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Nathan Rydel

Interview with Literary Titan

Almost a Memoir is a collection of poetry that explores family, love, change, work and a variety of other things we face in life. Why was this an important collection for you to publish? I figure I have about 10 good years left. With no cure in sight for my PD and MG, I feel a sense of urgency to memorialize my ancestors, family, friends,… Read More »Interview with Literary Titan

Carolina Restrepo Reviews M.C. Rydel’s Almost A Memoir: Life’s Uncertainties and Death’s Certainties

M.C. Rydel answers one of the most asked questions, what would you do if you knew when you were going to die? He changes the rules; the storyteller only knows the month of his death, not the year. His ingenuity has brought forth an answer in the shape of poems where reality is portrayed from a different point of view, with different priorities in mind.… Read More »Carolina Restrepo Reviews M.C. Rydel’s Almost A Memoir: Life’s Uncertainties and Death’s Certainties

Exploring Melancholy and Humor: A Review of M.C. Rydel’s Almost A Memoir by Mary Banas

A certain melancholy suffuses the 67 deeply personal poems in this debut collection by spoken-word poet and academic M.C. Rydel. Yet, glimmers of sly humor appear in many poems, shining an absurdist existential perspective on matters of death and immortality, the occult and religious belief, and obscurity and fame. As with many such collections, these poems are uneven in quality and execution, but a dozen… Read More »Exploring Melancholy and Humor: A Review of M.C. Rydel’s Almost A Memoir by Mary Banas

Parkinson’s

My life changed in 2018 when my new neurologist confirmed that I had Parkinson’s Disease (PD). My kids had noticed something months earlier. They thought I had suffered a stroke They insisted that I see a doctor. My General Practitioner knew right away. Parkinson’s. A few months later, an even newer neurologist confirmed that I also had myasthenia gravis (MG) and I needed plasmapheresis. Combining… Read More »Parkinson’s