About Clark
My encounters and personal spiritual experiences have taught me that spirituality is about one thing only — direct connection to the Divine — as part of, or independent of, an organized religion. I believe that when we make the effort to go within and gain Awareness, we will find that connection, and with it, the path to temporal and spiritual contentment.
In my writings, I’ve looked to synthesize what I have learned along the way and to incorporate that into a compelling story form with real life drama. I invite you to enter the life and times of Jean Moreau, either in his novels, The Abbey Chronicles trilogy, or his Little Books of Wisdom. Enjoy them and see what you can pull from his experiences!
As a onetime entrepreneur and native of the United States, now living in France and Uruguay, I was the owner of successful companies that provided financial services – foreign exchange brokering and foreign tax reclaim. But, my study of things spiritual has been a lifelong obsession and has taken me around the world – from the USA to London, from France to Australia, and Ireland to India.
My encounters and personal spiritual experiences have taught me that spirituality is about one thing only — direct connection to the Divine — as part of, or independent of, an organized religion. I believe that when we make the effort to go within and gain Awareness, we will find that connection, and with it, the path to temporal and spiritual contentment.
In my writings, I’ve looked to synthesize what I have learned along the way and to incorporate that into a compelling story form with real life drama. I invite you to enter the life and times of Jean Moreau, either in his novels, The Abbey Chronicles trilogy, or his Little Books of Wisdom. Enjoy them and see what you can pull from his experiences!
My Writing
I am currently writing a series of booklets on Virtues, those unheralded but tremendously important key components to a happy life. You can read them all in Jean Moreau’s Little Books of Wisdom. The world is in much need of the expression of these values, and it all starts with each one of us.
Poetry…I love poetry and have written it all my life. I offer you a cross section of it in my soon to be published anthology, My First 70 Years, Collected Poems. There is no art form more personal, more beautiful or soul touching, and I believe Poetry is to be shared and even read aloud.
All books are available on Amazon in eBook or paperback formats, everywhere in the world.
I am a writer in several genres – novel, booklets, and poetry. Why the novels? Lots of people are disenchanted with their traditional religion, or still feel something is missing and I wanted to address that. It is particularly true for Jean Moreau, a modern day monk at the fictional Abbey of Kervennec in France, protagonist in The Abbey Chronicles trilogy. In these entertaining stories, his memoirs, you will find him often dissatisfied with his traditional religion’s point of view on many levels. Jean continues his search for answers to life’s meaning and divine connection, despite the challenges of his deep love for a woman, his passions and emotions, and his struggles with a dictatorial abbot fighting his own demons. Through trial and error we follow Jean on his very human journey to personal gnosis and satisfaction.
Join him as he shares methods, many not at all traditional, that satisfy the longing in his soul for Truth. The Abbey Chronicles trilogy novels are also entertaining stories…you’ll even learn a lot about monasteries along the way. Poetry…I love poetry and have written it all my life. I offer you a cross section of it in my book, My First 70 Years, Collected Poems. There is no art form more personal, more beautiful or soul touching. Poetry is to be shared.
I am currently writing a series of booklets on Virtues, those unheralded but tremendously important key components to a happy life. You can read them all in Jean Moreau’s Little Books of Wisdom. The world is in much need of the expression of these values, and it all starts with each one of us.
All books are available on Amazon in eBook or paperback formats, everywhere in the world.
Q & A With Clark
Q: Business career and writing…any connection?
A: People are people. All of the foibles, egos, complexities and kindnesses, whether originating with customers or employees, are always there in any business. I loved my clients and employees and I knew many, like me, were suffering from the stress of rules, rules, rules in their religion or had no spiritual life at all and felt empty with only what society offers. There is much more to see and know about life and spirit, and my novels attempt to show that in a simple yet developed way.
Q: What inspires you?
A: So many things but I think Nature number one (especially trees), followed by great conversations and, of course, music. And, we must never forget as Mark Twain put it, that “against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand!”
Q: What kinds of conversations?
A: I love it when people reveal their truest feelings and beliefs in a discussion. The give and take brings a lot to both parties. People are fascinating and for the most part kind and giving.
Q: You are a musician and have been a professional singer. What inspired that?
A: I came to singing rather late but had some great opportunities to meet so many talented musicians and directors. I learned a lot from Craig Jessup, later director of the great Mormon Tabernacle Choir, John Miller and others as far as choral singing went. Later, however, I was able to corral some guys into singing the music I loved from the fifties and sixties. I was eleven when the British invasion occurred and had received a transistor radio for Christmas in 1963 from a dear aunt, and that’s all it took to be hooked on the Top 40. It’s been a joy to recreate some of those wonderful sounds in so many venues here and in Europe.
The human voice and its beauty will always fascinate me. It is the greatest of instruments.
Q: You write about monasteries. Did you ever think of becoming a monk. You seem to know them so well.
A: Yes, I love monasteries. Nowhere else do I feel the peace that seems to emanate from those good monks, both men and women. A magnificent lifestyle in many ways, but definitely not for everyone. I don’t think I could do it, but I love to visit and stay and renew myself as a guest. I have some great monastic friends. They are wonderful people. As a footnote to that, I didn’t realize how many people are fascinated by that institution…I receive so many comments about how interested readers are in that concept of living, which surprised me. But there is a spiritual hunger out there, so maybe it should not have.
Q: Any more books on the horizon?
A: Oh, yes. I am not done by a long shot. Readers want more from Jean Moreau and we’ll see about that. I will definitely produce more of his books on virtues in his Little Books of Wisdom series. I’d like to do some humorous books, too and have some ideas. I enjoy my podcast with Doc Martens and Mark Twain. Great fun…and funny, we hope – Two Twits and Twain.
Q: Any other thoughts for visitors on The Abbey Chronicles trilogy?
A: Let me quote from a Press Release published by the Associated Press a few years ago which might sum up nicely what I am trying to do in that series.“I am writing this series because I have seen how people, particularly when they reach a certain age, are hungry. Their search for meaning and fulfillment in life has not always been satisfied by their traditional religions,” says Eide. “What satisfies that hunger are not ‘things’ or ‘dogma’. What satisfies is more subtle, waiting to be discovered. It is the spiritual dimension of life. Most have followed the traditional religious path to spirit yet therein lies the issue: over reliance on traditional religion as their only reference to provide answers. But these are often complicated and inadequate, rarely allowing room for one to pursue that connection individually. I wanted to give people ways to achieve this framed within the context of my character’s personal experience, even a monk, one at the heart of a traditional religion’s institution.”
Here’s another thought…
Yogananda once wrote that it is good to be a “smile millionaire.” He said it well. Try it.
