Poet, musician, motivational speaker and barber extraordinaire Jym Marks will speak at the Menlo Park Library on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m. as part of the library’s Saturday Series. The event is free.
Mr. Marks is the owner of Markstyle Center, a barber shop and African American bookstore on Willow Road in Menlo Park. The combination of bookish prose and barber shop prattle creates an atmosphere of culture and camaraderie that is reflected in Mr. Marks’s art.
Mr. Marks has published 10 books of poetry and many self-help books. His poetry is decidedly masculine, with an air of conversation and intimacy that one might expect to find in a barber shop.
He insists that he isn’t a writer, instead calling himself “someone who writes.” He describes his process as compiling observations then expressing “the truths in verbal images.”
Mr. Marks condenses his observations into poems that reflect what is close to him. He writes about music, race, love, faith and personal growth. His poetry carries the anger, frustration, passion and joy appropriate to the subject and is laced with humor and aphorisms throughout.
Humor is immensely important as a mode of communication, he insists. It allows him to speak the truth and reach a wider audience.
Mr. Marks brings this same passion, joy and humor to his music. He was a jazz drummer for many years, and few years ago he picked up his drumsticks again to re-form the Jym Marks Quintet. He performs regularly at the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay.
“Balancing everything and my music is fun but exhausting,” Mr. Marks says, but he often finds inspiration for his writing from working with his band.
Mr. Marks travels the country with his lecture series, “Finding Your Own Sight,” a theme revisited in his self-help books: “Seeing What You’re Looking At,” “Looking Beyond What You See” and ” “Now You See It.”
It’s about staying in focus and looking within; he explains, “In order to drive your life, you have to do it from within.” He also believes that a person’s power and strength must come from within.
“If you push me into a ditch, I can blame you for my situation, but I have to be the one to get myself out of the ditch,” he insists.
Mr. Marks’ talk at the library, titled, “We Did Not Create Our Circumstances,” is based on this theme. The talk, which he calls a conversation, will speak to, and be in celebration of, Black History Month, which was originally established as Negro History Week by historian Carter Woodson in 1926 to raise awareness of the contributions of African Americans to the nation.
Black History Month is a “Never Forget” moment for Mr. Marks, after 300 years of slavery, survival and perseverance, he says, but the message of his philosophy is for everyone who is willing to listen.
The Menlo Park Library is at 800 Alma St. Free van service for Menlo Park seniors and people with disabilities is available.
To schedule transportation, or for more information about the program, contact Roberta Roth at 330-2525 or rlroth@menlopark.org.
