Lewis 'Chesty' Puller is the most famous and most decorated of all Marines. Michael Abbo is an average American kid who enlists in the Marine Corps just before Pearl Harbor. As he struggles to adapt, he unwillingly finds himself assigned to the duty of runner for Chesty Puller, a highly decorated jungle fighter from the 'Banana Wars.' Abbo is shocked by Chesty's harsh training methods and the horrors of the amphibious warfare of the Pacific, but survives World War II, finishes college, and becomes a newspaper reporter for The Chicago Tribune. He is called up from the Marine Reserves in 1950 to serve in Korea, and finds himself assigned once again to Chesty Puller. He serves well throughout the Inchon landing, the battle for Seoul, and into the hellish Chosin Reservoir, meanwhile gaining respect and awe for the once-enlisted man who takes great pride in 'leading from the front.' Abbo eventually returns to the Tribune, and covers Puller's forced retirement as well as his dramatic testimony in the court martial of a Marine drill instructor at Parris Island. For more info, check out www.pullersrunner.com
I've gotten a lot of requests the past few years to make a keepsake, a compilation if you will, of the favorites from the blog. It’s easy to miss a blog post—anyone’s post—because the rush of day-to-day life intercedes. This book gives me a chance to put some favorite posts together in one place, and to collect a lot of thoughts, feelings, and lessons into something coherent. It’s humorous, educational, and most of all, real. Editing for this book was like editing pictures. You pick the ones that resonate, have the potential for memory, and possess some sort of emotional or stylistic connection. The following 25 stories are a cross section of the most popular, educational, and madcap posts from the blog. The ones that have struck a chord with readers. The book has two sections—“The Light” and “The Life.” The Light section deals with the nuts and bolts of using flash and crafting light. There's a bunch of techniques, strategies, truisms, and gear talk. The Life section is about a photographic life, about being a shooter—which is sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, but hopefully, at the end of the day, anecdotally educational. Writing the blog has been different from writing a book because it’s less formal, and a little more raw. I have occasionally written about times gone by, and events I've had a chance to reflect on. On other occasions, a blog has spontaneously sprung from the events in the field that day, from the frustration of getting on an airplane with a lot of photo gear to dealing with a difficult subject or client. It’s the unedited rushes of the photographic experience. It veers from considered commentary, to technical lessons, to quick, funny riffs about the exasperating, goofy stuff of any given day in the field. It's quick off the mark, and an honest account of just how wonderful, amazing, crazy, sad, frustrating, rewarding, disheartening, and ultimately glorious it is to be a visual storyteller. - Joe
Some Poems By Joe (Whos Not A Poe) Some Food For Thought Some Stories Taught So Please Enjoy They Wont Annoy Youll Laugh, Youll Cry (Just Dont Ask Why) So Take A Chance And Take A Glance Cause Whats Inside Was Writ With Pride
My name is Joe Sorenson. The reason why I am writing this book is to demonstrate my exciting life. Let us enjoy the ride! Do you want to know where I grew up? This book will tell you in great detail. So let's take a ride. I was born August 6 in the year 1941 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I went to a residential school in Faribault, Minnesota. I am blind, but this book will show you how a blind person can rise from almost becoming mentally ill to rising to the top. I have worked in radio, but I had to work for it. My wife, Ellen, and I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we write poetry. So let's ride.
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