Through the Hourglass: Poems of Life and Love - Hardcover

JOHN A. CALHOUN has been considering our world, and his role in it, for most of his adult life. Anyone who has met him, no matter how briefly, realizes that this is a man who has embraced life and all that our time here has to offer.Most are struck by his easy ways, his instant connection with everyone from the waitress at the local diner to a Congressman or cabinet Secretary. Clearly, it is the person in front of him who matters, not a title or position.Perhaps that is why his first ambition was to enter the clergy, to minister to the spiritual needs of his fellow man. Instead, Jack, as his friends know him, devoted his professional life to more earthbound pursuits, helping people turn their lives around. His insights into troubled youths, especially those who seek a semblance of family in gang life, are widely admired, as are his efforts to create an environment for those trying to change the world one person at a time.His accomplishments have been notable. A one-time U.S. commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, he later spent twenty-plus years as the founding president of the National Crime Prevention Council.He could have written a book about his own impressive resume. Instead, he chose to chronicle the efforts of others in Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America.Jack Calhoun has made a real impact on the lives of people around him. Yet few of us have any idea how carefully he has been observing, through a poet's eye, his life and the lives of those around him. The result is this delightful collection that spans over four decades. Jack Calhoun has made a real impact on the lives of people around him. Yet few of us have any idea how carefully he has been observing, through a poet's eye, his life and the lives of those around him. The result is this delightful collection that spans over four decades.In Through the Hourglass, there are poems from when he first met Ottilia, the woman who became his wife, the years of parenthood and now grandparenthood, as well as word-paintings of friends and characters he has encountered along the way.It’s a precious gift. Consider it a keepsake that Calhoun has been long-planning to give us. For no matter what each poem is about, we can catch a glimpse of ourselves. It is an album of life's images which is, at once, touching and beautiful, while at the same time thought-provoking and inspirational.It should be savored and shared.

Jack Calhoun's impressive resume, including 20 years as CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council, doesn't reveal one thing. At some point, he lost touch with the bedrock of his work--the faith and passion that had galvanized him as a young man. But when a chance encounter brought Calhoun's past flooding back, he embarked on a two-year cross-country quest to find out what truly motivates some of America's hardest-working public servants.