Ted Kotcheff has directed such movies as My Weekend at Bernie's and First Blood (the initial Rambo film). Born in Toronto to Bulgarian immigrants, he has directed TV shows, plays, and movies. This is his amazing story.
Even if you don't enjoy reading poetry, you'll love this book. It's a delightful scrutiny of a man's youthful years that will touch your heart, stir your soul and give you food for thought.This collection of poems covers a wide range of subjects from youth, friendship, romance, the people that shape your life, to the beauty of nature, its mystery and sometimes when it is "red in tooth and claw".One of the most powerful poems deals with the poet's adolescent encounter with the Holocaust and its hellish images that stains his being deeply and sets him off into an obsessive cosmological quest for meaning and illumination, and he finally finds redemptive grace.So the poems are sometimes autobiographical and at times, philosophical, but always lyrical, always profound but always accessible.
His second published volume exhibits the same extraordinary vividness and vigor that permeates the first, whether the subject be grief at his Father's death, his youthful friendship with pro wrestler Sky Hi Lee, his chat with a turkey vulture, or the mystery of the disappearing honey bee.
The poems in Volume III of the COLLECTED WORKS can be grouped quite naturally under the heading of either darkness or light. There is plenty of material on the dark side to invite despair: but Kotcheff does not succumb to that temptation. Instead, he chooses to enlist with life and ride under the banner of Life and Love and Beauty. Among the selections included in Volume III are: the poignant story of a young boy's love for a precocious and eccentric work horse; haunting memories of a summer spent working in an abattoir; a vignette of a young man and an older woman whose two souls are transmuted into one through music; tales of unspeakable cruelty dredged from Kotcheff's ancestral Bulgarian past; the magical beauty of myriads of pure white butterflies convening for regeneration.
The fourth volume showcases a collection of poems that diverge significantly from the author's previous works. These pieces delve into profound philosophical themes, shaped by a deep engagement with social, cultural, and political issues throughout the author's life. The poems reflect a passionate exploration of complex ideas and experiences, offering readers a thoughtful and reflective journey.