An Eighties Revival

A Tale of Weakness and Strongness

[Posted on "Reliability," on 6/8/14, at 8:29 P.M., under the title, "Fool Them."]




Career

See a short summary of Mark Greene's political career through the roots of his altar boy tenure at a Detroit parish and a fan of the Detroit Tigers and eventually the Chicago Cubs: "Leo's Maxim" on Northern Pacific Report.  This essay includes a photo of Mark's mother, Ellen (circa 1953), and a photo of Mark (circa 1962). 

[revised on 6/22/14]

Memoirs: "Memories of a Politician"

Mark Greene will be writing his memoirs, which will be basically an autobiography of his life and his long career in politics which began in 1964, when Mark was in his 11th year. The memoir will be published on a blog, and at this point he has not decided which one it will be, or whether he will start a new one. The memoir is tentatively set to be named "Memories of a Politician." Mark will also be looking for a publisher to publish the memoir in book form as well.

MEMORIES OF A POLITICIAN

My story of how I became a politician, statesman and the builder of a party ... from Detroit, to the rural Midwest, to the U.S.M.C. and the West, and to the Pacific Northwest. [Memories of a Politician TM]

[Originally published on "Commoner" on 2/8/11; revised on 3/3/11]

Please, request a petition page to Mark@partyofcommons.com and get 2 - 10 signatures for Mark's campaign for Director of Elections in King Co., or contribute to campaign: click on the title link above and make selections of how you want to donate, or send check or money order to P.O. Box 612, Bellevue, WA 98009. Thank you!

The Era of the Priests

Some of my earliest memories in central Detroit, Michigan, particularly from 1959 - 1965 (ages 5 to 11 for me), was my mother dragging me with her from Catholic church to Catholic church for long sessions of prayer and confession, and meeting the priests in the rectories. One of Mother's favorite churches, though not our local parish, was Saint Cecilia. The pews of Cecilia were long, wooden and hard, like in most Catholic churches, and I spent many an hour rolling around in them wishing Mom would hurry up and finish her prayers. She was born a Baptist, but once she converted to Catholicism as a teenager, she went into to it full-fledged. This was the Era of the Priests for me, because Mom did not simply attend Sunday mass, but devoted herself amply into church activities, with me usually along, and of course she made me become an altar boy at our local parish (St. Theresa). Mom spent hours discussing theology with the priests in the rectories as I usually sat waiting in the lobby combing through the various religious texts and scriptures. We attended ordinations of priests, sung Christmas carols and went to midnight Christmas mass, among all the Sunday services, attended the stations of the cross and the following Easter services, and became fully engaged in the Catholic traditions. I even remember reading condensed transcripts of Pope John XXIII's famous encyclical in the Archdiocese of Detroit's newspaper. I attended mass every day except Saturday, as Monday through Friday attendance was required by the local parish school that I attended.

[revised on 9/23/12]

Copyright 2009 - 2012, Party of Commons TM

Sanctuary of Heroes

  

In honor of the memory of Anne Frank (1929 - 1945)

 

The dawn of adolescent horizons,

Meets the anticipation of virtual entitlement,

At the crossroads of hope and fulfillment,

In defiance of a peer culture,

Wary of a long line of naysayers and their kinfolk,

Propelling our souls in innocence,

While defending the core of our character,

Alas, years go by, dreams fade and rejection visits as faithfully as the next horizon,

Nowhere else to go except to the sanctuary of heroes,

Comforter of the friendless, the down and out, the rejected and dejected, and dreamers,

Awaiting, yet another sunrise.

Copyright of "Sanctuary of Heroes," © 2000-2009, Clifford Mark Greene

Copyright © 2009 - 2012, Party of Commons TM

[This poem relates to isolation and solitude, generally, not to the specifics of young Anne's life, although her life of course is an inspiration for this poem.]

Ellen

Ellen Greene in the year 1983 -- (1933-2006)

Chairman of the Party of Commons, Mark Greene, will be writing about his late mother, Ellen Greene, in memoirs.

Her contributions to society were great and immeasurable. Mark's writing will be about one unsung hero and an inductee in the Party of Commons's Hall of Fame earlier this year.

She taught her children about civic responsibility by her own example, and later worked as a teacher in VISTA, where non-administrative workers are essentially volunteers.  She said people should take care of their own city, outside of their own personal responsibility, when at all practical, and not wait for the city to do everything,

See more about Ellen in Senator under "The Theologian."

[revised on 6/27/2013]

Copyright © 2009 - 2013, Party of Commons TM

Foreword

Welcome to "The Political Playwright," featuring plays, poetry, and prose by Party of Commons's chairman, Mark Greene. This blog will highlight Mark's career as a playwright and showcase his past, present and future writings. Mark concentrates much on politics and its influences in his writings, and this blog will open up a whole new audience to enjoy the creativity of one of the most underrated playwrights and politicians of the 21st century.

Foreword by the Committee of Commons & Political Affairs TM

Copyright 2009, Mark Greene