The Heart Keeps Asking Why

About the Book

Steve Wachtel was born in the fabled land of Brooklyn in 1948, and stayed there with his family until he was nine.  In those days, Brooklyn was a friendlier place where people spoke softer to one another and reserved their shouting for (or at) the Dodgers. It was fun and safe to play in the streets where the only bullets were imaginary ones from six shooters in cowboy games.

In 1957, Wachtel’s parents saw something better in moving to Long Island(proving once more that the better is the enemy of the good) and they abandoned Brooklyn, one year before the Dodgers did the same.

Growing up on Long Island, the author had three shaping influences: his parents and grandparents, who taught him kindness and love;  Dr. Thomas Dooley whose life inspired him with wanting to help others live with dignity; and a marvelous Jewish teacher who instilled in him respect and love for his Jewish heritage. Their lives were and are poems from which his writing frequently derives whatever grace it possesses.

Wachtel is a graduate of Yeshiva College and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.  Although he now serves in a managerial position in a state psychiatric center, the author says he will always see himself  as(and will be) a social worker. He is married and lives with his wife and a cat, Bonchat, in Manhattan.

This is his third volume of poetry, following  Journey in 1992 and  Above All, Myself, in 1998.

About the Author

Steve Wachtel is a lifetime New Yorker who derives inspiration from that city’s diversity and boundless energy. He sees his poetry as snapshots of the struggles and triumphs of the spirit, both experienced and witnessed. Mr. Wachtel grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island, and was fortunate to be surrounded by loving family and friends who encouraged and supported the growth of his imagination. He has been writing poetry for twenty-four years and sees it as his effort to record the brief glimpses granted him of the world’s brittle beauty.