[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Title Section” _builder_version=”4.9.2″ background_color=”#e0cdaf” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#f4f4f4″ background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(244,244,244,0)” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_start_position=”50%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”80%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_enable_image=”off” custom_padding=”102px||150px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#383e59″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”960px” custom_margin=”||40px|0px” custom_padding=”27px|40px||10%” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_slide=”2%” border_radii=”||6px|6px|” border_width_right=”30px” border_color_right=”#bdada0″ box_shadow_style=”preset3″ box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”70px” box_shadow_spread=”-35px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”960px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|||10%” custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” padding_tablet=”|||10%” padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.9.2″ text_font=”||||||||” header_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” header_font_size=”70px” header_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”||||||||” background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|||” header_font_size_tablet=”40px” header_font_size_phone=”” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”70px||70px|”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#f4f4f4″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”40px|40px|40px|40px” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” padding_tablet=”40px|40px|40px|40px” padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.9.2″ text_font=”Nunito|600|||||||” text_font_size=”15px” header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”80px” header_2_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” header_2_font_size=”64px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_4_font=”Nunito|700||on|||||” header_4_text_color=”#bda392″ header_4_letter_spacing=”2px” header_4_line_height=”1.8em” header_6_font=”Nunito|600|||||||” header_6_text_color=”#666666″ header_6_font_size=”18px” header_6_line_height=”1.4em” max_width=”600px” custom_margin=”||40px|” custom_padding=”0px|||||” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_intensity_slide=”5%” animation_starting_opacity=”100%” header_font_size_tablet=”40px” header_font_size_phone=”” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_2_font_size_tablet=”40px” header_2_font_size_phone=”” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” locked=”off”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.2″ text_font=”Nunito||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” header_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”|-607px||||” custom_padding=”||10px|” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_intensity_slide=”5%” animation_starting_opacity=”100%” locked=”off”]<\/p>\n
What to say? I was born and raised in South Jersey about 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia and an hour from the Jersey shore. I\u2019m the youngest of four children, three of whom survived infancy. I accepted Christ as my personal Savior when I was four. I grew up in a typical Christian-family home, and had the added benefit of living next door to my aunt and my Dad\u2019s twin brother, Elwyn, who was like a second father to us kids. (Yes, we were spoiled every Christmas with two Christmas trees and presents under each.) Otherwise, the daily grind saw my father and uncle running their plumbing and heating supply business, in which all of the family worked at one time or another.<\/p>\n
I began college at 20 at the Philadelphia College of Bible (now Philadelphia Biblical University), transferred to Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), then finished my B.A. (Music Composition) at Reform-founded Geneva College in western Pennsylvania. To stay sane during these years I played college tennis at PCB and Geneva, which generally was fun. Also, around this time (1983) I made an album of contemporary music as a singer songwriter and did some regional coffee houses. I moved on to get my Masters at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where I studied under my favorite professor, Dr. Joseph Wilcox Jenkins (I still remember his golden-nugget sayings, e.g., \u201cThe secret of Stravinsky is that he moved harmony slowly;\u201d \u201cBartok learned to relax at the end of his life,\u201d \u201cSome people even object to God; why shouldn\u2019t they object to you,\u201d etc.) As part of the Masters requirement I wrote a large-scale work (The Winter Piano Concerto), and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play excerpts of it in concert with the Duquesne University Orchestra. I then went to SUNY-Binghamton where I became a Ph.D. student in art history. After 36 graduate hours I left the program, discouraged about finances and the small but strongly socialist-minded department that concerned itself more with the moneyed sponsors behind \u201cvisual culture\u201d than it did about the connoisseurship of art. In other words, I didn\u2019t want to do any more papers like the assigned one on Third World housing in Kingston, Jamaica, because some art history professor had made a tenuous connection between architecture and \u2018land allotment.\u2019<\/p>\n
Having finished as much college as I was going to, I moved out to the Chicago area for a year, where I taught a few art history courses at Judson College, a Christian college. I also worked at a home improvement center that year. Afterward I returned home to New Jersey to run my Dad\u2019s plumbing business with my brother David. Unfortunately, like every other small plumbing, hardware, or electrical supply in town, we eventually folded up in the war with the big box stores (Home Depot, Builders Square, Hechinger\u2019s, Grossman\u2019s, Sears Hardware, Channel\u2019s, et al. Years later on a Home Depot application for work, I was confronted with the question of why I left my employment. I simply wrote in, \u201cHome Depot.\u201d). After we closed the plumbing supply I decided to rehab the old building, and finally opened up a used bookstore. Eventually, I added custom picture framing to my business. After 7 or 8 years my family sold the building and I moved the books offsite for online selling; some months later I opened up a small picture framing business in a nearby town.<\/p>\n
Over the years I\u2019ve self-published a few Sherlock Holmes pastiches, and written another book called BOTTOM-FEEDER: How I Survived Family, Trashpicking, and Dubious Yard Sales. And all that formal education? Well, I\u2019m probably a better composer than writer, but I remain discouraged about the low demand for new Classical music, and since I find composing much more intense and difficult than writing, I pretty much avoid it. I do have a simple, short piece (\u201cMonet Sky\u201d) you can hear online at SeptemberRoseStudio.com. (The tempo runs somewhat slower than intended in order to accommodate the slide presentation.)<\/p>\n
And now for my better half! I met a Christian woman named Alison some sixteen years ago, and we got married \u2018afore long. I\u2019ll admit it took me a while to realize she was quite a gal, until, of course, I figured out she was putting up with all my shenanigans instead of kicking me to the curb (and making good on her threats). We have no children but over the years have had one dog and three cats.<\/p>\n
As for the book which is the attempted justification for this website, I began it later in the year of my father\u2019s death. I had never intended to write such a book, but I\u2019ll leave those details to the Preface, and to the Interlude between Chapters 6 and 7.<\/p>\n
So then, as Porky Pig would say, having run out of segues (but whose main attribute I am somewhat resembling these days), \u201cThat\u2019s all folks!\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_social_media_follow _builder_version=”3.0.106″ animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”top” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” locked=”off”][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”facebook” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]facebook[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”twitter” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]twitter[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”linkedin” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]linkedin[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][\/et_pb_social_media_follow][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Best Selling Books Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”101px||101px|” top_divider_color=”#f4f4f4″][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Footer Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ background_color=”#22262d” custom_padding=”100px||100px|” custom_margin=”||-97px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#bcaca0″ custom_margin=”-10%|||” custom_padding=”70px|3%|70px|3%” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” border_radii=”on|10px|10px|10px|10px” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”0px” box_shadow_vertical=”35px” box_shadow_blur=”65px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(188,163,146,0.1)”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_blurb title=”Contact Author” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%258%%” icon_color=”#ffffff” use_circle=”on” circle_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0)” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#ffffff” use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”32px” admin_label=”Contact Manager” _builder_version=”4.9.2″ header_font=”Abhaya Libre|700|||||||” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font_size=”24px” header_line_height=”1.2em” body_font=”Nunito||||||||” body_text_color=”#ffffff” body_font_size=”18px” text_orientation=”center” locked=”off”]<\/p>\n
danielgracely@gmail.com<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”40px|0px|40px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_social_media_follow _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”top” animation_intensity_slide=”10%”][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”facebook” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]facebook[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”twitter” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]twitter[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”linkedin” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_color=”rgba(189,173,160,0.6)” custom_margin=”4px|4px|4px|4px” custom_padding=”8px|8px|8px|8px” follow_button=”off” url_new_window=”on”]linkedin[\/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][\/et_pb_social_media_follow][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
About Daniel GracelyBook Author My StoryWhat to say? I was born and raised in South Jersey about 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia and an hour from the Jersey shore. I\u2019m the youngest of four children, three of whom survived infancy. I accepted Christ as my personal Savior when I was four. I grew up in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-53","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58,"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53\/revisions\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielgracely.com\/rockpapershivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}