Description
SYNOPSIS
“IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME,”
~A Tale of Dawning and Passion~
“It’s All Greek to Me” is a romantic tale of personal dawning and enlightenment placed against one of the most turbulent periods in American history, 1968- 1971. The story is told through the eyes of Cary Hail, a shy, frightened seventeen-year-old first-year student at State College who matriculated to this institution of higher learning with great confusion and uncertainty as with male frosh of that time frame. Like most freshmen, from the first day at “State,” Cary was bombarded by the challenges of campus life, magnified by the upheaval pervading every aspect of the American fabric. Assassinations, a toxin of hatred, bitterness, and divisiveness spreading across every vestige of culture, and the terror of the Vietnam war, brought about by the Selection Service Act.
In a maelstrom of self-doubt and fear, Cary was encouraged to join (pledge) a Greek-letter organization, a fraternity. There, he found older students who guided his development as a college student and opened his heart and mind to a new dawning in his life. Amid so much unease and campus turmoil, Cary began finding a new life purpose with a courage he had never known. At the same time, his eyes came to behold a blonde, blue-eyed beauty from Iota Kappa Tau sorority, the incomparable “Linda.” She was like no other girl he had ever seen and far above his station as a bespectacled, diminutive “nobody,” at least in his eyes.
Surrounded by so much confusion, the events of the day were too overwhelming to ignore (the selective service draft, Kent State massacre, Woodstock, etc.,) invading his senses, the inside-out, upside-down, from the rules of daily life he knew so well just a few months ago, … to the music, to what was now acceptable conduct and spontaneous conversion, even the way people viewed sports, all things were seemingly inverted. It was a time of conflict, not just in the world and on the campus, but an inner conflict that bred fear and pressed the question of purpose.
The fraternity brotherhood demonstrated kindness and recognized Cary’s needs and potentialities as he was shown the nuances of college life, from study skills to the social graces of a rather rule-free environment in the Greek world of fraternities and sororities. Through this maze of enlightenment, Cary’s God-given talents were revealed, and he flourished beyond all expectations of his fraternity brothers and college professors.
Although the relationship with the incomparable Linda was always from arms-length with extreme admiration, she disappeared from his life after both received their degree and went their separate ways. Some many years later, Linda reemerged into his life, wholly by chance, and the years of Cary’s awkwardness as a fraternity brother served as a magnet to Cary’s reconnection with Linda.
“It’s All Greek to Me” is an exquisite view of the Greek (sorority/fraternity) college experience during the most tumultuous period of college life in the 20th century.
Robert R. Tangerio –
If there is a heaven for storytellers, Stephen W. Hoag has a one-way ticket through the main gate. As a fraternity brother in my undergraduate years, I had all but locked away the memories of those brotherhood days when boisterous behavior was always a minute or two away. If you have ever worn a fraternity pin before giving it to the girl of your dreams, you will be swept away by the walk down GREEK way in Dr. Hoag’s latest triumph, “”IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME … ~A Tale of Passion & Dawning~”. Sensitive, yet bawdy and downright bodacious, you will be tempted to collect all the given ingredients for “Elephant Puke,” and stir them to a froth, but keep the swirl away from the grandkids.
The author frames a canvas that we all left our footprints upon as he paints the backdrop of the turbulent times that we tried to maneuver with hope, courage, inventiveness, and love. The epicenter of this saga is a rather nondescript young man, not the typical romantic hero of many of the previous Hoag novels. With the support and guidance of older Greek letter organization members, he is awakened from the thralls of high school innocence and naïveté in a dramatic storm of emotions. The recurring theme of Hoag’s “Greek” is the discovery of passion, which touches down in a hurricane of the heart.
With all of the trappings of forever great rock’ n’ roll music within the Age of Aquarius, the traditional “functions” of sororities and fraternities come alive in a behind-the-scenes view of the hauntingly private rituals of Greek participation. For those who wore the colors and danced in togas, carrying a beer can with one hand and holding a love with the other, Dr. Hoag’s novel is a walk down memory lane. However, this fable is a must-read for every parent who sends their child off to college and can only wallow in predictable separation anxiety. To all family and friends, take heed, the college experience will expand the frame of reference of every student, widening eyes and opening hearts. For this read, be prepared to be a Greek.