John Gorka performs Nov. 11 at Bunnell

Downward Dog Productions presents Red House Records recording artist John Gorka in concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Bunnell Street Arts Center. Tickets are $26-28, on sale at Bunnell.

Folk legend Gorka tours in conjunction with his new album, “Before Beginning: The Unreleased ‘I Know,’” featuring never-before-released versions of “I Saw A Stranger with Your Hair,” “Love is Our Cross to Bear” and more. “Before Beginning” includes music from a 1985 Nashville recording session that Gorka decided not to release after his music career headed in a different direction. Gorga took them out of storage in 2014, and with help from Brewhouse Recording Studio, Minneapolis, Minn., resurrected the tapes. Red House Records calls the work “a fascinating document of the road not taken, an alternate musical direction the now well-known singer/songwriter chose to forego.”

 

Homer author publishes Buddhist novel

 

RoseDog Books has published a new novel by Lela Ryterski, “Saved by the Light,” a novel featuring a Buddhist monk. “Saved by the Light” is a story about the samurai warrior, Shijo Kingo, and the Buddhist monk, Nichiren Daishonin.

“Nichiren is a rebel. Shijo Kingo is quick-tempered and has an inherent sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. He becomes Nichiren’s pupil and learns to chant a powerful invocation that can bring peace to the world. Because Nichiren refutes the main religions of his day and teaches the chant, he is almost killed and is exiled. However, the key to his victory lies in that very same chant. This is a true story of amazing events that saved Nichiren’s life,” RoseDog Books described the novel in a press release.

Nichiren Buddhism is a sect of Buddhism, with more than 12 million practitioners worldwide as a world peace movement. Ryterski encountered Nichiren Buddhism through the lay Buddhist organization, now called the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1985. Over the years she said she transformed her life from sad to happy because of the practice and overcame many challenges. She studied art from an early age and became a teacher and artist. She has previously illustrated a coloring book by Helga Wagenleiter and “Chirpee the Squirrel” by Alice Oates. Ryterski practices chanting and yoga and lives in a yurt in Homer. “Saved by the Light” is a 30-page paperback with a retail price of $16.