WHO AM I?

THE ETERNAL QUESTION...

Jacob Henry Backer was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. On a cold, early winter's night, the first of November; All Saints Day, as it happens. A seemingly fortuitous coincidence, as it would appear he would need every one of those spirits to protect and guide him along the often treacherous path marked by the events, experiences and encounters that would shape his world view. This view has contributed directly to his passion and desire to construct vivid stories, spoken with a unique voice and from a particular vantage.

Jacob traveled around the western hemisphere from a young age alongside his father Terrance, a legislator and founding member of the National Waterkeeper Alliance, working on projects to protect and preserve the world's waterways.

Through his father's work Jacob was fortunate again in meeting the diverse demographic of varying economic, social, political, religious, racial and national peoples that would motivate his attempt to understand the ideals, issues and problems they face through the prism of (his favorite subjects in school) history and literature. Through such a lens, those people instilled in the young writer-to-be a deep appreciation for the startling injustices and awesome persistence of some of the most obscure peoples of the world.

Since the early days of impulse, convoluted thoughts and direct action initiatives, Jacob has maintained a need to protect and empower people. It was only recently that he discovered the way he was meant to do just that, was with a pen.

IN MY OWN WORDS

"Writing is a tool for my mind to express my consciousness, my spirit, my soul." ~ J.H.B.

I am an infant. An Earthly man and yet, a cosmic toddler with less than a conceptual understanding of even my own existence; however, I feel that with these words each sentence gets me one step closer to comprehending myself, my nature. We are all of us characters on the world stage and though humanity has its own arc to follow each of us will play both the main protagonist at some point, and at times, we must also delve into the role of the antagonist.

There is no evolution without change. Without challenges we can neither adapt nor overcome. It is these stories we writers seek to relate, these transformations and metamorphoses that we challenge ourselves to define in the most meaningful way possible.

It is my belief that the evolution of human civilization comes through the written words, Darwin be Damned. Be it history, tradition, secret knowledge or just random recipes from Grandma's kitchen. Without the written words and the ability to read them we would have never truly crawled out of the caves and built upon the Earth these shining cities of silver and gold. Our humanity can be found in every page of every novel, in every syllable of every poem, of each and every essay, soliloquy, thesis and yes, even the most eloquent of those entirely eternal treatises, blogs...

It is with an intense and heartfelt passion that I strive to connect with my audience; to let them escape from their box for a little while and to give to them a part of myself. It is my solemn promise to always write authentically, with an oft varied, yet always interesting, mix of irony and wit, compelling drama and a fantastic, continually evolving version of reality that blends satirical metaphor and provocative prose into a homogeneous narrative that exceeds the status quo and persists in delivering a more captivating and qualitative example of independent authorship.

My Sincerest Thanks and Regards,

Jacob H. Backer