(Reviewed by Don Jung)
Marty Essen is an interesting personality who went from being in the music industry to becoming a political activist and then a travel writer/lecturer covering seven continents.
This autobiography has a laid-back narrative that feels like your cousin coming home to tell his stories. Starting with his teenage experience working at a radio station, he then becomes an agent/manager in the Minnesota music scene. He learns on the job and is able to confront all the business dealings with vigor and gusto, but he never gets the big client that would make him successful.
He does find success though, when he and his wife, Deb, set up a telephone communications company that services rural areas. When the cell phone age starts, their telephone company has struggles so they decide to move to Montana. After living in the city, he relates his challenges of life in rural America. This entices Marty to become a political activist and he relates how his music manager background helps him to prepare newsletters, press releases and articles for the local newspapers.
His writing talents start gravitating him towards writing travel books. His love of snakes and other strange animals gets him to create a ninety-minute slide show about going around the world seeing unusual sights. It becomes a popular College presentation, and he gets to lecture around the country prior to Covid-19.
His writing has not been limited to non-fiction, as he has written thee highly acclaimed novels on time-travel. You’ll even a find a hippo in one.
What really struck me was how he was self-taught, not receiving any training on his various business endeavors. He was able to find a need at a particular time, and then capitalize on it. This meant he was constantly reinventing himself.
While reading Hits, Heathens and Hippos, you may jealously wonder why you didn’t participate in adventures like these. You may even feel like a slacker compared to him.
This is a fun read with no violence, sex or wars, just a person who has enjoyed life.
