Tag / Writing

by Frank Maduri

Preserving The Legacy: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It is on this day that America pauses to reflect on the life and legacy of a great leader and an amazing citizen, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The impact that his example made on generations of people is so profound that it cannot be fully explained in words.

Dr. King worked for the equal rights of all people regardless of skin tone or what they looked like, he also embraced a peaceful and diplomatic approach to change. His words and his actions were guided by Christian ideals and centered on love and hope conquering fear and hate.

The America that we live in today is very different because of the actions of Dr. King, and the civil rights movement that he and some other leaders inspired. It is a country that has such incredible potential and though we have made strides, like any society we have room for improvement and growth.

On a personal level, I have always had an affinity and respect for Dr. King and for his approach to tackling such fierce opposition and his courage in the face of unbelievable personal attacks. His Letter From A Birmingham Jail was a book that impacted my life very significantly. I put myself in his place and could not imagine the emotions he must have dealt with at that stage of his life.

Many of you also know that on Martin Luther King Day four years ago I decided to start this blog, Frank’s Forum, I made the determination to go out on my own and start a new business. I also made the choice to begin to write more pieces for the general public and really put myself out there into the world.

I remember having some fear about it, but then I thought of all that Dr. King faced and had to deal with in his life. I remember that being the inspiration for me to get beyond my own fears, which seemed so insignificant in comparison, and to hit the “publish” button on this blog.

In the years since, I have been blessed to have produced written work that has been published in over 40 countries throughout the world. I have been blessed that this blog has had posts distributed in shared globally as well. I have been invited to write my own blogs for several websites and to contribute news stories on a variety of subjects.

In the years since, I have been fortunate to write about important issues such as: Hurricane Sandy, corporate mergers, the GMO debate, environmental issues, factors impacting our food supply, the Flint water disaster, the refugee crisis, the war in Syria, and to raise awareness of diseases such as Scleroderma.

In the years since, I have been blessed to write about the plight of the honeybee, the Clean Air legislation, and issues facing veterans of foreign wars. In addition, I have been fortunate and humbled to contribute work to major websites and to cover my favorite sports teams and topics facing the sports that I love to watch and write about, which has been very fun to undertake.

In the years since, I have published articles in the Catholic media area which have inspired and encouraged others. I have also shared my creative work in publishing poems to this blog, a major poetry site, and in publishing a collection of poems on Amazon which is entitled The Promise of Tomorrow.

I never thought it could be as successful as it has been, but my leap and my belief in myself has taken me to places I never expected. I only dreamed of having some of this come true, and I am honored and humbled that it has taken me down the roads that it has in the last four years.

I will continue to work to share with you, the audience, stories that inspire and provide you hope. I will continue to work to help others to embrace the Christian ideals of love for one another, and still fervently believe that we all can live together in peace.

I will continue to work to preserve the legacy of Dr. King, so that one day, his dream for America can be realized. Thank you all for your tireless support and I hope this story inspires you to make a difference in your neighborhoods and your communities. May God bless you.

by Frank Maduri

2015 Year In Review

This year was certainly a very busy one for me both personally and within the writing profession. I embarked on some new forays into different types of writing, took on some interesting projects, and met some fascinating new people along the way.

 

In the days following Christmas, I started to look back on all of the content I produced, not only for Frank’s Forum but for other entities, and I compiled a look back at 2015. The best manner to do this type of piece is to share the links to the work and some of the back story behind it. The overall theme being that the support and encouragement I get from the readers is the true indication of what I have truly achieved in my writing work. I am grateful and blessed to have your support.

 

The amazing aspect of writing is that no matter how long you have undertaken it; there is always something new around the corner, so to speak, it is constantly evolving. It is true that after some quantity of years each writer “finds their voice” which is certainly true in my case.

 

However, I found that challenging myself to take on new projects or new types of writing (song lyrics was the challenge in 2015) it helped in my overall growth as a writer and changed my perspective in approaching older projects that had been tabled for a while. The saying “everything old is new again” comes to mind in this regard.

 

I am proud to share my writing with you, the audience, and I have been surprised and overwhelmed by the way that my work has resonated with you. I am pleased to share this year in review with you and appreciate the generosity of your time in reading the words that I have produced.

The beginning of 2015 in January began with the culmination of a large project I was working on revolving around a series of articles I researched and wrote about an auto-immune disease known as Scleroderma. The articles were all really well received and were picked up by various medical type internet based news sources. The link below is to the series for the Medium website which gained pretty widespread exposure for this important and to some extent obscure disease:

https://medium.com/@FMaduri/scleroderma-suffering-in-silence-part-1-2729b5ae6259#.2awlnmbph

 

I have also included below the link to Part 2 of the series for Medium which is the conclusion to that series of articles. I am currently in the research phase for another article on Scleroderma which focuses on some new treatments for this disease:

https://medium.com/@FMaduri/scleroderma-suffering-in-silence-part-2-631acdd2134f#.9huv5v8g3

 

Most of you know that a portion of my writing involves sports writing, and as a staff writer for SB Nation covering the New York Red Bulls, an article that I wrote in January 2015 was very well received. It involved the sudden firing of Head Coach Mike Petke and summed up the emotions from the perspective of the fan base:

http://www.onceametro.com/2015/1/8/7508301/the-fallout-from-the-firing-of-mike-petke

 

In a link back to this site, I wrote a follow up story to an article series I had done previously on a very important topic: homelessness in the American military veteran population. The initial series garnered some significant readers and the follow up report was something I felt I had to include here:

http://frankmaduri.com/follow-up-homeless-veterans-in-u-s-cities/

February brought the idea for an article in another area where I have gained publishing credits over time, Catholic media, with an article on Candlemass Day:

http://www.catholic365.com/article/708/the-light-of-the-world-candlemass-day.html

 

A big local story that hit close to home for me was the campaign to save Mater Dei Prep, the high school attached to my parish. The article I did for the local Patch site really resonated with readers, and in the end, the school was saved from closure through the generosity of donations as well as a concerted fundraising campaign:

http://patch.com/new-jersey/rumson/mater-dei-prep-campaigns-save-school-closure

 

The winter of 2015 was one of the coldest in history and that served as an inspiration for a work of poetry I published in March called “Winter Sky”. Many of you who have followed my work over the years know that my poetry is where I produce some of the most uninhibited content to evoke emotions in my readers. If you are new to reading my work I hope you will take the time to read my poetry:

http://allpoetry.com/poem/11946822–Winter-Sky–by-Frank-J.-Maduri#share

 

In April, along with the arrival of Spring, I delved into a new area of writing: song lyrics. I had been told for years by people closest to me that read my poetry that it could very easily be translated into lyrics. One of the most incredible moments in my writing career was opening the envelope in the mail from the U.S. Copyright Office with all of the certificates to copyright my published song lyrics. I have included the link to them below:

http://frankmaduri.com/song-lyrics-by-frank-j-maduri/

 

This next work of poetry was shared by readers on Facebook for a total of 1,300 times which I was very grateful and humbled by:

http://www.catholic365.com/article/1356/poetry-blessed.html

 

The month of May brought a special report on the food industry, where I concentrate a specific focus on based on my prior industry experience. This article came about in response to a growing trend I picked up on which the food companies were making ingredient changes to appeal to the natural foods trend. This piece ventures into that topic and the debate over whether it is all just a savvy marketing technique:

http://frankmaduri.com/fast-food-recipe-changes-smart-science-or-smart-marketing/

 

The summer brought me into other projects which did not involve news writing or creative writing being published. However in the late part of July I did publish this piece for Sportsblog.com which I recently received the honor of having one of the top blogs covering the NJ Devils hockey team. This article though was on the NBA and it combined my understanding of sports, marketing, sports finance, and politics. It gained an enthusiastic response to which I am grateful:

http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/2933778/chess-game–the-nba–milwaukee—-the-new-bucks-arena.html

 

A poem I wrote a while before I published it became the highlight of my work in August. It was originally written while I was covering a news story on the drought in California:

http://frankmaduri.com/poetry-by-frank-j-maduri-drought-conditions/

 

I have held a position with UPI (United Press International) for a few years now where I produce commentary pieces for them in certain topic areas. I have been blessed and fortunate to have several of those articles become published internationally through their platforms. I wrote a piece which did very well in October on the merger of two huge brewing companies and explained the implications on a larger scale for consumers:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Outside-View/2015/10/14/Whats-Brewing-The-InBev-SABMiller-Merger/2191444694279/

 

The environment and environmental stewardship is a large component of my writing for this site and for others. I will share with you a piece I did on an environmental issue that was alarming to many readers:

http://frankmaduri.com/below-the-ground-fracking-wastewater-irrigation/

 

In addition I have written many articles on business and finance in the past. This article in particular was the topic of some very kind and positive feedback from a small business group and was even read by my sales rep from my website hosting company who called me to tell me he was really impressed by my knowledge of this topic which was very gracious of him:

http://frankmaduri.com/strong-bucks-the-strength-of-the-us-dollar-the-impact-on-small-businesses/

 

I had a crossroads in my life this summer and this blog post was the result of a confluence of those factors and reflections on recent years including Hurricane Sandy which I did a substantial amount of reporting on in recent years:

http://frankmaduri.com/return-to-the-playground-the-stalled-recovery-of-union-beach/

 

I leave you all in this year in review with an article that was one of the most read pieces I had the blessing and honor to produce this year for Catholic365.com – it was shared close to 2,500 times on Facebook and received over 3,000 link shares across all social media platforms overall in the metrics I keep. I hope it will provide you inspiration and hope for the year ahead in 2016:

http://www.catholic365.com/article/1303/the-3-oclock-hour-the-chaplet-of-the-divine-mercy.html

 

Thank you all for your continued support of my writing work. I am blessed and appreciate all of your encouragement. Happy New Year and May God bless you all in the year ahead!