Martin Gerhard Giesbrecht’s "Before I Forget: stories and thoughts of a clarinet playing academic " is a collection of intriguing, often amusing, sometimes poignant, stories. The featured characters are Martin and the lively Giesbrecht family; we follow the generations as they move from pre-revolutionary Russia through Germany to New Jersey and Villa Hills, Kentucky. As befits an economics professor, Giesbrecht writes in a crisp style. His observations are witty, wise, and often irreverent. Many of the vignettes have an element of surprise; and all are a delight to read. The book, by Cincinnati Book Publishing, is illustrated with whimsical sketches by the author and his two sons. It was designed by Victoria Bernardini and produced in Northern Kentucky by Cobb Printing.

About the Author

Martin Gerhard Giesbrecht, retired college professor of economics for over forty years, taught more than 10,000 students, first at Wilmington College in Ohio and then Northern Kentucky University. But he has been a clarinetist longer than an educator—since he was in fifth grade. The Northern Kentucky resident and professor emeritus from NKU will play a little jazz clarinet and read a few stories from his first nonacademic book when it debuts April 14, at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Downtown Cincinnati.

ISBN 978-0-9836173-9-6 103 pages, softbound