Review - Another Time, Another Peace
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About the Author
Neal W. Turnage is a contributing writer for the Palm Springs Life magazine. He has reported and written for a variety of publications, including Conde Nast Travelor, L’Uomo Vogue, Tatler, and USA Today. He describes himself as a storyteller with a heart for tropes of enlightenment and spiritual awareness that resonates with readers of all ages. He lives in Southern California.
Book Description
It is the late 1970s in Lake Tomahawk, a sleepy desert town in Southern California. Yet all is not at rest. The world of sixteen-year-old Sal Frisco turns upside down when his father abruptly leaves the family. Sal, already in a tug of war with God, grapples with faith as his family slips out of reach—and his skateboarding dream diminishes.
His best friend Jimmy McFarland, along with his dad, encourage Sal to remain grounded, to believe. Mr. McFarland offers an after-school job at his hardware store to Sal. It’s there that Jimmy and Sal form an unbreakable bond.
Meanwhile, despite Sal’s efforts, his dad shows no signs of resuming fatherhood. Sal suspects he may be in alliance with the newly arrived mysterious neighbors, Ms. Mars and her teenage daughter Julie. Afraid to confess his fears to Jimmy, Sal finds a listening ear in Penelope, a Lake Tomahawk High girl who herself struggles with belief—in anything, including herself. Her desperate grab for popularity fuels in Sal the same, and his focus shifts from God to the world.
When an influential outsider passes through town and takes note of Sal’s skateboarding ability, Sal seizes the opportunity. He flies high in a Southern California culture drenched in a newly liberated skateboard and surfing scene kissed by Hollywood. Convinced he can make his own way in the world, Sal leaves his past behind.
But the past has a way of catching up. When he finds himself in Santa Cruz with everything yet nothing, Sal surrenders. In a courageous act, he breaks the chains and runs toward reconciliation with his faith and all he left behind.
Review of Another Time, Another Peace
To appreciate this story, you need to imagine yourself sitting at a coffee shop and this skateboard legend starts reminiscing about how it all started in a beyond nowhere town in the desert of Southern California. As you hear the recollections of Sal Frisco, you resist the urge to interrupt. You just figure he either didn’t know back then or thinks those details aren’t necessary. What he really wants you to know is his journey through it all, not all that happened that pivotal year. Sal seems more interested in ensuring you understand who played a role in his testimony and where he ultimately saw God’s hand at work.
The descriptive writing makes it easy to imagine the tortured emotions resurging on Sal’s face as he relives being an out-of-place teen trying to navigate through his parents’ divorce and a high school world unkind to his Mexican heritage. Sal’s account is loyal to his best friend Jimmy, who unleashes a talent for making skateboards in town where you couldn’t even buy one. Sal presents Jimmy as having an understated sense of self yet a confidence in his faith that enables him to encourage Sal to pursue a dream of becoming a whiz bang skateboarder. Along the way in this incredible journey, Sal introduces you to the people who kept him going despite his doubts and fears and those who pushed those horrible feelings back to the surface.
This story touches on the seemingly cataclysmic nature of life as a teenager yet doesn’t get bogged down in the details that distract you from the bigger picture. Even the poster child for being a peace holder, Jimmy, struggles with his own demons. Through it all, though, Jimmy stays loyal to his friend that he knows God put in his life and serves as the hook that pulls Sal toward his peace.
I enjoyed how Sal shares the smells and sounds of the out-of-the-way desert town in such vivid detail; I feel like I’ve been to Lake Tomahawk. The story is also loaded with the headlines of the day and tons of pop culture references that I felt transported back to the late 1970s.
Some might find the revelation of faith a little on the nose, but it doesn’t seem out of place if you keep in mind that Sal is giving you his testimony at the coffee shop.
I enjoyed the read once I understood the framework in which it should be read. Sometimes things seem to ramble, maybe even a bit confusing in places as Sal jumps from one piece of recollection to another. I decided to overlook those things and enjoy my coffee with Sal. I would encourage you to do the same.
Where To Find Another Time, Another Peace by Neal W. Turnage
You can purchase Another Time, Another Peace at the following link:
About the Reviewer
For nearly three decades Stephen Pierce had been either reporting on the newsmakers or serving as a spokesman for them. He traded that all in for a quiet life in rural East Texas with his wife, two dogs and not too far from children and grandchildren. When he’s not trying his hand at writing his own novels, he explores ways to be creative in the kitchen, workshop, and garden. Invisible Defense, a Christian suspense thriller set in San Francisco, is his first foray into novel writing. You can learn more about him at www.stephen-pierce.com.
