Please name and describe your book.

Zeus: The Avenger asks who assassinated MLK and why?  The book is available now, however the official publication date of April 4, 2008 coincides with the 40^th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination because the unanswered questions are as relevant today as they were forty years ago.

Richard (Rick) Champion is a middle-class African American computer salesman who has significantly benefited from the civil rights movement. He has worked hard, played by the rules and has all the outward signs of success.  Rick, however, is quietly angry that in spite of his consistently outstanding work performance and being on the fast track, he is not getting the exposure he needs to advance.

As the story opens, Rick is enjoying a belated honeymoon in New York City with his bride, Joy.  While on their honeymoon, the couple is introduced to the occult art and science of astrology by a young astrologer and socialite, Angela Bourne.  Rick is intrigued and decides to learn more about astrology. 

Also while on their honeymoon, the couple learns of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Although not a follower of King’s nonviolent civil rights movement, Rick highly respects King because Rick is also seeking freedom for himself and his people. When he learns of the assassination, Rick’s anger explodes into rage and he vows to find and destroy those responsible.  

During his relentless quest for revenge which stretches over thirty years, Rick penetrates the inner sanctums of one of the two American power elites bent on world domination.  He suffers numerous setbacks devised by his ruthless enemies that endanger his life and all he cherishes.  The novel answers such questions as:  How much will Rick sacrifice to fulfill his vow?  How does he use astrology as a tool to implement his plan?  Will he prevail?  Can world peace be achieved through violent means? And, like the god Zeus, does he avenge King’s assassination?

Symbolized by the mythical traits of the Greek god, Zeus, the saga is rich with intrigue and driving issues of our time: civil rights strife, minority business development and the hidden rage of successful African Americans.  Zeus: The Avenger is an emotionally and intellectually stimulating journey into a world of love and hate, violence and non-violence, conspiracies and counter-conspiracies, success and failure, the natural and the supernatural.

Why are you promoting this book?

As a retired university professor, I remain passionate about education.  I have chosen to devote my retirement years to “edutainment” (education and entertainment).  Writing about controversial issues is a tool I use to “edutain”.  Several controversial issues lie at the heart of Zeus: The Avenger:

·         Are there two powerful elite cabals competing to dominate the world?  Is one or both responsible for the assassination of MLK?

·         Why is it more difficult for an African-American to thrive in the white-dominated business world?

·         Why is there hidden rage among successful African-Americans?

·         Is astrology a viable tool for analyzing individuals’ character, identifying significant personal and world events and timing potential outcomes?

 What are your areas of expertise?

Business strategy, business development, entrepreneurship and astrology

What credentials and/or life experience do you have related to your book?

• MBA from Washington University and a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Entrepreneur

• Co-founded and managed gift food concession consisting of four shops at the Atlanta International Airport that employed 22 sales clerks and managers and generated sales exceeding $550,000  annually.

• Founded and managed one of the largest independent Atlanta supermarkets that employed 19 people and generated sales exceeding $1,000,000 annually.

• General Manager of an Investment/Management Company and a Jeans Marketing Company

• Retired tenured university professor of business policy/strategy and entrepreneurship and author of several scholarly articles

• Consultant to government and Fortune 500 companies

• Former corporate employee

Why did you write this book? 

The writing of Zeus: The Avenger began in the spring of 1980 and expresses the agony, sorrow and anger that has billowed inside me since April 4, 1968 — the day the life of an extraordinary man dedicated to the uplifting of his people was quashed. Like many, I do not believe James Earl Ray was the assassin or the brains behind the crime. I believe that conspiracy is at the heart of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am deeply grateful to the late Dr. Carroll Quigley, Carl Oglesby, James DiEugenio and Lisa Pease for revealing in Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, The Yankee and Cowboy War: Conspiracies from Dallas to Watergate and The Assassinations, respectively, the prevalence of conspiracies in the American body politic. Most insightfully, Oglesby and DiEugenio and Pease disclose that the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy are “intrinsically linked conspiracies” that stigmatized our nation and undoubtedly altered world history.

Zeus: The Avenger is not an academic treatise on these issues. Rather, it is an artistic expression of one perspective for viewing these issues. I have sought to tell a story that may enlighten you, inspire you to look at significant historic events differently and most of all entertain you. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

What’s next for you?

In addition to promoting Zeus: The Avenger, I’m currently writing the sequel, Apollo: The Peacemaker.  In this novel, Rick’s son, Raymond, repudiates the violent tactics employed by his father and adopts diplomacy, unarmed truth, non-violent protest, and negotiation as advocated by Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi to foster world peace.