Martin's Voice

"Anybody here seen my old friend Martin? I just looked around and he's gone... --Dion Francis DiMucci "Set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Martin's Voice is a crime spoof and a last hurrah to journalism, a craft which flourished briefly in the latter half of the 20th century. It's release date is ironic, as it marks the 35 anniversary of a prison riot/uprising, whose actual events before, during and after the incident are chronicled. Additionally, the novel tells of the unlawful occupation of the Tibetan nation. That Tibet's situation continues today, as does proliferation of the U.S. penitentiary industry, which houses the world's second-largest prison population (second only to China) are evidence that Christ, whose death curiously is celebrated more than his life, was apparently for nothing.

Originally an unpublished short story, "Martin's Voice" became a novel in order to raise money for a wheelchair for Miss Mary Alice Morrissey, an Illinois schoolteacher who has, since embarking with her friend on a train in Bloomington, Illinois, wound students through the intricacies of Latin, English, the Dewey Decimal system, music and stage. Only recently, Miss Morrissey combed her way physically through deserted high-altitude streets of Winter Park, Colorado. A health condition forced her into giving up her home and moving to Moweaqua, Illinois retirement center. There, gradually, her needs grew to include a wheelchair. In recent weeks, however, staff observed her using a walker. Evident that her medical need was not a wheelchair, but rather a trapeze-like device invented years ago by an occupational therapist or a chair which lifts her into a sitting position, it is determined that proceeds of "Martin's Voice" go toward such a purchase.