Birth Of A Legend . . .

NEVER have I been more excited about sharing with my you, my dear readers, than now. Back in November of 2011 I had the greatest pleasure of meeting, in person, the man himself: Baye McNeil. But to us in the social media world we have come to know him as “Locohama” or just “Loco“. The illustration below is the cover of his just published book which is now available on Amazon.com for Kindle. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi! My Name Is Loco And I Am A Racist

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I kinda cheated with Amazon and picked up my copy early so I could do a review. I won’t publish it here because it would defeat the purpose of you going to Amazon and picking up YOUR OWN COPY! ha ha ha!

First off is the title. I know the title may be inflammatory, but after reading the book you will know why it is appropriate. I have not known Loco that long. But, I have followed his blog for a while now. And I hate to use the word “blog“.  The word blog makes it sound so trivial. To me it’s more like a rare collection of works about his life rather than just a “blog”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loco with some of the Gaijin Heroes of "Triberr" : Right to Left: @kimiecat, @billyj41, @lifeyoutv, @locohama, @808armada (yours truly), @cbryanjones, Hiroki (@kimiecat’s husband), @aprets was the one taking the picture (Thanks @aprets!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 2011: I finally get the chance to meet him in person at our Gaijin Heroes Tweetup. It then solidified a personification I had about his writing. This guy is the real deal. And he writes about some powerful issues. AND he’s not afraid to tackle it head on. He says it has been this way with himself so he can understand and “engaging one’s own susceptibility” to finally conquer that dark “social virus”. He told me at that meeting that to grow as a writer and a person he did not want to surround himself with “yes men” all the time. That would stagnate his growth. I hope the author does not mind but I included a screenshot excerpt from his book so you may get a little “taste”:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The official website for the book is at : http://www.himynameisloco.com/

After reading the book I urge you to write your honest reviews on Loco’s website. And also on Amazon. With a meaningful dialogue we can honestly face our own prejudices and maybe make things for the better. I rate this a MUST READ not because I’ve come to know him as a friend. It’s a MUST READ because we are all guilty of this one way or another. Not only of color or creed or of disability or education. Or even language! For all that it’s worth it is a thought-provoking read and for me it was hard to put down after starting.

For Loco, I could not be happier for the man. And I can say this book would be a good addition to any modern library. Congratulations Loco! Here’s looking forward to things to come. . . . Mr. Author!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~