~ Author of A Host of Suspects & When Angels Cry ~
MICHAEL MARRA
"The biggest impact one could make is to leave their mark upon the world in which we live and dismiss what you may have been told that would compromise your individuality."
When one truly knows one's self, another's interpretation of such cannot change that and thus becomes irrellevant.
Living in New York in the mid sixties, in Greenwich Village, lends an eclectic insight to the world that was rapidly evolving. The anti-establishmaent fervor was at its height and revolution was in the air. Police were corrupt, organized crime was running things as usual and I was in the middle of that battlefield that makes the telling of my stories quite different than most. It is where "Truth and Fiction Collide..."
Born and raised in New York, Michael Marra has lived quite a diverse and eclectic life living in Greenwich Village from the mid sixties to late seventies. To watch Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Elvin Bishop and Janis Joplin, walk down the street was just a small part of living in New York at that time and of course, watching them play was as magical for Marra as it would have been anyone else. Privileged enough to meet greats like John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Michael walked away pleased to know that they were as kind and approachable as anyone else...and he was inspired.
During the time that Marra grew up, a war was raging in Viet Nam along with peaceful protests that were often disbanded with immense brutality, but he remained focused. And simply by being being born and raised during this time, Marra became a part of a generation that changed the world: a generation that proved that people could band together for a purpose. Music and peace was that purpose: an astounding example of coming together without anything else in mind.
Returning from Woodstock and continuing a life lived mostly in the shadows is something Michael Marra cannot speak freely about, yet this life reveals itself in much of his work. Anyone who thought they knew Marra personally, even friends and family, had absolutely no idea about the secret life he lived back then, with whom he was working, and what it entailed. Every mission daunting, risky, and dangerous at all times. Ultimately, they changed his life forever.
