Stillpoint: A Novel of War, Peace, Politics and Palestine

Stillpoint is a gripping odyssey spanning two continents and three generations. It describes a clash of ideologies and the onset of a long and vicious war. American and Israeli policies collide in the ancient battleground of Palestine. Stillpoint is a lucid and compelling vision of what it means to bring truth and wisdom to the political arena. The reader is drawn into a vivid and haunting world, replete with unforgettable characters. Crisis and opportunity arise together in this sun drenched and fractured land. The reader comes face to face with the question: "If this happened to me, what would I do...?" George Santayana famously said: "Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Do we learn from history? Probably not. War is still as popular as ever. We all know, that what we learn we can easily forget. But, understanding is of a different order altogether. When it happens, it's permanent: It is the stillpoint of the turning world," to which the poet T S Elliot refers. The stillpoint is a place where understanding dawns, banishing the shadows of racial, religious and national biases that cloud our vision. What emerges is the world as it really is, and it is here that peace can take root.

Colin Mallard played in bomb craters and bombed out buildings as a child in England during the Second World War. Perhaps this was the origin of his interest in peace. He attended University in Boston and was deeply involved in the Civil Rights and Anti War Movements of the 60s. In fact, the story of the sanctuary at Boston University's Marsh Chapel, described in Stillpoint, was written from personal experience.
He worked for a number of years at an inner city church in Providence with the local black population and was harassed, threatened and beaten by the police. Later the church was firebombed and destroyed. (Click on the link below and see some interesting photos from that time. He's the one with the large mustache.)
Some of his many jobs have included such esoteric skills as taxi driver, magician's assistant, tree planter, mountain guide and a street counselor on Vancouver's skid-road. Colin laughs, "Jack of all trades and master of none."
He spent eleven years as a Unitarian minister. His interest in exploring spiritual matters took him into the ministry and out of it again.
For the next 20 years he worked as a psychologist. For some of that time he lived in Hawaii and worked with families in which children had been abused. The State of Hawaii believed the family was the best place to raise children and were prepared to provide the needed help. He taught parents effective communication and parenting kills, and helped them understand the sources of anger and conflict. It was during this time he wrote a first novel, a teaching story for his clients.
Behind it all was a consuming interest in the nature of peace and who or what we are as human beings. This led him to a lengthy study of Taoism, and Zen and, latterly, the Advaita Masters, Ramesh Balsekar and Dr. Jean Klein.
He has written a number of books on the subject of peace. Something to Ponder, reflections from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, and Understanding, draw the reader into a deep exploration of life and how it works. A number of his books have won awards in such categories as Eastern Religion, General Fiction and Interior Design and Layout.
His latest novel Stillpoint uses fictional characters to bring to life the events that took place before, during and after the creation of the State of Israel. "If there is no awareness of what took place and what continues to this day, how can there be any real understanding?" Colin asks. ...