New Contributor at BC Refugees: meet MICHAEL CLARKE

          For a long time, we have been reading the book reviews of Michael Clarke, as his interests lie across several genres, including weird fiction, horror, dark fantasy, sword and sorcery, science fiction, mystery, crime, detective, and pulp adventure.  These are genres that we here at BC Refugees also have an appreciation for.  We are glad to announce that Michael Clarke has joined the list of new contributors to BC Refugees, and will be posting many of his reviews on our blog site.  Here’s a little bit about Michael in his own words:

          “To go back to the beginning, this all started in my pre-school years when parents and other relatives would often read aloud to me - - everything from Golden storybooks to comic books.  I learned to read from comic books, and soon progressed to reading Hardy Boys and Tarzan novels.  When I discovered some library collections during my middle-school years, I devoured everything from classic science-fiction to classic classics (Ivanhoe, etc.) to Conan The Barbarian, Fahfred And The Grey Mouser, Theodore Sturgeon, Harlan Ellison and Robert E Heinlein.  All this reading was interspersed with a generous sprinkling of assorted comic books.”

          “Marvel got me through my high school years, except for ninth grade when I decided that girls would not think my reading comics was cool - - so I quit and (sob!) gave away or discarded enough classic books that I could have retired several years ago If I still had them to sell at today’s prices.  My absence from reading comics only lasted about 14 months.  I spent some time in home recovery, in bed for awhile after wisdom tooth surgery and complications.  That’s when I started reading comics again, and kept at it right through college (although very limited, due to finances).  I kept reading through my first full-time job, marriage (an understanding wife), and the birth of our first son.  When we moved to a higher cost of living area in the 1980’s I quit again for budgetary reasons.  That also lasted about fourteen months, when the financial situation improved and I could afford to spend some money on comics again.”

          “I’m still married to that wonderful woman, and my two sons are now fully mature adults.  I’ve got a respectable collection of comics, books, movies and music and keep adding to it.  I think I have amassed more items of popular culture than I can read, listen, and enjoy in my remaining years.  I think it’s a compulsion among us collectors.  Others (less kind) would call it a sickness.”

          “I’m really excited to be a part of BC Refugees, to share my thoughts on various works, and hope the regular readers of the blog will appreciate my contributions.”

          “ I think that about covers everything that might be of interest.  Oh yeah, almost forgot = I was on track for a career as a brain surgeon until a sled riding accident split my head open at the tender age of seven years, forcing me to re-evaluate my career path.  One little incident can have ramifications for a lifetime!”