Poet's Choice Publishing is Proud to Announce the Publication of SEEING THE

LIGHT, Short Stories and Artwork by Rick Williams

An earlier iteration of this book had as its subtitle, "Short stories of the ravages of alcoholism and
addiction, mental illness, bigotry and (stories of) veterans of war.” It is a remarkable collection of
broken characters overwhelmed by spiritual and physical challenges. The stories are augmented by
very beautiful portraits of veterans.

Bethesda, MD, April 02, 2021 --(PR.com)-- SEEING THE LIGHT has as its cover a beautiful portrait of
a young soldier whose face is illuminated with inspiration and human compassion. It could be the face of
the young medic in the first story of the book, “The Girl in the Oxygen Tent.” The boy is disenchanted
with the senseless war in Vietnam and finds solace in his love for the young girl who has become his
patient. It is a careful description of the Vietnamese culture and the soldier’s coming to terms with the
pointlessness of this war. When his patient dies, he attends the funeral at some personal risk, and the story
simply ends it seems, with no resolution. Like the war itself, there is no answer to the senselessness of
death, and the death his country is inflicting on this culture.

Many of Rick’s stories seem to end this way. He seems to be saying there is nothing to be done in the
face of such absurdity. At one point in an email, the author writes that none of the characters in his stories
see the light. But the lucky thing for a reader is that he has written these stories, has seen the light through
his talent as a storyteller. One thinks of Tolstoy’s “Death Ivan Ilyich,” and the courage it took Tolstoy to
write of a man who realizes as he lies dying, that his life has meant nothing; but who, by the end, achieves
insight and spiritual awakening. Often, the stories end with no explanation, Beckett like, with mysterious,
ominous characters waiting silently, like fate for no particular reason.

The stories deal with war, but the beautiful portraits throughout this book are not meant to be illustrations
of a particular branch of the service or moment in the war. They are there simply to highlight the
additional talent the author has as a visual artist. These are stunning paintings with great psychological
realism. They have achieved recognition in museums and private collections throughout the US. We
congratulate Rick Williams for this debut collection, and thank him as many veterans have done for his
work as a lawyer in their defense as well as the model of compassion and honesty he gives us in the lives
of his characters.

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Contact Information:
Poets Choice Publishing
Richard Harteis
860-961-5138
Contact via Email
www.poets-choice.com
www.WilliamMeredithFoundation.org
poets-choice.com

Online Version of Press Release:

You can read the online version of this press release at: https://www.pr.com/press-release/833839

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