For the first time ever: Mary, the mother of Jesus, is portrayed as a human being. The gospels pay Mary scant attention while her husband Joseph seems to exist merely to legitimize Jesus' birth. Mary has been called the Queen of Heaven, but life on this mortal coil is not lived wearing a halo. What of the holy family's everyday life? In this compelling story, Michael McGrinder draws from gospels canonical and apocryphal in addition to many contemporaneous sources to place Mary at the center of her own narrative. The story of Jesus' nativity is honored as is the oft-suppressed fact that Mary was the mother of several other children. And a boldly charismatic Joseph comes alive here, rugged and handsome with a bit of a temper and a brash sense of humor. Mary is followed from her own conception through her life at the Temple, her betrothal and her family life with all the iconic moments sharing time with the mundane. Here is the extraordinary story of the brave, gentle and loving woman who became the mother of the most famous person ever to have lived.
About the Author: Michael McGrinder grew up in the South Bronx, New York City. He spent his early twenties in England where he was part of a robust poetry scene and acquired a taste for and an interest in theatre. Returning to New York, he lived on the Lower East Side and quickly became involved in the developing Off-Off-Broadway scene, so new at the time it was generally referred to as café theatre. His first production, a double-bill of one-act plays, was given life at The Playwrights Workshop. He then began showing his work at the legendary Old Reliable Theatre Tavern, located in the funky back room of a Polish bar in a dangerous section of the East Village. "It's easy to find. Just turn left at the burning automobile," and "No wonder we get such good crowds. Everyone's afraid to come here alone." His plays were also produced at such leading theaters as La Mama, Bastiano's Cellar, The Playbox Studio and at The Library Theatre of Lincoln Center. He published Proscenium, a newsletter which The Village Voice described as "Off-Off talking to itself." He also hosted a weekly cable TV show of the same name presenting excerpts from Off-Off shows and interviews with the production's writer, director and actors. The show was later rechristened Michael McGrinder Presents to allow for an expanded format. He is now completing a memoir of that extraordinary time, He has also written a prolific number of short stories, a novella and a crime-fiction novel set in Greenwich Village. Along with artists Judy Pendleton and Helen Lau, he was a founding member of Artists Rights Association, an organization devoted to securing reproduction rights and royalties for artists as well as encouraging artists to use copyright symbols on their work. Michael McGrinder's plays have been published by The Smith, Breakthrough Press and Dramatics Magazine and by And/Or Books. His concern for the preservation of vital plays from the early years of Off-Off-Broadway led to his founding The Old Reliable Press, online as oldreliableprss.com.