Aurora resident writes new life into ancient stories

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Author and Aurora resident Marilyn Huntman-Giese poses with her new book "The Eye of God A Fisherman's Tale". Terence Guider-Shaw~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: July 1, 2011 2:17AM

Galilee and Bethlehem may seem like long-ago, far-away places or the stuff of Sunday school stories to most, but to Marilyn Huntman Giese, they are very real. Giese spent time in the ancient cities, as well as in Jerusalem, while researching for her book, “The Eye of God: A Fisherman’s Tale.” The story follows the life of Simon, a vigorous young fisherman, as he meets Jesus and finds his calling as one of the 12 apostles. Renamed Peter, he undergoes the transformation from a boisterous, proud man to the rock upon which Jesus would build his church.

Having grown up in a Christian home, Giese wanted to present the story of Christianity in a new, more interesting light, so she began her work on “The Eye of God.”

“I felt the way that the Christian story is taught is so dull and confusing, that I hoped I could write something that would be interesting and as accurate as possible,” the Aurora resident said.

Giese followed the book of Mark as a rough outline for her story and added elements from other books from the Bible where appropriate. But it wasn’t enough to simply write about the lives of people in the Bible. Giese wanted to see and experience what life may have been like for them, so she set off to destinations such as Rome, Greece and Israel.

“It was amazing seeing the Acropolis,” Giese said. “I was stunned at how beautiful it is, and then to go across to Mars Hill to see where Paul gave his talk to the Athenians.”

The place that really sparked an interest for Giese, however, was Capernaum, and the site they believe is the remains of Peter’s house. “It was very exciting for me,” she said. “Seeing those things was very inspiring. It gave you much more confidence in the truth of the historical parts of the story.”

The journeys through ancient lands had more of an effect on Giese than she realized at the time, and they gave her an opportunity to flesh out stories of people as they may have lived. “They seemed quite real and quite possible,” she said. “I have a lot of admiration for the people who were just ordinary people living an extraordinary life, but not a spectacular one. They did what they thought was right day by day, some of them at great risk to themselves. As you try to put facts together, they start to make some sense. That sense is rather awe-inspiring.”

Even from a young age, Giese always had a love of writing. In grade school at Chicago’s Norwood Park School, Giese, then Huntman, would write poems about the news of the week for assemblies. Later in life, she had an article featured on the women’s page of the Chicago Daily News. Now, at nearly 80 years old, the project Giese spent half her life working on is finally complete.

Giese decided to publish the book herself, despite encouragement from editors at Simon & Schuster and SourceBooks, simply because of time. “I really wanted to see it published before I leave this earth,” she said, chuckling, “so I published it myself.”

Giese belongs to the Naperville Writer’s Group and has had poems published in “Baby Blessings: Inspiring Poems and Prayers for Every Stage of Babyhood” and “House Blessings: Prayers, Poems and Toasts Celebrating Home and Family,” both compilations by June Cotner.

If you’d like to meet Giese and talk to her about her book, you can visit her at the Aurora Public Library Local Author Fair on Sept. 10.

The book is available for purchase at www.xlibris.com.