Books by Former Ambassadors Raise Questions
and Spirits
by Christina Medvescek
An invitation to imagine and tales of courage are woven
through three recent books written by former MDA National Goodwill Ambassadors
Benjamin F. Cumbo IV (1996-1997), Mike Neufeldt (1987-1988) and Mattie
J.T. Stepanek (2002-2004).
Imagine Creating an Ethical World
That’s the challenge thrown out by 18-year-old
Ben Cumbo in his self-published novel King Me! This challenge is followed closely by a second: Act on your imaginings.
Cumbo, who has Becker muscular dystrophy, began working
on his story at age 14, at the behest of high school teachers. A video
gamer, avid reader and lover of “spirited conversations on world
issues,” Cumbo combined a little of everything in his spy/action/philosophical/political/game-playing/coming-of-age
plot.
The story centers on four high school friends from parochial
school — the Four Apostles — known for their high ethics.
Now young adults who’ve taken separate paths to success, the four
meet each year to ponder the big questions of life (and question their
own consciences) while playing a marathon session of the war board game
Risk.
“King Me! reduces the
world’s ills to conversation and a contest of strategies that
becomes a test not just of skill but a challenge to the values that
rule our planet,” said Richard M. Cohen in his foreword. (Cohen,
who has multiple sclerosis, is the author of the best-selling Blindsided,
published last year.)
Cumbo, of Upper Marlboro, Md., is no stranger to accomplishment.
At age 10 he designed monkey bars for kids with disabilities and at
13 hetestified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on behalf of the MD-CARE
Act. An Eagle Scout and honor student, he’s currently a freshman
history major at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Copies of King Me! are available
by contacting the Tattered Cover Book Store, (800) 833-9327 or books@tatteredcover.com,
or through www.thefourthpress.com.
Imagine a Peaceful World
Mattie J.T. Stepanek’s final volume, Just
Peace: A Message of Hope, is a collection of personal
e-mail correspondence with former President Jimmy Carter and previously
unpublished prose. The book was compiled and edited (at Stepanek’s
request) by his mother, Jeni, after his death in 2004 from mitochondrial
myopathy at age 13.
Like Cumbo, Stepanek urges readers to offer the best
of themselves as a gift to the world. “The purpose of this book
(is) to offer insights on why conflict and violence exist in a world
filled with people who are generally and genuinely good,” writes
Jeni Stepanek in her preface. “Most of all, Mattie wanted to share
his thoughts on the ‘profound simplicity of choosing and planning
peace.’”
It’s clear from his e-mails to Carter how much
Stepanek struggled with this “simple” choice. At age 11
he wrote, “Did you ever have hard times? I mean inside? Like you
wondered about your message?...
“I do believe in peace and hope and forgiving.
But once in a while, I feel very stressed inside and almost torn up.
I am so upset about having a disability and knowing that for the rest
of my life I will be on life support which means I won’t be independent.
I am upset knowing that I will probably die while I
am a kid or teenager... Then I feel guilty for not feeling peaceful
inside, when I tell people how important it is. Am I still a peacemaker?
Can I learn to be peaceful all the time?”
Just Peace raises these kinds
of questions and then dares to suggest answers. It will be available
in bookstores in March, from Andrews McMeel Publishing.
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Tom
Pipines and Mike Neufeldt
|
Imagine
a Basketball World
Sports enthusiast and Marquette grad Mike Neufeldt helps
readers imagine life during the heady “magic carpet ride”
of the Marquette University men’s basketball team’s fight
to the 1977 NCAA Championship, in the lively book Tales
from the Marquette Hardwood, co-written with Milwaukee
TV sports reporter Tom Pipines.
Through personal interviews with well-known players
and coaches, Tales recreates memorable moments
both on and off the court, and gives insight into the colorful Coach
Al McGuire. It’s available online from Sports Publishing, www.sportspublishingllc.com,
other major online booksellers, as well as local bookstores.
A Marquette basketball fan since he was in middle school,
Neufeldt, 29, graduated in 2000 with a degree in broadcast and electronic
communications. He works in the interactive communications department
at Harley-Davidson Motor Company, near his home in Milwaukee. A member
of MDA’s National Task Force on Public Awareness and co-host of
his local MDA Telethon, Neufeldt has Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. |
