SPEAKING UP in Poetry & Prose by Jack Joseph Prather (PublishAmerica 2007, isbn 1424108713) is a  "new genre" of poetry book that deals with issues important to 21st-century Americans, from the Iraq War to flag-burning, bullying to starvation in Africa, global warming to healthcare costs, zealotry to inter-racial adotption, immigratioon to eminent domain, taxes to the 2nd Amendment, 'Under God' in the Pledge to choice, lesbian marriage to stem-cell research, obsession to fear, et al. 

Prather designed the book to stimulate thought and civil discussion within groups, classrooms and families, and between friends.  His book has been accepted by the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site and three excerpts are being published online at NewYorkReview.org.

Prather has won multiple awards for newspaper column writing and editing, marketing and public relations, including the National Communicators Award of Distinction.  He was the PR consultant for the 1993 winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award presented by President Clinton.

 He has had numerous fiction and non-fiction articles and poetry published in magazines and professional journals, and has received writing  awards from Lifeglow, Explorer, Listen and Jobber Topics.  He also won Best Column/All Divisions from the New Jersey Press Association among six honors.

Prather welcomes visitors to his website, www.jackjosephprather.com, and e-mails to prathergroup@aol.com.  He also communicates public relations consultation and markets his guidebook, All PR is Local (Amazon-Booksurge, isbn 0972084703), through the website www.publicrelationshelp.net.