R.T. Waters’ compelling narrative tells the story of nineteen-year-old Lennie Zito who, while thought to be retarded and anti-social following a childhood head injury, becomes a wealth of wisdom and knowledge for the one young boy willing to wait one minute for answers to his questions. The problem is that this young boy is the only person in Lennie’s life who has given him the time to answer; leading readers to re-examine the dangers of rushing to judgments. Rarely does a novel have such a profound link to the real world.

Brooklyn, NY -- (SBWire) -- 10/29/2014 --Most authors write fiction to do nothing but give readers a quick thrill or escape from reality. Not R.T. Waters; whose first novel will have everyone re-examining their attitudes to stigma, stereotypes and their likely tendency to rush to judgments without scrutinizing the facts.

‘Minute-Man’ is aptly titled. The novel tells the story of a nineteen-year-old passed off as retarded following a childhood head injury. The victim of aggressive professional and societal stigma, this unforgettable protagonist quickly proves that ‘waiting a minute’ can be life-changing.

Synopsis:

The Roman Emperor Claudius, having a severe speech impediment from childhood on, was considered to be an idiot by all the learned Senators of Rome because of it. However, when he stood before this august body of men, the words he uttered to them was, "Is it more important how long it takes to answer a question...or what's contained in the response that really matters?" In his book Minute-Man, author R. T. Waters comes to show us that the time taken to answer a question by his main character, nineteen-year-old Lennie Zito, should be considered to be of no importance when examined in relation to his eventual intelligent answer, no matter that it comes much later than we are accustomed to receiving.

The author shows us that patience is truly a virtue when applied to Lennie, for time and time again he comes forth with enlightenment far greater than his nineteen years should provide. Mr. Waters has us examine our tendency to rush to judgment when all information provided us seems to fill only one side of the ledger we use to make final decisions about a person, and cleverly has a young teenage girl serve as the counter-weight to the judgment we thought should be final. Keeping the faith, when all seems hopeless, is as important now, as it was when patriots employed it against seemingly impossible odds over 200 years ago and reinforced the true meaning of our never give up spirit. Mr. Waters simply asks the readers of Minute-Man to do likewise.

“Lennie has suffered life’s worst – a guilt-ridden father who shot himself, a family that resign him to a life of outcast and an entire society that won’t take the time to get to know him,” explains Waters. “Luckily, his paternal grandfather becomes his saviour. He realizes that reading Lennie books prevents him from having tantrums (that are eventually proven to be the result of pain, not anger). Lennie absorbs vast knowledge from encyclopaedias, The Great Books of the Western World and other epic texts that give him knowledge and wisdom far beyond the average person.”

Continuing, “A younger boy becomes the only person in Lennie’s life to realize that, if given just one minute to articulate his thoughts, Lennie can answer any question in a mature, measured and often-empowering way. This boy names Lennie ‘Minute-Man’ as he becomes his mentor, and so the title is born.”

Through the book’s suspense-laden twists and turns, Waters hopes that all readers will turn the last page with a new perspective on their own attitudes and behaviors.

“We are all guilty of rushing to judgement, even with decisions that can be life-altering. There’s a tendency for us to choose the answer we want to hear before scrutinizing the facts of the situation.

For example, many professionals such as doctors, teachers and Government officials stigmatize people – leading us to fall into their authority trap and believe everything they say. We make judgements solely off what these people have told us. Lennie is such a stigmatized individual, with so-called medical ‘experts’ deciding how the rest of the world perceives him. We will learn that all is not as it seems to be in the case of Lennie Zito, and hopefully the public will realize how important it is to never 'rush to judgment', no matter how initially inclined they are to do so,” he adds.

The book provides a highly stimulating read in both a personal and educational setting.

‘Minute-Man’, from Tate Publishing is available now: http://minute-man.tateauthor.com.
ISBN: 978-1-62854-314-8.

About R. T. Waters
R. T. Waters is a retired production control manager in the field of printed fabrics and has resided in Brooklyn, New York, for most of his life. He has attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, majoring in Textile Science, and enjoys American and world history as hobbies.