The Dreams of Teddy Schreck, John M. McNamara’s fifth work of fiction and the third to use the Laurel Woods neighborhood of Iske Park as a setting, focuses on a retired salesman, who obsesses about retaining his mental acuity. One website advises writing a long-hand journal to keep the brain elastic and active. The possible subject of this journal eludes Teddy until one night, when he dreams of cataloging his dreams. The following day he makes his first of many entries in his dream journal. He mentions the project to his neighbor, Bill, a retired historian, who suggests expanding the scope to include Teddy’s aspirations from his early life. Teddy agrees.

Bill and his wife, Margaret, have been life-long friends of the Schrecks. Margaret anonymously authors an atheist blog; her posts attract the anger of a religious zealot, who in his threatening comments on the blog indicates he not only knows Margaret’s identity, but where she lives. Teddy interjects himself into the conflict, for a variety of aspirational reasons, including an unfulfilled desire to be a hero to someone. His wife and daughters caution him, but he ignores their advice, entangles himself in the back-and-forth between Margaret and “The Lord’s Sword,” as the dangerous zealot labels himself. Events unfold with tragic consequences for both families.

One website advises writing a long-hand journal to keep the brain elastic and active. The possible subject of this journal eludes Teddy until one night, when he dreams of cataloging his dreams. The following day he makes his first of many entries in his dream journal. He mentions the project to his neighbor, Bill, a retired historian, who suggests expanding the scope to include Teddy’s aspirations from his early life. Teddy agrees.

Bill and his wife, Margaret, have been life-long friends of the Schrecks. Margaret anonymously authors an atheist blog, which attracts the anger of a religious zealot, who in his threatening comments on the blog indicates he not only knows Margaret’s identity, but where she lives. Teddy interjects himself onto the conflict, for a variety of aspirational reasons. His wife and daughters caution him, but he ignores their advice. Events unfold with tragic consequences for both families.

John M. McNamara’s short fiction has been published in Crosscurrents, Old Hickory Review, the Piedmont Literary Review, the Minotaur, Snapdragon, Four Quarters, FlashFiction, Quick Fiction, Bear River Review, Inside Running amd Chicago Literati.

In the summer of 1999, he was awarded a professional artist residency at the OxBow Summer Arts Program for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Saugatuck, Michigan. He lives in Downers Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife.

He is the author of: Madonna; The Dreams of Teddy Schreck; Harmony House; A Final Reflection; A Life Without Grace; and Hunter’s War, A Novella, and Selected Short Stories. All are available from Amazon.com.