BEMIDJI — Telling stories has been part of the human experience since almost the beginning. Debut author Mark Cecil is continuing that tradition with his new book Bunyan and Henry.
The new book is an American adventure story featuring the legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and steel-driving man John Henry. Cecil described it as “a story about Paul Bunyan and his quest to change his own life.” It also tackles such subjects as capitalism, waste and the environment.
The story is loosely based on the Epic of Gilgamesh, a 4000-year-old story about two friends who go around ancient Mesopotamia, fight monsters and go on a quest for eternal life.
Cecil came up with the Paul Bunyan and John Henry tale five or six years ago. It was a bedtime story he told his kids when they were younger. Cecil explained he and his wife, who is Black, are the parents of two biracial children, and they served as inspiration for his writing.
"I wanted to tell them a story about a white person and Black person sort of working together," he said.
Combing these larger-than-life characters with the Epic of Gilgamesh is Cecil’s chance to add to the myth-making process that has been going on since man could first tell stories.
“I feel like I am part of an ancient timeless tradition going back to cavemen telling stories before campfires hundreds of thousands of years ago,” he said.
Cecil notes that America has a lot of real-life cultural heroes, like Babe Ruth and Abraham Lincoln, and modern-day fictional superheroes, like Batman and Wonder Woman, but there aren’t many mythical heroes in the vein of Beowulf or Hercules. Those are his favorite kinds of stories, so that was a major inspiration for this book.
Cecil said he was inspired to publish this story into a novel from the reactions he was getting from his children while telling the story. He had wanted to be a full-time writer for a while and has tried to publish a couple of other stories that didn’t quite work out.
However, this story about Paul Bunyan is something his kids still talk about to this day.
“I knew it had worked in front of a live studio audience," he said. "And so, I was like, 'Maybe this could really be the kind of literary fiction for adults that I've been trying to tell.'”
Cecil found it easy to break the tale into chapters because he had to do that each night when telling the story.
“Every night you gotta have protein, vegetable and grain," he explained. "Then you gotta have a satisfying meal in every single chapter that you tell. And I think I just love that about the way the story unfolds.”
Cecil got his start as a reporter and eventually became an editor for Reuters. Then he climbed up the organization to become a manager, which was getting far away from writing.
“I just realized that my life was sort of drifting step by step in the wrong direction... If I don't do something, my life is just going to end up continue drifting in this direction and I'm never going to write the books I want to write and I'm never going to have a life in literature,” he said.
Cecil quit his job to pursue his literary dream. He started a writing podcast called The Thoughtful Bro and a social media startup to help writers reach readers virtually called A Mighty Blaze. Then he began writing this book.
It was a big decision for Cecil to make a full commitment to writing, but he was inspired by his brother-in-law, who is in a big band and tours around the world. When he was younger, he was thinking of going to law school before finally deciding to commit to a life in the arts. When Cecil was going through a similar crossroads his brother-in-law said, “Mark, when you put two feet in, the universe notices.”
“When you fully commit to doing something other people look at you in a different way. ... I think it was a totally chaotic first few years after I quit my job," Cecil said. "I was full of fear and regret, and many times I almost turned back. But in the end, I stuck with it, and it was just the most exhilarating and rewarding thing I've done and I'm so happy.”
As for what’s next, he’s currently working on the second book in what is a planned trilogy for his Paul Bunyan and John Henry story. While the first book focuses on destiny, the second is more about family and love.
Cecil is excited to have a book signing at 6 p.m. Friday, June 28 in Paul Bunyan Park. It will be his first time in Bemidji. He will read some of the book and answer people’s questions. It is a ticketed event, though purchasing the book from Four Pines Bookstore can serve as your ticket.
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Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
