John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com.
Seven years ago, my job as director of business retention and expansion for Statesville Regional Development was eliminated. The entire organization was eliminated, truthfully, but that’s another story. I had several months’ notice, both a blessing and a curse. While I had time to freshen up my resume and conduct a comprehensive job search, I also had time to contemplate (stew over might be a more accurate term) my predicament. I was reasonably sure I could land a new job before the clock ran out that October, but I took some financial precautions, just in case.
One of the things I did to economize that summer was to stop buying books. I generally read two or three each month, and at $10 for a paperback and $25 for a hardcover, that can represent a significant investment. Fortunately, my Amazon Prime account included hundreds of free classic titles and my choice of one free book from a list of six or seven each month. These free monthly books were not by well-known authors. Many were first published works or the first book in a series. Most of them were quirky: a detective drama set in Poland, a WWII caper involving a salvage ship and a sunken U-boat, and a murder mystery set in a research station in the Antarctic.
I landed my job as executive director of the Anson Economic Development Corporation that September and returned to purchasing books by favored authors shortly after that. But I did not completely forget the monthly selection of free books. I continued to download titles I thought were interesting. As a result, I have an excellent library of unread books awaiting my attention. They will come in handy since tomorrow, seven years nearly to the day I arrived in Anson County, I will say my last goodbyes and ride off into the sunset.
This time, however, the decision to leave was entirely mine. Things have changed significantly for me personally, professionally and financially since the summer of free books. I have found new passion in my writing and the faith-based community garden I manage in Huntersville, and have adopted a more grounded and sustainable lifestyle that requires fewer financial resources. After 40 years in the workforce and nearly 20 years as a local developer, I believe the time has come to step away. John Mellencamp said it well in his song “The Real Life”:
All my life, I’ve done what I’m supposed to do
Now I’d like to maybe do something for myself
Just as soon as I figure out what that is
You can bet your life I’m gonna give it hell
I guess I’ve figured it out. I will take a few weeks off to decompress and work at the off-grid mountain retreat I’m building on six acres I purchased near Stone Mountain State Park last year. I will also be working on a more business-like approach to writing, including launching a comprehensive website allowing readers to buy signed and personalized copies of my books directly from me and a weekly blog featuring conversational 500-word articles focused on sustainability and rural life. These posts will replace my Field Notes column and be made available royalty-free for digital and print publication by selected local affiliates. Speckled Paw has agreed to publish them in its newsletter, so although this will be my last column in the current format, look for something new and exciting around Thanksgiving.
Thank you for reading, and see you again soon,
John