This is a book of remembering. Of keeping hold of the things worth keeping. Of remembering someone you lost. And when you're fifteen and you lose someone, the most important one in your life, you might need help remembering who the lost one was, who you were, and who you are years later. After you've moved on. The Red Jacket is about a daughter's loss of her mother. A book about the things she should remember. The jewels of her family, her child life, her mother's care. All the things worth keeping. Like a red jacket. Bill Morris' second book of essays follows the success of his first book, Notes to a Five-Year-Old, that chronicled his daughter's childhood with warmth and winning wisdom. The Red Jacket picks up ten years later, as Morris writes of the loss of his wife and his concern that his daughter will need to know more of her mother later, while growing up. Morris paints clear and heartwarming vignettes of a young woman's youth, her joys, her sorrows, and stresses, so that his daughter can better understand her mother and keep her close after her loss. These are essays that we all have lived. And a father's kind words for his daughter. A book of remembering of someone gone, so that you can remember who you are. "Wonderful book. What treasured memories..." Ann Walker "Treasure received!" Sally Grey "Thanks for the book....I cried twice." Erica Johnson "Pretty amazing pieces...They leave me inspired." Kate Dickey "I cried several times during The Red Jacket...So powerful!" Pamela Eakins
About the Author: Bill Morris is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and author of twelve books. One of Bill's books of which he is most proud is Notes To a Five-Year-Old, a group of essays, fatherly observations, and advice written for his daughter when she was five. He has also published two additional books of family essays, The Red Jacket, essays for his daughter about her mother who was lost to cancer, and Good Morning, Ryan, a book of humor, insights, and vignettes of childhood for his second five-year-old daughter, Ryan Rosemary. His latest book, The Astral Zoo, is a novel that describes the life of zoo animals who live in freedom in the zoo as astral beings, living as animals struggling for meaning in a potentially meaningless place. Bill has published many magazine articles and written as a software columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. His books are mainly in the computer field and he's been an acquisitions editor with Hayden Book Company, a trade computer book publisher. His first novel, Grey Goddess, about California mysticism, surfing, and the search for lost spirit, received excellent reviews and praise around the world. Surfing magazine said, "A true but comical depiction of the surfing lifestyle, Bill Morris has hit the lip with his book Grey Goddess!" Grey Goddess has sold in surfing and water-related sports stores throughout the United States and abroad. Reviewers have compared it to Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Golf in the Kingdom, and even Siddartha.