Edward R. Rogaishio writes a collection of poems, stories
and thoughts in a rather unconventional genre in Midnight to Infinity, The Humor and History of a Mischievous Artist. Part auto-biography, part poetry, part diary,
part philosophy, his voice is universally human. A sensitive, caring, loving man, with a depth
of life experiences and an intrinsic appreciation of nature and beauty, Edward
R. Rogaishio takes the reader into his world. A world that occupies his mind at times during the twilight of an
evening when his body is tired but his thoughts are too stimulating to succumb
to fatigue. A time when the unhurried
events of his daily schedule allow for the freedom of his cognitive adventurism;
boundless journeys into the past and ponderance of his future. A time when he is touched by his family, his
ancestors, and friends – enjoying the reunions and fanciful exchanges in his
mind. He thinks in a dimension where his
words are often put into a literary pentameter with clever associations and
rhymes – a wordsmith’s factory with thoughts going in and poetry being
extruded. All this, and more, make up a robust
300 page diversity of humor and history, from indeed the mind of an artist.
Ed is a mensch, a
real person with an undeniably spirited love of life. His narratives captivated me, especially his
observations while traveling behind the Iron
Curtain on goodwill missions of cultural exchange. Having my own personal heritage stem from Lithuania
and Russia, and understanding much of the history, he shed an immense amount of
clarity to my own understanding my ancestor’s plight.
If you think of his stories as a picture frame, then his
poetry is his art, making his book become a masterpiece. A work of art that adorns a home library
rather than a wall. Besides being an
accomplished painter of which his cover abstract art of blue and white waves
illustrates, Edward R. Rogaishio’s poetry has an illuminating and uplifting
theme to most of it. Oddly whimsical, in
a way reminiscent of the work by Ogden Nash, his poems take on clever and quite
unpredictable prose, at times teasing the reader as to thinking what possibly
could be his next line.
So when you consider the sheer volume of his epic quality
poetry, his heart-felt stories, his observant narratives and add in a score of
photographs and illustrations, you get a book – a unique book – a book of a life,
the life of what all will call “a friend” once having read. To Mr. Rogaishio, I toast you with a glass of
Stolichnaya in my left hand, and with my right hand pointer-finger snapping my
lower jawbone down by the base of my ear by my neck, and I salute you with a Nazdarovia.
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