About the author
Born in Detroit, Ron Spears was raised by two loving parents and well schooled about life by growing up the youngest child with two older sisters. He grew up in an extended family of gifted and renowned recording artists including the Winans and several aunts and uncles in the music industry. Educated within the Detroit Public School system, he graduated from the renowned Cass Technical High School. He chose the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta to further his education and graduated with a degree in Physics. Ron continued his education at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he received a Master’s degree in Engineering. Professionally, Ron has worked for two of the world’s largest management consulting firms where he travels extensively to help major corporations engage in large-scale business transformation projects.
In 2008, Ron was inspired to begin writing poetry focusing on spirituality, empowerment and life purpose. He began performing his poems at Spoken Word venues in the US and Canada where he traveled extensively on business. He received the stage name “The Storyteller” from the host of a popular Spoken Word weekly event called The Love Jones Experience where he was a regular performance poet. Ron has travelled to Africa five times and is fully aware of the role the Griot played throughout history by telling stories to pass down oral history and information from generation to generation. He has decided to graciously accept and embrace the performance stage name given to him.
His debut spoken word CD, Rise Up, is a collection of the love, temptation and empowerment poems he often performs (available on iTunes and Amazon Mp3). The deeply passionate and thought-provoking lyrics in all 8 tracks on this CD generate dialogue and debates about relationships and self-reflection. Ron provides some insight into the meaning behind the messages within the Rise Up project:
“Love and Temptation…it has caused the rise and downfall of great (and not so great) men and women throughout the history of time. I have assembled an entertaining and educating collection of poems based on relationships and experiences throughout my life to help provide some perspective on arguably the most captivating topic in the world. The energy that comes from love is as strong as anything in life. The laws of physics tell us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That reminds us that the energy that comes from temptation is as dangerous as the power that comes from love. That’s where empowerment comes in. Being emotionally bound to a person and certain principles can best regulate the opposing energy caused by love and temptation. Marriage is the ultimate commitment for loving relationships, but it will not sustain without the empowering energy that comes from finding and fulfilling your purpose in life. Temptation is definitely out there and if you are looking for it, you will most certainly find it. Find something that serves a higher purpose to counter that energy and your commitment will survive. For me, that higher purpose is poetry.”
Poems in the Key of Life is Ron’s first novel and a direct extension of his Rise Up project as it expands the dialogue into the motivation behind the lyrics. This novel features two characters, a father and son having a long discussion about life over a bottle of cognac. Throughout the discussion with his father, the son shares the outcome of an intense soul searching process that was revealed to him through poetry. Ron provides some insight into what he wishes to accomplish with his novel:
“Life is such a wonderful journey and I have been blessed with a gift to express my own reflections through the creative art of poetry. The title of my novel is obviously a tribute to Stevie Wonder’s game-changing album. My prayer is that these poetic memoirs shared within this touching story will have a similar impact that Stevie’s empowering lyrics had during a similar time of economic and social uncertainty. Reading these poetic memoirs will help you find peace and balance in your personal and professional life. There are so many forces active in destroying our life force and we must counter them with positive and empowering energy. We all have the capacity to overcome negative circumstances and transform our lives by simply leveraging the greatest asset God has given us…the ability to think and make wise decisions to improve rather than destroy our quality of life.”
On a personal note, Ron has been married for fourteen years and met his wife in the tenth grade. Together, they have a son and daughter and reside in the metro Detroit Area. His preference in music is House, Jazz, Neo Soul and Classical. His musical influences include Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Michael Franks, KEM and the many unknown House music lyricists with powerful messages about love, joy and harmony. He has an extensive library of books and enjoys reading about African History, Physics & Consciousness, Spirituality and Personal Development.