User talk:Sandersme1955

John Michael Cummings
John Michael Cummings is a notable fiction writer, located in the Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, region, where a number of his stories and novels are set. His numerous published works include stories in more than seventy-five journals, including The Iowa Review, North American Review, Kenyon Review, and other top journals in the United States that regularly publish fiction. As the former editor of Talking River, a journal located in the Northwest, I became acquainted with Cummings' work and included him in certain of the journal's issues. My focus for Talking River was to provide a balance between established and emerging writers; Cummings' background and previous publication, inclusive of books published by Penguin, and West Virginia University Press, plus receipt of a Paterson Prize, put him in the "established" group. Readers find his work engaging, as a scan of reviews (more than 50 4 and 5-star appraisals) attest to on Amazon, as well as other mentions available on the web.

Notably, Mr. Cummings' work also appeared as a book at Stephen F Austin State University Press, the press located at the institution where I am now employed; the press sought my input on vetting the book, and my "blind" recommendation led it to its being included in the SFA imprint. I must emphasize the word "blind." I had no idea who the author of DON'T FORGET ME, BRO was since it was placed through a blind-vetting process. The value of his work stood strong; I had no idea I had worked with this author previously. An additional note regarding the merit of DON'T FORGET ME, BRO was that it was later excerpted for THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country.

An informational page on Cummings on Wikipedia is valuable; critical appraisals need to be added to the already existent text, and these should come in good time. What is currently available on Wikipedia is not autobiographical but the beginning of a conversation on a writer from a unique region of the country. It would be wrong to delete the page about John Michael Cummings.

Sandersme1955 (talk) 20:06, 14 June 2019 (UTC)