The Path

A Writer’s Journey

 

   A precocious little bastard was born in Harbor Beach on a balmy summer day in June 1968. He was the first-born son of Bernard and Pauline Kubacki with two middle born sisters Brenda and Tricia, and the youngest brother Christopher. He grew up in the sleepy town of Bad Axe. When he was really bored out his mind and had read all his library loans he would peruse the household World Book Encyclopedia for cool articles or search for neat words in the two-volume dictionary that he eventually swiped from his mom. All the Kubacki kids were baptized and raised in the Roman Catholic Church. Steve considers the church an important aspect of his upbringing but only attends church for weddings and funerals, and to talk to Santa and the Easter Bunny. He’s a Catholic, all right, a very bad Catholic.

     Steve attended Bad Axe Public Schools for his entire K-through-twelve school sentence. He enjoyed showing teachers and school chums newly discovered poems by his favorite writers that were actually convincing imitations written by him. At Bad Axe High School Stephen worked on the yearbook staff and wrote for the Hatchet Blade, the school’s weekly rag. During high school he also worked briefly for The Huron Daily Tribune as a sports writer. The teen’s Tribune gig didn’t last long as Steve didn’t care for sports and didn’t give a damn about the scores. Sorry sports fans! He does however enjoy billiards.

     Kubacki left his hometown in Michigan’s upper thumb to attend Eastern Michigan University. Leaving Huron county to become an EMU Huron and later transmogrified into an Eagle. He changed his major and minor a hundred times and finally completed after two dreadful decades, a bachelor of science with a major in English Language, Literature, and Writing, and a psychology minor. During his extended university stint he developed an unusual job résumé in an attempt to keep up with the rising cost of tuition without having to borrow, again, from aunt Sallie Mae. He’s been employed as a god damned lawn boy, a landscaper, librarian, gas station attendant (for one night until he found they got robbed about twice a year), pet shop boy, tobacconist, plasma donor, lawn and garden manager, grounds keeper (not Willie), apartment maintenance man, locksmith, natural foods grocery cashier, professional painter, paint crew foreman, bass guitarist, paint store clerk, bookseller, dishwasher, pizza delivery driver, a beggar, borrower and thief, a sponge, a leech, a keen observer of human behavior, and always a writer. With a résumé like that he could only be a writer!

     One forlorn day Steve went to the club to play nine-ball with his buddies. Little did he know he would meet his future wife that night. On meeting Wendy he was characteristically overwhelmed by her charm, and socially inept while talking to her that night. So he did what came naturally. He followed her (some might say stalked) as she left the club on the way to her car. He spoke awkward words. He made silly gestures. He burped and farted. Luckily, Steve has super-cool friends, who are way better than the Superfriends ever were. His super-cool friends explained to her that he was a really nice and really smart, but really nerdy guy. She bought it. She accepted the date. The pair survived the first fumbling kiss. The couple even survived a really bad night in the arboretum. Eventually Steve got down on his hands and knees to plead with Wendy, “I’ve fucked up everything else in my life. Marry me before I screw this up and regret it.” She said yes to his dribble. Can you believe it? Me either!

     Kubacki lives with his loving wife Wendy who still tolerates his shit, their son Michael who is an endless source of amusement and still has an unvarnished view of things, and their 1.5 dogs. The first dog is a German Short Haired Pointer named Henry Cooper, Cooper for short, or just Coop if we’re really short winded from chasing the running fool. The half dog is really a cat that thinks she's a dog. She’s named Junebug Mango Fruitjuice Catwoman, June for short. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien suggested the cat’s names when he appeared to the family during a séance and Tolkien’s ghost insisted we christen her with such a ridiculously long name.

     Kubacki is now working on his novel The Gospel of Josaphat and his memoir Concha Purpurea. Kubacki says, “You don’t need to read Latin it’s just a title, and don’t worry it’s not a real gospel like Dan Brown’s “factual” story. Don’t get your panties caught up in a bunch. It’s just a story. I made it up! I made up the memoir, too, things are kind of fuzzy, you know?”