-of-age novel, "Jacob's Rite of Passage," is set in Fayetteville during the Great Depression. Peter Manor is the youngest child in a family of sharecroppers and has higher aspirations for his life during a time of social and educational segregation.
Matthews' describes his book as being about "pertinent life truths that involve mother-son overbonding betrayal, abandonment, sexual exploration and misconceptions about manhood."
Matthews lives in New Jersey and has more than 30 years of experience as a real estate agent. Sequels are planned for his book, which is $8.95 and be orderd from online booksellers or at his website, jacobsriteofpassage.com.
Wealth of Words at Book Festival
Jersey Journal by Rafal Rogoza
September 25 2012
Readers flocked to Van Vorst Park in Jersey City on Saturday to peruse published works by local authors as part of "A Tale of Our City," the Jersey City Free Public Library's fifth annual book festival. The festival serves as a venue of authors of all genres and ages to showcase their works and to bring the texts to life with readings on stage.
Among them were Clarence B. Matthews, 78, of Wade Street, whose recently published "The Man Jacob" is his third book of fiction abut a young African-American boy who leaves behind his life in the South to begin a new life in Jersey City.
Matthews said the book depicts how families who have nothing can pull together to cope with life's obstacles, adding: "Those families have a lot of love."
Author's Media Kit
Includes: the author's biography, book synopsis, press release, author inspiration and contact information.
Blog photo credits: pexels.com, pixabay.com
We can borrow a lot from times not so far in the distant past to help us overcome what is before us. Times are not what they used to be and there is no use shutting our minds to the fact that times-a-changing.
In this and future blog posts, we will tackle and discuss the issue of economics and its impact in our community.
As best we can, we need to make a concerted effort to commit to making our hard-earned dollars work for us. As the largest consumers, if all we earn is spent outside of the community, how can we sustain? Even if you have left the community, or moved outside of the immediate area, visit and seize opportunities to give back. Be intentional.
Keeping in step with the stated theme of "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child," and the appropriated action to "Reclaim the Village," I believe we must look at the inner workings of the village and take proper action, yes, the necessary steps to arrive at our desired outcome.
The village community is about the people, but we the people must commit to becoming productive participants within our village.
This week, I would like to further expound on this principle. I pose this question for all to ponder, “Just what if…”
What if we stretch, expand our thinking around collaboration among churches, organizations and non-profits. What if they came together, joined forces so to speak?” What if we could then improve our purchasing power?
The blog post this week is directed toward the consumers, yes, the customers. We have a tendency to be very hard on the merchants in our community. We place more stringent rules and guidelines for patronage on our local merchants than on the larger stores and mall merchants we often frequent.