It's always fun to come across a person talented in more than one area. To have known Leonardo da Vinci would have been cool, to discuss his paintings and art, to become absorbed in his discussions of machines and inventions.
Such variety sets certain people apart. In our day, Joe Bonsall is one of those individuals who does several things well.
The most exuberant member of the famed Oak Ridge Boys, Joe is also an accomplished writer. Let me take that one more step: He is one of my favorite writers. In my opinion, great writing ability is a product of both nature and nurture. It begins in one's blood, then can be developed.
An "Oak" since 1973, Joe has obviously seen a lot of things, and all those years on the road (the Oak Ridge Boys are still one of the busiest touring groups in the United States, playing a schedule of dates that would make youngsters drop out) have filled his head with observations of a country he deeply and genuinely loves.
His latest book, "From My Perspective," is a collection of essays that are terrific. Joe has a proclivity toward patriotic topics, and the great thing for readers is his sane worldview and on-point analysis stand as a needed contrast to the "useful idiot" ramblings of leftist artists and entertainers. Not that we're mentioning names like Barbra Streisand.
An interesting aside: Several years ago, Joe wrote about his parents' poignant love story, a couple of Philly kids who survived with the "Greatest Generation." The book, "G.I. Joe and Lillie," was followed by a song of the same name, which the Oaks perform regularly. A bestselling author and songwriter … what would it feel like to strike gold twice as a writer?
In "From My Perspective," Joe writes about everything from banjos and barn swallows to our magnificent veterans. Mostly, this is a collection of slice-of-life reflections from an introspective man who also shares a body with that crazy cat who sprints across the stage during each Oaks performance.
Joe even tries his hand as a short story writer, with "Billy's Tornado" at the end of the book. And you know a book of essays has hit a chord when you don't have a favorite, or 10 favorites. The reader of "From My Perspective" will be hard-pressed to pick the best, because this reader believes they all fall into that category.
Still … the very first, "When I was Elvis," is a gem. Here, Joe recounts a time when he was influenced by the King of Rock and Roll. His descriptive writing is often tinged with humor, as when he describes his "little part-time gospel band" that played a big show at the Souderton Pennsylvania High School auditorium:
"All five of us went down to South Philadelphia to this cheapo suit place and bought mint green sharkskin numbers complete with matching ties," he writes.
Ouch!
His reflections of his superstar friends in music are golden, as we learn in "Waiting on a Moon," a piece about Johnny Cash.
Joe writes about the somber mood of him and his bandmates the day they learned Cash had died, in September 2003. Joe went to his farm in Tennessee, where he does his best thinking and writing, and late into the night, he reflected on Cash, the man:
"I had performed with him," Bosnall writes, "backed him up on several records, sang at his wife, June's, funeral as well as his mother-in-law's, Momma Maybelle Carter. We have been to his house. I have even run into him at Eckerd Drug Store, for crying out loud, yet still, a chill."
Joe also provides snapshots of Americana, and for those of us who will never visit a fraction of the places he's seen, this is rich indeed. Take his trip to San Antonio and the venerable Alamo (it helps that Joe also once met John Wayne!). Not only does he weave a beautiful essay around the remains of this historic icon, he also takes us back:
"One can picture this Alamo sitting alone on the plains with 5,000 Mexican campfires lighting up the night," Bonsall writes.
Ah yes, thank you Joe for bringing our history alive; it is important to us and to you.
There are 47 essays in "From My Perspective" (and one of them is a poem about Joe's love for sushi!), and I challenge you not to like even one of them. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes outright hilarious and often sublime, this book is a treasure for all ages.