Maria is a simple true story of love at first sight, involving the tragedies of Nature and each individual's determination to overcome and succeed. Nostalgia comes not before or during its reading but after, upon reflection, and it is not only for the two lovers, but also for the reader.

Dramatic and somewhat comical, our lovers are those who endure and perform each encouraging the other, achieving the most marvelous goodness in the quest of their

happiness. For who could doubt that it is this woman who gives her man the impetus, the added adrenaline, to give reality to his life's quest to focus, and the many ideas to explore and to question, if he so chooses.

Maria and Andrei, the lead characters, are indicative of how the author honestly sees their love and its calling in life. Perhaps this is too much for today's reader; perhaps too ideal. Yet, let it be known, it is all real. For who without such goodness, has anything for which to live.

Their youth is gone; their time slipping away because time is simple reality, vis-a-vis, a fortuitous, unexpected meeting: a partner, each yearning for the other, both in love one minute gone the next.

About the Author

John Mazur graduated from Montana University with a masters in 19th century German theatre and English literature. He was born in Chicago, to a second-generation Polish meat packer and a German mother who played piano in the Chicago Park District. His heart was captured by Montana and the breathtaking beauty and grounded people he met there. Both Montana and Chicago have influenced his writing. His desire to bring back the liberal arts to society, along with its soul-changing influence is evident in his writing. His careers have spanned from teaching at the University level to Principal on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. He has trained under a master sausage maker from Warsaw, Poland and run two separate sausage plants. For years, his teachers and friends told him to write. His first book was He Said, She Said. In his writing, he invests time and energy into his characters and the vision of their relationships as the stories unfold for the reader to enjoy.