I enjoyed working with Jess Daniels on his memoir, a coming-of-age story of a young man’s journey on the pathway of life—a journey that begins on the outskirts of a south-Texas city, proceeds through the wilds of north-central Idaho, and eventually ends on a college campus in western Montana, some two decades later. Unbeknownst to him, it is his remarkable journey to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he evaded throughout his young life…and to a wonderful future that he could never have imagined.

Drawing from the experiences of his early years as a forester working in remote forested regions of the western United States, Daniels likens his faith-journey to the challenges of trekking the wilderness. While at times it seems an enjoyable, even exciting, adventure, it can suddenly become a challenging, even harrowing, experience for which one is ill-equipped.

Much of the story centers on his youthful adventures in the wilds of north-central Idaho in the 1950s, a life-changing wilderness experience during three summers in his college years: working in a remote logging camp, as a mountaintop fire lookout, and as a “smoke chaser” fighting forest fires in the wilderness. In his charismatic writing voice, Daniels describes close encounters with a hungry bear, a wild mountain goat, and sudden death on a high mountain and a wild river.

To purchase a copy of the book, visit Through the Kaleidoscope: A Memoir.

When I was nearing completion of my book manuscript (a 10-year effort), I planned to self-publish it using MS-Word software. I quickly realized that it would be a laborious task with an uncertain outcome—I needed professional help to make my book all that I wanted it to be. Then I remembered working with Julie Zander on a book which we co-authored some years earlier; I was very impressed and pleased with that published book, as I am with my current book. Julie edited and formatted my manuscript to produce what one publisher’s rep called “a very handsome book”—one that I am proud to claim as my own. Any author needing professional assistance would do well to contact Julie McDonald Zander.

February 16, 2019