Contributor’s Corner
Bob McNeil
INTVW by Jazie Pilones
NRM: Tell us more about you. What has Bob McNeil been doing during this global pandemic? Bob McNeil: While possessing a great deal of concern for the
NRM: What pushed you to become a writer, and who were your early influences? BM: Two people had a profound effect on my need for literary
world, I read and watch the news with a zealot’s dedication. Moreover, in compliance with common sense and state rules, I wear a mask whenever my work and errands require me outside. Between you and me, I am content with staying indoors. All writers—this includes the obscure as well as the most recent Nobel Prize in Literature recipient—should enjoy being sedentary. Also, to write effectively, you need time for isolation. If nothing else, this pestiferous age affords us long periods for creative endeavors while sitting down. This pandemic, I predict, will sire a new era of philosophical writers.
expression: my father and grandmother. Both eloquent and quite erudite, they loved reading everything. Classical literature and modern material kept their interest. By following them, I became a bibliophile. Early on, I fell in love with poetry. My grandmother, a former school teacher, suffered from debilitating arthritis and failing eyesight. So, it became my job to read newspapers as well as various volumes to her aloud. Among them, the Bible was in steady rotation. Such an ongoing saturation of words made me want to compose poems and stories. There is one other point of interest: I was a loquacious child. My mouth had all the force of a Belgian Draft Horse.
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