about Paths: Journeys Through Wonder, Danger, and Self (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780998091006)

Robert Nichols, Poet. Born: 1944. Married to Carol Riehl Nichols from 1965 - 1981 and, again and forever, 1991. Father of Kristin Nichols (born 1970). Son of Robert and Hattie, brother to Nancy Sue; friend, cousin, uncle to some fine people... and all the rest, bless me, is poetry. I'm a former English teacher, truck driver, photographer, Maytag Man, janitor, contractor, carpenter, and, well, I've done a bit of many things in support of my family and my art. I was fifteen when I determined, regardless of practical or monetary considerations, I would be a poet. In the ensuing decades, my commitment to the art and craft of written communication has not diminished. Some might doubt the wisdom of the path I have taken, but none can fault the passion to which I have given this life choice. There is poetry, as there is music and art form, in all the sounds, motions, emotions, and textures of the living world through which we pass. With spill and flow of words I create poems, songs, essays, stories, novels-all gleaned from the energy and magic of my life's interactions with people and nature and the Gods that spin us all. My words are driven by a soul-deep intent to fully experience the challenge and fascination of life and, most significantly, to communicate what is realized from this grand encounter. When I write a poem, a novel, an essay, a grocery list, or an e-mail to my insurance lady, I do so as one whose life is devoted to a principle of writing with clarity, wit, and compassion. The goal of my art: to intimately express the Universal. Enjoy, my world, I write for you.