A stroke has robbed Clive Parisi of his short-term memory. To function he records everything that happens in a journal and paints his long-term memories with vivacity and passion.
Equipped with these two new skills and minus a critical old one, he runs away from the nursing home, embarking on a journey that narrates the universal experience of getting old and declares that the aged can retain human dignity in the face of diminished capacity and the stress of illness.
This hopeful and humorous book insists that someone can, despite overwhelming outside influence, decide what will become of him, mentally and spiritually.

READER REVIEWS

"MOVING"

The Nursing Home Fugitive is a fascinating and enlightening look at the interior lives of the elderly. More than that, it offers a moving insight into the workings of a mind ravaged with age-related memory loss. Perhaps this eye-opening book will bring an extra measure of compassion to its readers, the next time they are tempted to look at an aging acquaintance with annoyance and despair.

- Randy Lofficier
Author and Publisher
Black Coat Press

Funny, original and an evocative portrait of Clive, a veteran struggling to undo the shattering effects of war.

- Kris Grever
Tech Assistant,
Rolling Meadows High School, USA

After the first half dozen lines, I was drawn into and fascinated by Clive's flawed and imperfect mind and a scant few lines later, his confused but indomitable spirit. Without his journal entries, he could not remember if he had taken his medication ten minutes before, yet he knew he had to go somewhere with no idea where and that he had a purpose for going even though he had no idea what that purpose was.

Then I was drawn into Arlene's search for him and found myself filled with questions. Would she find him? If she did, would it be end of their journeys or only the beginning of new ones? Would either of them truly learn to understand and cope with life as it had been dealt them or simply continue searching?

I couldn't pull away from the story until I had answers and neither will you. Georgiann Baldino has not just written outside the lines but has drawn completely new boundaries in a story which will leave you thinking about questions and answers of your own long after you finish reading.

- Earl Staggs
Writer and Derringer Award Winner
Author of Memory of a Murder from Quiet Storm
Publishing Managing Editor, Futures MYSTERY Anthology Magazine
Former President, Short Mystery Fiction Society

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ARTICLES/MEDIA REVIEWS

REVIEW
THE WRITERS AND READERS NETWORK
APRIL 2005

Clive found himself having to frantically jot everything into a journal following his stroke, least he lose train of thought and all memory of them between a blink and a wink. His adopted daughter, Arlene, meant well when she arranged placement in the nursing home. But Clive had other ideas. He packed up his art supplies and his journal to keep him on track and set off to find an old friend.

He met many odd people along the way, from a prophet named Elijah who asked Clive to paint the King Fisher on his body to Langston Dukane who owned a mortuary. But odd or not, all who saw Clive's paintings admired his work, willingly paid to own one of his paintings, and helped to finance his trip. He arrives in Marfa, Texas where he is to meet his old friend, but suffers another stroke, and this one affects his sight, fading the world he once painted in vivid color to black and white. Will he see his friend before his sight is gone completely? Arlene frantically follows the trail of her fathers paintings, but will she reach him in time?

Ms. Baldino will surely capture your heart with this life-defining novel. A story that shows the true meaning of love and life. As talented with her pen as her character is with his brushes and paint, she crafts Clive's story into a vivid picture that will stay in heart and mind.

- Lanie Shanzyra P. Rebancos © 2005