Publisher, author, musician and artist, Mike True
About Mike True
Mike True was born in Salem, Indiana but was soon fated to become a nomadic entity, initially, moving with his family to the central coast of California and six years later returning to the rural landscape of southern Indiana. The imagery of the west coast toyed with an adolescent mind and leaning on the longed-for, True began a lifetime of daydreams and doodles.
The son of an advertising salesman/print publisher and a second-generation family newspaper maven, Mike would grow up in a unique environment, an island of literary, musical and artistic elements. When it came to artistic influences, Carl True, his father, was himself, a student of the arts with a unique talent. He had the ability to sketch out the various newspaper advertisements he would propose to would-be clients. These drafts were simple but succinct in their presentation, including neat hand-scribed calligraphy in the appropriate font. His mother, a polished print publisher and editor, also bragged on being the best Scrabble player in southern Indiana.
Despite these familial talents, Mike's father would often reiterate that creating art was a foolish ambition, excluding “commercial art” and architectural blueprint making, which he would consider more of a vocational tool than some would-be form of bohemian expression. With this opinion in mind, he allowed many editions of art books and artists’ coffee-table collections to be added to the home library over the years. Carl also enjoyed an eclectic array of music, collecting records from a span going back into the 1940's. Mike would also become fascinated with the idea of being a cub reporter for his grandparent's newspaper, the "Banner Gazette". And with the concept of Heir Gutenberg's printing press and its contribution to the knowledge of man, he was likewise, destined to be a voracious reader from an early age.
During high school Mike was lucky enough to have a stimulating art teacher would did much to expose him to various art forms, a bit of art history, and instill an interest in the current art scene. The True boys, however, were to become printers, pressed into service in the family business by a single-minded parent. Publishing in the 1960’s and 1970’s centered on the lithographic process. Mike would become familiar with photographic developing and 3-color reproduction, pre and post production work including the operation of various printing presses, in the process of learning the family business.
After high school, in July of 1970, True left his home in southern Indiana and made his way to relatives living in San Jose, California. After finding sustainable employment difficult to come by he decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy and, despite a significant political movement to end the war in Viet Nam, he ended up serving two tours of active duty during the conflict.
Following his honorable discharge he returned to his native Indiana to begin his undergraduate work at Indiana University. In the course of attaining his B.S. Degree in Education, he took several classes in the fine arts, including, an introduction to art, drawing, and an overview of art in the classroom, (centered around elementary art.) Current trends in visual art at this time focused on the use of acrylics and photo-realism. He also enrolled in a Journalism class, but found that this skill set did not suit his creative bent.
As a teacher of special education and elementary education, True taught and used art in many aspects of his professional career. Much of his work went into providing his classrooms with a window to the world, and included murals, seasonal depictions, backdrops for informal stages, and pastel chalkboard pictures. During his professional career as an educator, the influence of a variety of children’s’ books illustrators would impress and inspire his own creations.
Continuing in the nomadic tradition, True lived in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana, as well as California and Indiana. Visits to various museums, art galleries, and other public art spaces, constantly expanded his knowledge and enthusiasm along the way. Many of his jobs included work to set up the newly envisioned community-based services for persons with disabilities. As a services coordinator and administrator, his writing skills took a front seat to give life to these various programs. From writing progress notes, developing policies and procedures, to publishing PR literature, Mike's writing skills were considerably enhanced.
Due to serious heart problems and a subsequent open-heart surgery, he retired and moved to New Orleans in 2004. Mr.True made the transition, becoming a true artisan, not only in his unique acrylic on canvas works, but also in the musical and literary fields, as well.
In 2009, friends and mentors, Jon Schooler, Daniel Fitzgerarld, and Frenchy encouraged him to dig into the methods and materials of the visual arts. Jon also got him interested in the technique of pouring pictures and “frames” for his Louisiana-oriented themes, including: swamp scenes, shrimp boats, alligators, herons, egrets, pelicans, street cars and other local imagery. Many of his whimsical paintings are based on photos from his personal photo safaris throughout the state. From the imaginative pages of Dr. Seuss, and books by Maurice Sendack, and Richard Scarey, among others, Mike fashioned a visionary take on the simple and often surreal world of art. Other lifetime artistic influences included the greats of history: Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Audubon, and Dali, to name but a few. (SEE the ART page)
Musically he took an early liking to bluegrass, the blues, and early rock and roll music. He first picked up and strummed a classic guitar, (his favorite instrument over the years), to join in a high school band headed up by his brother Patrick. During a brief period in the 1980's Mike programmed synth sequences to create some new-age sounds that were being introduced to the music scene at that time. In the end, he took to the guitar, once again, as he began composing music in earnest. His musical skills, as a singer-songwriter went from a serious hobby to an obsession from the 1990's to the present. Mike composes and produces his own original songs, with many renditions available online. He also performs in local venues, frequently accompanied by the ever-expanding Phantom Band, a host of friends and fellow musicians who have either joined him onstage or contributed to his recorded catalog over the past twenty-five years. (SEE the MUSIC page).
And last, but not least, Michael S. True began to seriously delve into the art of writing, primarily poetry, at first. His near-death experience opened his eyes to a level of introspection that had alluded him for most of his life. In addition, since the 20'teens, Mike has written and published three books, including two of poetry, as well as, a collection of short stories through Portals Press, a New Orleans-based publishing company. Other work, (some published on AuthorsDen.com), include a novella, a religious manuscript composed of six "books", and additional short stories and poetry. In addition I am going to include some of my professional writings, including: Articles for Those Who Care, and administrative support material for use in Community-based programs for persons with disabilities. (SEE the LITERATURE page)
What's New?
Mike's Blogger Notes
Now is the time for all good men , (and women), to come to the aid of their fellow countrymen. We, the People, are in a historic time and place, an era that is destined to serve as a turning point for the future of our society. Know who your representatives are: locally, statewide, and federally. Make your needs and concerns known! Ours is not a failed system. People United for a Cause Can Cause Change!
"Click Here to Go to Blog Archives" to read all of my previous blogs: BLOG ARCHIVES
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Background Information– Literature
“A Primer in Poetic Styles” Part 2
In Part 2 of “A Primer in Poetic Style”, I will continue with a brief explanation of another six commonly known styles. As I noted in Part 1, over the years there have been many poets who used some elements of earlier styles, but modified these poetic forms to create new styles.
7. Epigram
Epigrams are short, witty, and often satirical poems
Epigram Characteristics and Rules
Often take the form of a couplet or quatrain
(2-4 lines in length).
Sample of an Epigram
An example of this method is provided by William Blake:
“To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour”
.
8. Limerick
Limericks are humorous poems that have a more distinct rhythm. Their subject matter is sometimes crude, but always designed to get a laugh.
Limerick Characteristics and Rules
5 lines
2 longer lines (usually 7-10 syllables)
2 shorter lines (usually 5-7 syllables)
1 closing line to bring the joke home (7-10 syllables)
Rhyme scheme: AABBA
Samples of Limericks
There once was an old man of Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket
His daughter, called Nan,
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
—Anonymous
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill can hold more than his beli-can.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the heli-can.
—Dixon Lanier Merritt
9. Ballad
Ballads usually take a narrative form to tell us stories. They are often arranged in quatrains, but the form is loose enough that writers can easily modify it.
Ballad Characteristics and Rules
Typically arranged in groups of 4 lines, also known as a quatrain.
Rhyme scheme: It typically follows a rhyme scheme of ABCB, where the second and fourth lines of each four-line stanza, rhyme, or abab, where every other line rhymes.
Samples of Ballads
John Keats, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
10. Epitaph
An epitaph is much like an elegy, only shorter. Epitaphs commonly appear on gravestones, but they can also be humorous. There are no specific rules for epitaphs or their rhyme schemes.
Sample of Epitaphs
From William Shakespeare’s gravestone:
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
11. Ode
Odes address a specific person, thing, or event. The ode is believed to have been invented by the ancient Greeks, who would sing their odes. Modern odes follow an irregular pattern and are not required to rhyme.
Sample of an Ode
“William Wordsworth, ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality’.
There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe’er I may,
By night or day.
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.
12. Free Verse
Free verse is exactly what its name implies. There are no rules, and writers can do whatever they choose: to rhyme or not, to establish any rhythm. Free verse is often used in contemporary poetry.
Sample of a Free Verse Poem
The Good Life by Tracy K. Smith
When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back, and it makes me nostalgic
For the years I lived on coffee and bread,
Hungry all the time, walking to work on payday
Like a woman journeying for water
From a village without a well, then living
One or two nights like everyone else
On roast chicken and red wine.
Although I play around with some of these individual styles, I really enjoy writing poetry in free-verse. I often combine the various styles or forms, depending more on meter than rhythm to” keep the beat” steady. I also use sound-alike words within the lines to give a poem a pleasant sound. Near rhyming can give the writer many more variables than standard rhyming words. When I get to the end of a line and it is not effectively giving me a rhyme, I often go online and use the word I want to modify and follow with “synonyms” or “rhymes with” in a search engine.
Sample:
He often walked down the darkened corridor
Hoping to find something that was no longer there (close at hand)
Search – there,synonyms – found “close at hand” - sounded better and had the same syllable count as corridor
Generally, I am looking for a word or phrase that is more colorful or better describes what I am trying to say.
“A Ways Past the Halfway Point” by Michael S. True
I am crashing and burning here,
Watching this life go down in flames,
Wistfully fantasizing the rising Phoenix,
Hoping for a quick peek behind the billowing purple curtain.
Such are my latter-day blinks,
Spring-like only in their most myopic state,
Accepting that the load-bearing beams are mostly rotten,
It is curious that this rampant decay has spawned
An awkward resurgence of adolescent attitudes,
Seldom seen in any senior moment.
It is the gravity in the gears, I’m guessing,
That will eventually bring me down.
Energy escaping like a passing gas,
Endurance stumbling long before the finish line,
Desire, a dying ember.
And it almost makes me want to hijack an airplane,
Make a serious mistake,
Or believe that I am already in heaven.
Follow your dreams – Make More Art! M.True
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Announcements
For those who may not know -
There is a weekly Poetry Reading I regularly attend at the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street, (Uptown New Orleans), every Sunday starting at 4:20 p.m. Poets, Prose writers and Songwriters are greatly encouraged to participate. Anyone over 21 may join us for one of the oldest continual readings in the city.
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I have begun attending the weekly "Payson Tramayne Freret Collective" Open Mic at the Rook Cafe , 4516 Freret Street, NOLA - Fridays 6-9pm. I share poetry, short stories and my original music. All ages welcome.
Flora Gallery and Coffee Shop has also been hosting an open mic featuring host Aleah Hayer on Thursday evenings starting at 6pm. I will get over there when I can. 2600 Royal St, New Orleans, LA
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