John C. MacLeod has been recognized nationally and internationally for both his prose and his poetry. He has been published in Riley In Memoriam, a Celebrative Anthology by the poets of Indiana, l989, Bristol Banner Books, Wyndham Hall Press; Edgar Allan Poe, Poetic Mystery in Celebration, l990, Bristol Banner Books, Wyndham Hall Press; and the Cosmopolitan Poets and Poetry Anthology, Taipei, Taiwan, in l986. His prose works have been published in Keltic Fringe Magazine, Autumn, l994; Grayson Memories Magazine, 2000 and Tin Can Sailors Magazine, 2000.

His works have also been accepted by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the U.S. Veterans History Project.

His poetry has won numerous national and state awards since l979.

MacLeod has also been invited to speak for genealogy and historical societies and for the American Legion.

Tales From The Ocean Top

Steel ships, salt water and special people have made deeply imbedded memories for the author, a survivor, at age 14, of the torpedoing of the first ship, a passenger liner, sunk in World War II. A wartime sailor on a United States Navy destroyer in the Pacific, MacLeod beautifully relates early impressions of the sea and later times of boredom and action.

As he says, he is glad to have had such experiences for his life could have been radically different. He could have been bored.

Naked Trees and Other Observations

MacLeod steers a sure course through nature, observations of people and reflections on a life well lived. His tone is soft yet powerful; his diction simple yet profound; his imagery precise yet challenging, and his voice strong yet calming.

As in Listen, MacLeod’s words are gifts for us to enjoy, “each for the only time.” Unlike the sound of raindrops, however, we may revisit him over and over again.

Mixture No. 3

Tossed into the book in random order are 36 stories and thoughts about the author’s long-time gentle feelings, soft responses and observations of life and “things” ranging from sunrises to quiet death on a strip of sand. Articulate in his writing and deep in his insightfulness, MacLeod gives the reader a variety of experiences worth remembering.

Referred to in this book, among other things, are two crabs, the tweaked nose of a fox and fish in a barrel.