By David Krogh
Portland resident Norman Becker had a very strange experience when he was 12 years old. He and his parents were out for a drive one day when suddenly a large shape darkened the sky above their car. Surprised and shocked, Becker strongly felt he was witnessing something unworldly as the shape passed over the their car before quickly disappearing into the sky beyond. Because the sighting was of such a short duration he recalls very few details from that day except that the underside of the large craft displayed many lights.
Back then an object like that was termed as a UFO (unidentified flying object). Becker confirmed that this sighting was, in fact, a primary inspiration for his book, Blue Swallow. Becker’s inspiration did not, however, stop there. Having been brought up in the Mennonite faith he had developed strong religious beliefs. And although he currently isn’t a member of a particular congregation, he still considers himself as a spiritualist. He also believes in angels and Heaven. “Yes, I believe in angels. I have a guardian angel of my own who has helped to protect me from harm a number of different times.” Becker also strongly believes in miracles. “I look at a tree and see it as a miracle. How else could something so complex as a tree be able to live and function?”
Because of his UFO sighting Becker strongly believes aliens (i.e. extraterrestrials) do exist and that they could have played a role in the development of humans thru DNA manipulation. “I’ve had two very religious people tell me that this was a good idea and made sense. I don’t know how else it all could have been done,” suggests Becker.
With this background out of the way, interested readers will now know that this book will contain UFO’s, aliens, DNA manipulation, angels and much more.
Regarding the religious aspects of his story, he clarified that he is not making a sermon. “My intent was to not be too religious. I want people to not even agree with me but to at least be happy with the content of the story. For the most part this story is my own testimony. That’s the way my former church was. People told what was happening to them. And this is the story I want to tell.” Becker provided more clarification about his intent with Blue Swallow. “I run into a lot of people who don’t know what to believe in. And many of them don’t agree with all that the churches are telling them. This is another reason for me to share my thoughts on the matter, to get them thinking about other ways to address their questions about life and religion.”
Of interest, Becker’s background is not literary oriented. He grew up in rural South Dakota. He went to a junior college for two years with a focus on general studies before ultimately moving to SE Portland. Afterwards he worked for many years in both warehousing and real estate sales. And while his kids were growing up he got involved with basketball and soccer coaching, mainly at Glencoe School.
As to his writing experience, he got interested ultimately due to a hobby in mountaineering and doing some writing for his club’s newsletter. He is also into nomading and makes many trips throughout the west in his older Winnebago RV. During this same time period he has met many indigenous members and became very interested in their cultural backgrounds. Subsequently he included indigenous characters within the story. (In fact, the book is named after the angel of the main character in the story. In this case the angel was an indigenous woman before becoming an angel.)
A few other hints at what can be expected in the book include a brief history of Jesus and his second coming, space travel and reincarnation. In addition, the reader will be introduced to the Grommell. (But you’ll have to read the book to find out what that is.) In short, a great deal of imagination went into Becker’s story, along with a considerable amount of realism based on known scientific concepts and theories.
Blue Swallow is the author’s first book. The 434-page paperback is self-published via the Sun Star Press and is available from Amazon and other online sellers. It is not available in local bookstores as this time. The Amazon link and the official book description can be found at bit.ly/4dMpjkI. Becker is currently working on a completely different second book which he says is a mystery story.
Author Norman Becker. Photo by Becker.
