Mulberry Street

Mulberry Street is the story of an aging man struggling to redeem failures of his past. He faces another when an early morning phone call summons him to his dying sister’s bedside. Jenny has a last request, one that takes her brother back to the small Virginia town where they grew up. However, he does not know that while the journey to Waynesboro takes but a few hours, the road to redemption will take much longer. Ian arrives in Waynesboro to find that corrupt politicians and an old nemesis from his past have an iron grip on the town. Waynesboro is no longer the place of his childhood adventures and misadventures. Despite an accompaniment of unlikely allies, a historian, a librarian and a reluctant attorney, honoring his commitment to his sister appears hopeless. As Ian wanders between the challenges of the present and the tears and laughter of the past, he realizes that there is more at stake than his impossible quest. Set in a small town cradled in the Shenandoah Valley just a few miles north of Charlottesville, Mulberry Street blends historical truth with a healthy allocate of fiction to provide an insightful and entertaining glimpse into the struggles of one man. Hughes contends that everyone has a Mulberry Street tucked somewhere in the memories of their childhood. This is his.

From Kirkus Reviews

A humorous collection of reflections focuses on the sillier aspects of getting older.In his meditation on the funny sides of the golden years, Zezima takes readers on one retirement adventure after another, introducing them to his long-suffering wife, his kids and grandkids, and all the antics he gets involved in from story to story. He writes about his experiences using the Duolingo app to learn French (one of the work’s comic highlights); he recalls the ups and downs of attending his 50th high school reunion; and he shares a store of quips about getting exercise at his age. His tales are filled with boomer-style comic reductions (men, he writes, have no idea what they’re doing when they’re driving a shopping cart or why they’re in a supermarket, “although most of them know instinctively where the beer is”), and he peppers his text with mock quizzes for readers. At one point, the author decides to spruce up his retirement free time by trying his hand at selling cars for a dealership. This works about as well as most of his other misadventures, but at one point, a customer tells him that he has what it takes: “You have a good personality and a great sense of humor, and you’re outgoing. You could sell anything.” Readers will agree with this sentiment while making their way through these charming tales. Zezima is a natural storyteller, never more delightful than when readers suspect he might be, shall we say, exaggerating. His comic timing is impeccable, and it’s neatly balanced with his self-deprecating humor. Even though serious subjects come up (failing health, Covid-19), the author very winningly never takes himself too seriously.A fun and irreverent series of comic meditations on aging.

Zezima refers to himself as

BookLife ReviewsSyndicated humor columnist Zezima (Every Day Is Saturday) pokes fun at life as a senior in this playful offering. Styled with self-deprecating humor

and highlighting the easy banter between the author and his wife, Sue, this lighthearted read covers (and lobs jokes at) topics from aging health concerns to quality time with grandkids. Zezima shares the unique way he navigated the coronavirus pandemic, including the painful absence of family visits and vaccination challenges in his home state of New York, all through a comedic lens that brings welcome levity to even the most difficult subjects.Fans of humorous essays about real life will be thoroughly entertained by Zezima’s quips and insights. He states his ninety-seven year old mother is sharper than he is, announcing

“an out-of-shape geezer who drinks red wine to avoid heart trouble and believes that exercise and health food will kill you”

About the Author

Hughes was born in Waynesboro, Virginia on a crisp September morning. He spent his teens in the Shenandoah Valley amid the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains until his seventeenth birthday when he joined the U.S. Navy and trained as a Hospital Corpsman. Twenty years later, he traded Navy blue for jeans and sneakers and entered the Medical University of South Carolina's Physician Assistant program. After graduation, he entered the University of NC, at Charlotte (UNCC) where he received a BA in Psychology and a Master's degree in Education. His life's experiences, include tours of duty on a Ballistic Missile submarine, six years with the Marine Corps, a side trip to Vietnam and twenty-five years as a Physician Assistant in acute psychiatry.

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