Juan Mccarthy

Poetry on Horseback Volume I: Wanted: men of Principles Juan Mccarthy

Juan McCarthy (1866-1931)


My wife and I have been thinking about publishing my grandfather Juan McCarthy's poems for the last 20 years. We did not have a clue as to how to approach this endeavor or how much it would cost.

My niece, Jenna McCarthy Coito, a renowned writer and author, advised us on publishing the poems and also helped with the layout and comments for the final drafts.

My wife's niece, Lauren Yarnell, meticulously re-typed all the poems from Juan's original "manual typewriter." She verified the verbage of the Old English which Juan used throughout his work. We decided that no changes should be made to any of the words or the basic formatting. Every poem is authentic. Lauren also was instrumental in preparing the graphics used for the book covers, working with photos that were over 80 years old.

My wife, Linda, has been a true inspiration with her research, perseverance and dedication to this project. Together Linda and I read all of the poems and became more and more enthralled with this amazing and dedicated man.

"The Lazy Man's Soliloquy" speaks to the dangers of indolence."The Monarch and the Jester" tells of a dying king who makes no preparation for his next journey. The Monarch believes the Jester to be a fool but who indeed was the biggest fool of all?"Show Love to Your Friends Now", offers a gentle reminder to live in the precious present.

Grandfather put his life on the line daily while ministering to those in need. He opened a field in the territory of missions, one of the wildest places in the Argentine Republic, where the majority of the inhabitants were Indians and spoke the Guarani language. He ministered by horseback through the jungles. My father often shared his incredible stories about our grandfather, and now we are honored to share them with you, in hi