Mark Andrew James Terry

“I’m told it was very stormy the day I was born; as a matter of fact, it was a hurricane. The story goes: while my father was away buying cattle, my mother drove herself the twenty-five miles to the hospital from the family’s Magnolia Ranch that became my childhood home.

All these years later, I am still here in Orlando. Though I have traveled many places, it is the lush green landscape of Florida that calls me to stay. I have two children, Jillian and George, who are grown now, and my wife, Jane, and I live in the same house we bought when we were married over thirty years ago.

I studied at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and received my degree in studio arts — painting.

Advertising was the career I chose and though I continue to work within that field, I have always been an artist. Now, writing poetry and stories is what gives me the juice to get up everyday with a smile on my face.”

Contact: mark@tkorlando.com.

FROM MIDDLE ISLAND PRESS:

Little Stable Tender:
A Christmas Story Plus a Few More (2011)
By Mark Andrew James Terry

(Available at Amazon.)

Illustrated and designed by the artist and poet himself, this is a delightful chapbook that consists of lovingly crafted poetic tales and narrative poems with yesteryear charm and engaging author/reader interactions. It is a “must-have” for parents who read bedtime stories to their children.

(A browse upon Pages 14 and 18…)

The first seven lines of “Lily-Lalee deeDoe”:

“La lee la lili la lee la lu,”
she sings and dances while at the zoo.
The beautiful fairy each animal knows.
She wakes them up by tickling toes.
Tickling toes? Yes! Tickling toes.
The beautiful fairy tickles their toes
to wake the animals when they doze.

The first three stanzas of “Christmas Ruckus”:

A-takin’ his dilly-dally-Sally sweet time,
and not payin’ whatever no never mind,
there it was – gret big ole’ raccoon,
and this only bein’ ‘bout nat’s hair ta noon!

The critter musta been a-fishin’ fer a meal;
sum nat’ral grow’d morsel his intendin’ ta steal,
but all heck would bust loose
when that ‘coon winds our goose.

Ma purdied the house with Christmas dooly-dads,
and smells drew us kids like frogs ta lily pads.
Collard greens, cornbread, and sweet ‘tayda pie
musta been candy ta that raccoon’s eye.



(Check out the Little Stable Tender’s merchandise page on Zazzle for great gift items.)