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Ames K. Swartsfager
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• A teenage gang member.
• A journalist almost killed by a crazed reporter.
• A priest who wants to be a missionary.
• A chaplain to the Woodstock Rock Festival
• A Federal Prison chaplain.
• A sailor who lives aboard his boat for 18 years.
• A person with Myasthenia Gravis, a neuro-muscular disease.
• A man attempting to escape.
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I am a 71 year old Episcopal priest with a very interesting history. I was almost shot four times, in five riots, and the tail end of the "Perfect Storm."
I spent my teenage life in a gang riddled neighborhood in San Francisco. I joined a gang to survive. Looking for a way out of this situation, I saw the sea and sailing as a method of escape. All I needed was a boat.
After High School (in a better neighborhood) I dabbled in the Beatnik life, went to college, worked as photo journalist and in business. The call to enter the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, lead me to missionary work in Central America. I returned to the states and became chaplain of the Woodstock Rock Festival.
Following this I became a Chaplain in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, where I worked for twenty-two years. When I retired I sailed with my wife, Judy, in the Caribbean for five years and did some more missionary work in Colombia, SA.
I developed Myasthenia Gravis and moved back to the states for treatment. During this time I wrote several books.
Birth Place: LONG ISLAND CITY, NY USA
Accomplishments: At two Denton Literary Conferences I won the following:
First place for Non-fiction
First Place for short story
First Place for non-fiction article or story
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Books

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 | The Cruising Definition by Ames K. Swartsfager This is a songbook written by cruising sailors for those cruising or interested in cruising offshore....
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| Down Island by Ames K. Swartsfager A Captian's throughts and feelings about sailing Down Island through the Caribbean island....
free
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 | A Crusing Prayerbook by Ames K. Swartsfager A collection of prayers and services (encluding Blessings of boats) for the sailor and writen by a sailor.Please E-mail me for price and copies....
Ames Swartsfager
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 | The Bitter End Songbook by Ames K. Swartsfager Words, chords, and background to many of the old sea chantys and songs played and sung by The Bitter End.This includes a CD of the songs in the book. Please E-mail me for copies and prices....
Ames Swartsfager
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Short Stories
 The Woman Who Wanted to Die by Ames K. Swartsfager A woman waiting to be executed for the murder of her baby is tired of all the legal appeals. She asked the Chaplain of the prison to help stop the appeals. The chaplain wonders if she is really guil...
Ferocious Cats by Ames K. Swartsfager When your big brother frightens you with a bedgtime story, dream up a happy dream....
AN INQUIRY INTO MUTINY AND ATTEMPTED MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS by Ames K. Swartsfager An unwanted man, Charley, sneaks aboard a sailing ketch in the Caribbean. Later he claims to have been beaten, starved, thrown overboard and otherwise mistreated....
Homecoming by Ames K. Swartsfager Jackson, an old man, returns to the place where he was raised. Things have changed, but not his memories....
The Dreadful Dragon by Ames K. Swartsfager A prince has to face a dragon inorder to save thew princess. Is he brave enough? 325 words....
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Poetry
 The Waiting Room by Ames K. Swartsfager A doctors waiting room is a place where time passes very slowly when one is waiting for a diagnosis....
Time by Ames K. Swartsfager When one is very ill, Time can become your enemy...or your friend....
My Mistress by Ames K. Swartsfager A durge on leaving my sailboat/home of eighteen years because of sickness....
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Articles
 The Patient Chaplain by Ames K. Swartsfager I thought I understood the need for chaplains in the hospital ministry. However, it was not it was not until I became ill with MG that I understood the real necessity of well educated and well train...
On Guard by Ames K. Swartsfager An old salt tells about muskrats that sink boats in Washington....
DAVE BRUBECK - MEMORIES by Ames K. Swartsfager Dave Brubeck's 90th birthday concert at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, 2010, brings back memorier of hearing and meeting hiim in San Francisco....
Heady Problems by Ames K. Swartsfager The problem one has with a sea going bathroom (head....
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Links
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| Between the Devil and the Deep...
This my general blog page, but it is linked to two other blogs by me.
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FREE BOOKS
I am printing one of my books, "Down Island," about cruising in the Caribbean Islands, in this blog. One chapter per week.
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WOODSTOCK: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
Although much of what I had to say about the Festival is in the book, "Between the Devil and the Deep...," there are many thoughts I had about the youth, the communities and the churches reaction to the weekend on peace and music.
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Additional information
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| "Between the Devil and the Deep...:Memoirs of a Maverick Priest" is now available at Xlibris.com.
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Contact
Information
Ames Swartsfager 41 Whitman Drive Granby
CT
06035
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