Their last stop was in Southern Pines, North Carolina (photograph by Dunlap).
“Every life can change in an instant. You will never see it coming. It is what you do with the pieces of your wreckage and how you reinvent yourself that will define who you are. Yesterday was more pain and suffering than a person should ever be forced to endure, but today, I am on my knees, and thanking God I am alive…” -Murray
A Beautiful Catastrophe is currently under consideration with several publishers….
Sage D. Chase (counselor extraordinaire) says, “The best thing about this book is your ability to not only accept, but celebrate, the changes that have been forced upon you!”
-released on the 10 year anniversary of Dunlap’s life changing car wreck…
Proof is now available with The Country Bookshop Boomer Press: please order here !
Epigraph:
Yes, I survived the impossible. But no, I did not do it alone. With God’s grace and the unstoppable love of my wife, I have created a rewarding life from one that had burned to the ground. Thank you, Mary Balfour, for your beautiful heart. This book is for you.
“Pure, without artifice, Proof gives testimony to the resilience of spirit. To read Murray Dunlap’s poetry is to bear witness to the Divine endurance of talent.” –Katrina Denza, Director, Visiting Writers Program, Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities
An Episcopal priest, the Rev. Greg Farrand says, “Dunlap’s poetry leads us through the unvarnished reality of human powerlessness and pain to honest spirituality, an optimistic realism born of suffering and faith. His grit inspires the weary heart to rediscover light and hope. His words are the perfect companion for anyone committed to walking the journey with eyes wide open.”
Dr. Fred Ashe says, “These poems–both the story they tell and the simple miraculous fact of their existence–should inspire every reader to do as Murray has done: to defy depression; to seek out a soulmate; to re-discover God.”
Editor Janine Vangool says, “The poems are raw and honest. It is a powerful collection of a journey to a new reality and a reconnection to spirituality. The book is Murray’s proof of his recovery, proof of his faith.”
Sarah S. at Volkswagen says, “There is no higher praise that Volkswagen can ever receive than one of our vehicles saved a life, and your poem is a testament to that.”
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At 34 years old, a nice man missed a red-light and everything about Murray Dunlap’s life changed. More than 10 years later, he lives every day with a Traumatic Brain Injury. At the time of his wreck, Murray was a married writer about to start a new career as an English teacher. His marriage could not survive the confusion and amnesia. When asked, he did not know he was married. After three months in a coma, a year in a wheelchair, learning to walk again, and more doctors and therapy than he can remember, he is living a successful life with a TBI. Murray is an artist, writer, photographer, and motivational speaker.
Murray says, “I am a writer again with new books out. I have met, fallen in love with, and married an Episcopal priest. I am not the man I once was. I am better. It is not in spite of my suffering that have found such happiness, it is because of my suffering that I have evolved in such a way to allow it. I may be disabled, but I am very blessed.”
Dunlap’s first book, Bastard Blue:
“Murray Dunlap is a brave writer, and an honest one; the lives he portrays here are as heart-stoppingly authentic as his prose is dazzlingly beautiful.”
Pam Houston, author of Cowboys Are My Weakness
“Yes, Bastard Blue is a first book but there’s more than promise on display within its pages. This collection introduces us to a fully realized talent. “
Michael Knight, author of The Typist
“Reading his stories is about as close to having a storyteller there—present, in the room–as I know.”
George Singleton, author of The Half-Mammals of Dixie
Photograph by Dunlap at Grand Canyon National Park
Dunlap on Amazon
Dunlap on Barnes and Noble
Contact: murraydunlap (at) gmail (dot) com
