Tom Henderson – författare

WEB OF SPINDLED TIME

A Poetic Point of View

A...spiritual journey unspooled in free verse, short prose and original artwork...the image of spindled time perfectly captures the experience of encountering Hendersons cosmic tome...This rhythmic alternation of inward and outward focus is one of Hendersons persistent themes, introduced in the prologueLooking outward, at my world, / I observed the constant changes around me, / Peering inward, I analyzed / My own shifting feelingsand revisited frequently, most memorably in several examples of concrete poetry...Elsewhere, various narrators on numerous paths and journeys invariably learn how much they do not yet know. In Blakean fashion, Henderson strives to deconstruct the tension of man simultaneously seeing himself as the image of perfection and as a mere, and mortal, fool. Wisdom, he suggests, lies in unifying both visions, often via paradox. In The Flight of the Spirit, for instance, the narrator laments, I have searched for an escape. / But, death comes to all. / Escape then, is inevitable. / Life is short. After further contemplation, however, he instead concludes that chains are loosened by death. / The soul drifts into the freedom / Of eternity, / Forever has no end / If death is short / And life is everlasting. For all its lofty philosophical inquiries, Hendersons poetry is generally unadorned, marked by plain speech and the occasional simple rhyme scheme. Because the mystic nature of these revelations is likely to confound reason, the mind can be slow to believe...so reading in small doses may be the best approach.

Readers who see spiritual perfection as a journey, rather than a destination, will appreciate Henderson as a fellow traveler.

A Shocking Tale of Love, Betrayal, and MurderMichael Fletcher seemed to have it all - a promising career as an attorney, a loving wife, and a baby on the way. But in the summer of 2000, he found himself on trial for the brutal killing of his pregnant wife, Leann. The verdict of second-degree murder left everyone scrambling to make sense of a twisted series of events that ended in tragedy.Michael and Leann''s relationship seemed like a fairy-tale romance, so what could have led him to murder his devoted wife right after professing his love for her? And why would he shoot her in the back of the head, killing not only Leann but also their unborn child? Prosecutors revealed that Fletcher had been involved in a two-year extramarital affair with a beautiful district judge, Susan Chrzanowski. Was this love triangle a motive for spousal murder?Deadly Affair raises troubling questions and sheds light on a shocking case colored by sex, political scandal, and deadly betrayal. Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.

Detroit mortgage broker Mark Unger adored his wife Florence and their two young sons. But after a decade of marriage and increasing financial trouble, Mark’s life began to slowly unravel. He became addicted to pain killers and gambling, and ended up spending five months in rehab.

Forced to go back to work, Flo became bitter and resentful of Mark and began to have an affair with one of his friends. When Mark returned home and his disability checks weren’t enough to make ends meet, Flo filed for divorce.

Panicked by the thought losing her, Mark did everything he could to win Flo back. Even though she resisted his efforts, Flo did agree to a weekend getaway at the family’s favorite lakeside resort. But after their first night there, Flo went missing … and the next day her corpse was found floating in the water. Mark claimed that her death was an accident—one that must have happened while he was up at the cottage putting the kids to sleep. But soon a jury would be convinced of what Flo’s friends and family believed to be true: that Flo would never have been alone on the boat dock that night because she was deathly afraid of the dark.

A promising young attorney and a dedicated family man, Michael Fletcher seemed to have it all. But in the summer of 2000, Michael found himself standing trial for the murder of his pregnant wife, Leann. The verdict—guilty of second-degree murder—would leave friends, family, and the public at large scrambling to make sense of a twisted and frightening series of events that ended in the brutal killing of Leann Fletcher. What could possibly have led Michael Fletcher to commit such a gruesome act?

As a college student, Michael Fletcher married the girl of his dreams after a three-year courtship. It seems like a fairy-tale romance come true: a match made in heaven. So why would a man with no history of domestic violence murder his devoted wife right after he told her how much he loved her? Why would Michael shoot Leann in the back of the head, not only killing her but also the child that she was carrying inside her? According to prosecutors, Fletcher has been involved in an extramarital affair with a beautiful judge for two years. Was his relationship with respected District Judge Susan Chrzanowski enough cause for him to murder his wife in cold blood? Raising even more troubling questions, the startling discovery colored Leann’s already shocking murder with shadings of sex, political scandal, and deadly betrayal.

In Washington Township, Michigan, on Valentine’s Day, 2007, Stephen Grant filed a missing persons report on his beloved wife, Tara. The stay-at-home father of two was beside himself with despair. Why would Tara abandon him and their family? Was she involved with another man?

Stephen’s frantic, emotional search for Tara made national headlines, and the case was featured on Dateline among other television shows and news outlets. But key elements in Stephen’s story still weren’t adding up: Why did he wait five days to go to police? What was the nature of his relationship with his children’s beautiful, nineteen-year-old babysitter? Why did Stephen have cuts on his hands, and random bruises? Then, the police made a gruesome discovery.

Parts of Tara Grant’s body started turning up around the woods near their home. The truth was finally coming to light … and, after a two-day manhunt, Stephen admitted to having killed Tara―first strangling her, then cutting her body into fourteen pieces before burying them. This is the shocking true story about a bitter, cheating husband whose crimes were revealed by the Blood in the Snow.

In 1991, flight attendant Nancy Ludwig checked in to an airport hotel near Detroit. The next morning she was found gagged, raped, and tortured—her throat slit with such rage that she was nearly decapitated. Her husband Arthur never gave up hope that the future would bring enough evidence to close the case. But it was the past that held the clue.

In 1985, fifty-five-year-old Margarette Eby, a music professor, met the same grisly death at her cottage in Flint, Michigan. The case went cold—until six years later when the victim’s son Mark came upon the story of Nancy Ludwig’s slaying. With nothing to go on but intuition, he called authorities, certain that the same fiend committed both crimes.

A cunning sting operation yielded irrefutable DNA evidence, and authorities were led to the home of respected navy veteran Jeffrey Gorton living quietly with his wife and two children. But his cold-blooded secrets were only beginning to come to light, leaving fears that there were more victims yet to be found in a killing spree that had finally come to an end. Blood Justice shows veteran reporter and author Tom Henderson at the top of his game.