A Conscientious Life (Sailing Against the Wind)
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“What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure? I think it is the hope of loving.” Master Eckhart THE EARLY YEARS The amiable six year-old Jonathan Stark walked slowly and carefully across the front lawns during the annual Cub Scout project. It was a beautiful and calm spring morning in Wisconsin. With young Jon were members of his Cub pack sauntering along in mostly obedient fashion and following their scout leader. They were picking up bags of food they had requested the week before for the “Cubs for the Homeless” drive. The pack leader was a ruddy-faced rotund woman who was often prone to intermittent loud barks. Her troop tried to stay in line---but sometimes failed to meet Kari’s strict expectations. Kari said felt a compulsion to run the Cub Scout troop because “nobody else in town seemed to want to.” It was a trip down Barker, Cherry, Adams, Schultz, Stoll, and Monarch Streets and then along Ondorf, St. James, Haux and Park Avenues. A vehicle drove down each street and avenue to collect the food bags. A lone robin pranced upon Mr. Templeton’s garage roof. Apparently he had lost his flock and was all alone. A tomcat in a nearby window sill eyed the bird with rapt attention, so focused on his potential prey, he had awareness of the transparent barrier between himself and a potential carnivorous victory. The Ford truck picking up food bags was driven by Kari Bender’s husband Dirk. His friends called him “Razor” because he was hardly ever clean-shaven. Dirk’s cigarette smoldered just a couple of inches away from his chapped lips. Dirk played a conservative talk show on the Ripon, Wisconsin AM radio station called “Clark Smitherton, America’s Patriot.” He revealed a smirk when Clark talked about “the liberals” and how they were ruining America and “trashing the proud and sacred place America was meant to be.” He talked about the unions and how they were all corrupt and were going to be the “downfall of the entire nation.” The loud voice over the radio carried to the sidewalks and to the ears of some of the young scouts. The tone, anger and attitude irritated young Jonathan, but he was far too young to put his feelings into words or to understand the complexity and abstractness of the politics involved. The course nature of the articulation over the airwaves seemed to piece the cool air with its belligerence and vindictiveness. Kindergartner Toby was Kari and Dirk’s oldest son and he boasted that he would someday drive a big cement truck like his Daddy. He was also a bit of a show off and handled any opportunity for negative or positive attention with uncanny skill. He was known as the first grader who nudged and tested the other children, but he didn’t intend to be a mean-spirited person. He didn’t want to see any of the other kids suffer. He bullied and prodded Jonathan frequently, but it was mostly playful and not malicious. “Why are you so quiet? Are you still a baby?” Then he would mix it with, “It’s OK Jonny, I used to be quiet too.” Toby knew Jon was smart and deep inside was jealous of the intelligence he would never have. When teased, Jonathan would give him a pensive look and he wouldn’t even think of jumping into any kind of retaliatory response. Laconic and with a stoic countenance, the young boy trudged on. Jon thought it was better to be quiet than to tempt a bully. Jon’s mother always told him that it wasn’t worth it to challenge a bully’s games, that it would only “bring you to their level.” He was learning to be quite good at playing along and being safe. In his young life, Jon would find, ironically, that carefulness would be his best friend. “When we are very young our horizons are close by, but as we grow and mature and carefully experience life, our horizons began to expand, giving us an ever-deepening perspective on life and a broadening concept of what constitutes reality. Curiosity is the great impetus that constantly urges us forward in our journey to discover what lies around the next bend in the path or over the next hill. With an ever-expanding consciousness, the puzzle of life accumulates more pieces and the picture becomes more inclusive and better defined.” Margaret Lathrop from “Rainbows of Hope” Jonathan’s mother Karen is a petite woman, about 5-foot three inches tall. Most of her friends find her to be an intense woman in many ways. She appears to put an immense amount of thought into anything she does. Karen has a wonderful folksy sense of humor and a way of making people feel very comfortable. She is cautious like Jon but smiles and laughs more often. Karen moved with her husband to Meadeville three years ago. She always said that she felt that Meadeville’s pleasant countryside was a kind, peaceful and rustic atmosphere…a good place to raise a family.
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About the Book
In his first book Jeffrey helped hundreds of families dealing with the autism diagnosis and provided his own personal strategies for coping, giving personal examples and doing extensive research on possible cures. In his new book "A Conscientious Life" Jeffrey submits a semi-autobiographical account of a young man(Jonathan Stark) and his life struggles including his struggles with having an autistic child(Steven). The author also explores the subjects of religion, politics, love and loss. Here are some reviews of the new book: "The book weaves a compelling story line that certainly engaged me. I think the author's imagery is colorful, and capturing." Dr. Darold Treffert, Author and Autism Expert, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin “I think the dramatic arc has to do with the main character's honesty, genuine heart and naivety confronting a cruel and unfeeling world and the challenge to incorporate that new sense of realism into his world while still retaining and even deepening the main character's humane way of being in the world and with others around him. The razor's edge of that confrontation would seem to be the foreshadowed and unexpected burden of living with autistic child.” Fred Hersom, longtime friend and musician, Concord, California “Overall, the book is an excellent read. Since it covers many parts of life, it has a very wide appeal. Those who would enjoy this book would be: those who are very politically active or spend their time keeping informed, those who have had trouble relating to their parents, those who have felt any uncertainty in their lives, those who have had to deal with the grief of their parent’s deaths, and finally, those who are the parent of a child with autism.” James Williams, autism writer and nationally-known speaker, Chicago, Illinois Here are some reviews of the new book: "The book weaves a compelling story line that certainly engaged me. I think the author's imagery is colorful, and capturing." Dr. Darold Treffert, Author and Autism Expert, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin “I think the dramatic arc has to do with the main character's honesty, genuine heart and naivety confronting a cruel and unfeeling world and the challenge to incorporate that new sense of realism into his world while still retaining and even deepening the main character's humane way of being in the world and with others around him. The razor's edge of that confrontation would seem to be the foreshadowed and unexpected burden of living with autistic child.” Fred Hersom, longtime friend and musician, Concord, California “Overall, the book is an excellent read. Since it covers many parts of life, it has a very wide appeal. Those who would enjoy this book would be: those who are very politically active or spend their time keeping informed, those who have had trouble relating to their parents, those who have felt any uncertainty in their lives, those who have had to deal with the grief of their parent’s deaths, and finally, those who are the parent of a child with autism.” James Williams, autism writer and nationally-known speaker, Chicago, Illinois “It has such a powerful voice...most people would love to be able to write a book with your talents.” Maeve Quinn, former Sheboygan School Board member and community leader “The author shows a tremendous ability to capture the human condition. His work takes us from early stages in life through college years and the loss of a close family member, and beyond. We can all relate to this. His search for the central characters' identity reminds us of our own adolescent phase in life, and how we work through it. In sum, this book does an excellent job of capturing that which we all know. The title does the book justice: It truly is ‘A Conscientious Life.’’” Michael J. Tollifson Singer/Songwriter, Sheperdstown, West Virginia
About the Author
Jeffrey McAndrew has worked as a news reporter in radio broadcasting for 19 years and is the author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy" (2003) He helped form the first Autism school in Fond du Lac called "First Step" in 1999. Jeffrey has two sons, Ryan and Stephen and has been married to wife Debbie since 1994. He resides in Wisconsin. Jeffrey has won the Fond du Lac Friend of Education Award in 1999 and was named to the Oshkosh North High School Hall of Fame in 2005. While in the radio business Jeffrey won over 20 broadcasting awards from the Associated Press, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, the Wisconsin Education Association and the Wisconsin Council of Developmental Disabilities. In his first book Jeffrey helped hundreds of families dealing with the autism diagnosis and provided his own personal strategies for coping, giving personal examples and doing extensive research on possible cures. In his new book "A Conscientious Life" Jeffrey submits a semi-autobiographical account of a young man(Jonathan Stark) and his life struggles including his struggles with having an autistic child(Steven). The book follows Jonathan's life from age six until his 30's. The book contains the main themes of autism, religion, education, liberal politics, love and loss.