Book Talk at Art Center

On January 23rd, the Marco Island Center for the Arts held the first of two series of Book Talks.

Hyla Crane, Executive Director, prepared several questions and the audience was given time for questions and answers at the end. All proceeds from the Book Talk were donated to the Center for the Arts.

Bellamy is the imaginary friend of the lead character, Calvin Lloyd. Calvin is a misunderstood young man who suffers from Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Back in the 1960s, you would be labeled as disruptive, and school and grades did not go well for Calvin. He develops an imaginary friend named Bellamy, who becomes his confidante/mentor/protector, which gives him a bit of confidence.

They go through some challenges together. Calvin’s stepmother was abusive - he did not fit a mold and was not a clone of his two sisters and brother. He gets into some trouble; he finds that he is always the third wheel - the round peg in a square hole. Bellamy makes more sense to him.

The book deals with taboo issues in the 1960s and 1970s. Calvin also formed a platonic relationship with a gay man who lives down the street and finds trust and acceptance from this friendship. Calvin also developed a friendship with an African American girl, and he had to keep these relationships secret. Add the murder of a childhood friend in a small town with strong undercurrents of homophobia and bigotry and the story takes off from this point. Was the murder ever solved? Part mystery and childhood nostalgia – you need to read it to find out.

These issues are still present in today’s society. Are we better now than we were back then?

Author G. Bradley Davis also has ADHD, did poorly in school and had few options after high school. He also had an imaginary friend and like Calvin Lloyd, Davis joined the Navy after high school to see the world.

According to Davis, those experiences helped him as a writer - the more experiences you have, the more people you meet who provide opportunities to develop your characters. He added, “I think most of my characters are a combination of several people that I molded into one. Some of the characters are renditions of people I know.” For Davis, writing Bellamy was a redemptive process.

Davis earned a BA in Communication from Temple University and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Bethel University. Bellamy is his second book and his first work of fiction. He is working on a sequel and also is in the process of writing a book of short stories. He currently lives on Marco with his wife and a Vizsla named Clark.

While not playing golf, fishing, or writing, you will find Davis at the Winterberry Athletic Field playing Senior softball with his team, Speakeasy. In his sixth year playing senior softball, Davis played multiple positions with abandon. His best sport was football, where he played cornerback in high school. He has also done mountaineering/glacier climbing and, while in the Navy, boxing, taking third place in the Mediterranean. 

Bellamy is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or Davis’ website, gbradleydavis.com.