I'm a 37 yr old white male and recently heard you on the Ed Norris Show in Baltimore, Maryland. I just wanted to say keep doing what you are doing. You are a credit to your race......the human race. If you make it to Baltimore expect to see me at your book signing and/or event.

Jim Waner

Sir, I saw you on the news the day before yesterday. I am an Orlando FL resident, though I am British. I have lived in the United States for three years with my wonderfull wife. My wife is a Math/History teacher, I am a security officer. We have both had experiences with some of the youth of today, (generation Y) that have opened our eyes. You boldy state, with some rather big brass cajones, some facts which I imagine have made Politicans and Principals across the country cringe. All I can say is "RESPECT". I trully wish there were more people speaking up about what is going wrong. Our schools are failing miserably. Crime is an epidemic and youths frequently disrespect their parents, teachers, and the law. I trully take my hat off to you for stepping up. . no. . sorry. . taking a MAN UP stance on this matter.

I feel strongly about the things you talk about, I sincerely hope that you, and perhaps even us, the people, can do something about the system, which seems content to stay fallen from the great height that it fell from.

Sincerely and respectfully.

Mr Robert A Nortcliff

The book was excellent! very to the point and no holds barred. I too am a black social worker so i was delighted to be introduced to another like minded professional who speaks the truth.

Tomerial Brooks

I was attending the Black Greek Alliance and on the 28th of Sept. at SCSU. I wanted to say thank you for being a POSITIVE a role model for the kids. I was wondering if the what you said at the confrence was writen down any where, and if it is how can i get a copy. I want my sister to read it or hear because I have been singing that same song to her for years and maybe coming from someone else she might just listen.

Thank you again keep telling it like it is
Ricky Harris Jr.

I liked the book. My wife Candace, brought it home and I was skeptical at first but the book was  insightful, funny and irreverent at times. My only complaint about the book is you misspelled voila' as wa la.

Ernest

I just heard Mr. Perry on MSNBC related to Michael Vick and his comments were right on!  Thank you for keeping us focused on the REAL issues facing minority communities.

Paul

Heard a clip from ur interview on hannity and colmes.Please keep up the good work.nice to know we still got sane,down-to earth minds like urs  in our midst.how i wish al sharpton would just shut up already.ur words,mr perry,ring ever so true.oh,by the way,i'm african.

oluwole

My name is Jesse Gallop and I'm a 42 year old, black man. I just heard you on Power 99FM in Philadelphia this morning. I had never heard of you or your book, until this morning. I will definitely buy your book for myself and a few of my female friends. I have to tell you that I agree 1,000% with everything you said this morning!!

Stay Strong,
Jesse Gallop

I am a white guy who works his ass off everyday but I have a best friend that is one that you were speaking of the other morning on Power 98.  I rarely ever listen to this station because i personally think some things they say are racist or prejudice in some ways but the other morning after hearing you speak for just a couple moments I was stunned to know there are black males out there that have their head screwed on the way it should be.  The main purpose for me contacting you is because I RESPECT EVERYTHING you were speaking of about people not trying to be something with themselves and caught up in entertainment also to see if you had any advice for me to give my brother from another mother so that I can push him in the right direction and away from all of this big talkin bs.  Obviously he and I have been lost brothers for a while (almost 10 yrs) so I've tried everything I could think of and now all I get is excuses because I've been on his ass bad to GET A JOB.

Thanks for your time buddy. D. Best

Thank you, thank you, thank you for filling the literary void in the black community.  Often times I am asked for recommendations, excluding what's currently saturating the market at present date (urban street fiction), and sadly I get tongue-tied because my thoughts are limited to Makes Me Wanna Holler, Malcolm X, and Spook Who Sat By The Door, to name a few.
I am pursuing my masters in education in Boston and as you must know Boston is plagued with high crime rates, murders, oh, and let me not forget the widening achievement gap in public education, and the predominance of African American and Latino boys in special education and learning behavior restrictive settings. 
There is so much to be done as a community united.  I will share your book with some of my colleagues and get these young boys/adults reading about the state of the community in general.  So, thank you again. 

Sonya Harris

Dear Mr. Perry, I first learned of your book at the Essence Music Festival. I am very glad that I purchased the book. I have three sons that I am raising alone their father is incarcerated. Never thought my ex-husband would be in jail and that my children would be faced with that as an additional barrier. But I did know that I needed to get help in raising them and I appreciate the book because there are some things I see in myself that need to be changed! I long for the day when we as women will demand more from our men so that they can rise again to the level that they are capable of. I asked the question of a girlfriend while in New Orleans, what can we do to change what's going on and although it sounds simple it is the only solution. We save them one at a time! Thanks for your book I know it must have been a struggle at times but just know that you have reaced at least one and I am reaching all I can. I have passed your book on to my eldest son who is now 15 and also to my neice who is living with me with her 6mos old daughter whose father does not work at the age of 26. He still resides with his mom and was trying to be a rapper. For the life of me I could not understand why whe choose him when she was attending Clark Atlanta University? She was raised by a single mom who didn't feel it necessary to educate her daughter but she choose to date a sorry man who would cheat on his wife and leave his children. I am not naive it thinking that this is a new problem, I'm sure this problem has been around since the beginning of time. I do however think we have dummed ourselves down into thinking that the vision that the tv is selling is the only vision for us. And I also agreethat unless we provide a new vision our people shall perish!

My name is Amber Kennedy and I wrote you a letter in the summer. Your book has done it again. I have a friend that will not read unless you twist her arm. I tried giving her Jackie Collins but that didn't work. One day I brought in The Window Pain and she hasn't stop reading it since. I wanted thank-you for writing a book that helped me achieve my goal of getting my friend to read. Till the next time! :)

I met you at the PNC African Festival in Homdel, NJ in September, and you were talking about your book THE WINDOW PAIN I told you if this book was not good I was going to let you know. I just finished it at work this morning at 3:30am it was a great book I hated for it to end. I loved it. I laughed and cried at the same time you surprised me. I hated it what Shandell did to his life a lot of our young people are like Shandall and a lot are like Tarique. Tarique learned that it was not all about him it was about learning other people and teaching other people. I also learned a valuable lesson in this: that every one you call friend is not a friend. And there are people that you call help but will turn there back on you if you need a helping hand thank you so much for opening my eye i give you thumbs up sir this book was a great on. you also signed my book I am waiting for the next one to come out.
I have been writing my book about me and I am stuck I am at my child hood but do not know where to go from there any tips from you Mr. Perry will be appreciated thank you. I am not in to the big words like you but any little help would count thank you and keep up the good work I am a fan of yours for life.

KATHY ADRIANE PITTMAN
GOD BLESS YOU

The Board and staff of Southwest Community Center thank you for coming to our center to interact with our out-of-school youth who participate in our GED program. It is hoped that your story and your successes will prove beneficial to our participants and that your involvement with our youth will motivate them to become successful and contributing members to their communities in particular and society in general. Also, thank you for coming to my home; we had an pleasurable evening as well. Our staff was pleased that you gave an interview with WPEB, Philadelphia. Let's keep in touch and much success in the years to come. Janyce L. Hughes, Director of Family Services.

I am just dropping a line to let you know how much I enjoyed reading your book, the window pain it was great, you went through so many emotions, pain and abuse, not only physical but mental also love treachery, personal revelations and joy. The book is very well written and hard to put down. I lived with
the characters, the book was so real. Everyone has trails and tribulations and you captured them so well. Reading this tells me how sensitive and caring you are, that's a hard thing to find, when I first laid my eyes on your face all I could think about was why are all the intelligent, handsome black men taken? to bad because you mold an instant impression on me, but I was to embarrassed to even write this letter to you. Peace to you my fine black brother, beautiful eyes, after the inscription you wrote to me. Now you know what I was thinking.I have read your book and found it very emotional and enlightening. The highs and lows were so real not just because of the environment but I could apply it to myself not having lived quite like that. Even in the best of families you still experience tragedies and it is the way we handle and see them that makes the difference. To learn about oneself though our experiences and come away with self worth is what matters. The book was so compelling and very descriptive.

Your book was great reading - keep up the good work.

I had recently brought your book at a store in Jersey City, and you did sign the book. I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. And I do look forward to reading more work from you. Good luck with your writing and may God Bless always.

I bought your book at the African American Festival at the PNC Bank Center.I just read it on the plane and in the airport. I was very impressed. It was very suspenseful and interesting. There were a lot of twists and unexpectedness, but all in a reality setting. I was able to relate to the characters and as I read the book, I was able to picture them in my mind.

The way you fully explained what Tarique was feeling, lost me at first, but as I continued to read, I quickly liked to have a full understanding of what he was feeling.

I read The Window Pain over the holiday weekend. Captured my interest from the first page and continued thru until the end........

I am a soon to be tenth grader attending The College For Teens program. On August 2, 2002 you visited our camp to sign copies of your book. Thank you again for spending your time with us. I was reading the message that you wrote to one of my friends "email me when you get finished the book" I figured though you didn't write it this message to me I'd email you and tell you what I thought of the book. I loved it! It caught my attention from start to finish. I actually cared about the characters. I cried when they cried, I laughed when they laughed. I felt like I was at the actual party when Shandell and Tarique started to fight. I could imagine what Bria looked like that night. Also enjoyed reading the forward. I concluding this letter I would like to say Keep Writing!

My name is David Roberts. I just purchased the book from you on Saturday in Philadelphia. I was able to read it in one sitting because it was very interesting. I first became familiar with your work through your
cousin, Kenny, but I procrastinated in getting the book. I'm glad that I was finally able to read it.

I enjoyed the book tremendously. I especially enjoyed the recurring theme of the window pane. Every time a window pane was involved, Tarique's life changed drastically. I like the fact that pane was spelled "pain" and the concept of our own reflection. As someone who lives in Philadelphia, I found the book especially interesting. The book would make excellent required reading in the Philadelphia public schools. Shandell's attitude about being black, never trying to progress and not going to college is the same attitude that is fostered in the Philadelphia public schools. If our young men could read this book it would allow them to step outside of themselves and witness a character with the same attitude they have and the
negative consequences of such an attitude.

I really enjoy reading your book The Window Pain. When I finished reading the book. It made me think about the situations that I had gone through in life, and how I actually blamed others for the mistakes I have made. I was just to blind to recognize my own reflection staring back at me. I can't wait to get your next novel and maybe I'll see you again at the book store in Cheltenham Mall. However, keep those books coming and continue helping others.

I absolutely loved your book. I met you at "Sistahs". I'm sure you don't remember me. I was the one trying to encourage everyone to buy your book. I will definitely encourage all my friends and associates to buy the book. I truly enjoyed the story line. Tarique's character was so real. I pray that all the Tariques out there don't have to endure that pain before realizing that they gifts to share with the world.

Thank you for sharing your book with me! I look forward to reading many more Steve Perry books!

I just wanted to contact the author to let him know how much I enjoyed this book. I met Mr. Perry at the Pennsylvania Convention center Sister 2002. He probably will not remember me but we were the women who told him his shirt was buttoned up wrong! Anyway I told Mr. Perry that I would feature his book
in my newsletter Siste Society for and about black women in the June edition. The book was well written. I read approximately 3 to 4 books a week. It was very interested to find that the characters father and the family dreamed of living in Dover Delaware. That is pretty ironic since that is where I grew up and was consequently raised. People from the cities surrounding Delaware traditionally always want to come there to escape whatever plagues them. That alone kept me reading but the story was a compelling one and kept me turning the pages.

Our past always come back to haunt us in some form or fashion . I often wonder how many children have been conceived and thrown away only to come back in a man's life in some fashion? I read the book in one sitting and have since reread it twice. I know very little of projects or really living in a city. Dover was and continues to be a small town which has lofty ambitions to be thought of as a city but we are not there yet.

This story is yet another example of how so many of our black males end up incarcerated. I am the product of a military family and married a retired military man so books such as these give people like myself insight into what youths of yesterday as well as today live life like in the hood so to speak. I don't say that to say I have led a perfect life as that is as far from the truth as possible. Let us be frank, life for African-Americans in whatever setting we are brought up in is a hard one. For every step forward we take we lose three backwards! Our struggle continues often hidden and masked but there none the less. As I near my 40th birthday, the setting which was based in the eighties, took me back to times I remember with fondness. I was the original party girl! I graduated in 1981 and those were some of the best times in my life. But life is funny,for every good experience there are the bittersweet also. I salute Mr. Perry's grasp of the material and situations only someone who has some knowledge of this could have captured it so realistically. I look forward to other works from this author and will continue to recommend his book to others.

I had the opportunity of meeting you Saturday, April 13th at the Source of Knowledge in Newark, disappointed at Queen Pen for not showing, but not regretting picking up the exposed piece of your soul ~ "YOUR MASTERPIECE".

You said, "Shá, read it, e-mail me and let me know what you think". Well let me start off by saying you are on MY LIST ~ this was well written, thought provoking, by far one of the best books I have come across - I know it sounds a bit cliché but who cares it's the truth. All I can say is, "you (Steve Perry) are a literary genius"; the coming of age journey to manhood is poignantly personified on these 150 or so pages - brutally honest bonds formed and torn - Tarique & Sha Sha. Unh - Unh - Unh!! I actually got acquainted with the characters. The glimpse into over-stepped boundaries ~ and pain inflicted ~ the journey through the cement sin and transitions. WHEW!

This drama is a heartbreaking, well-honed account of domestic violence and new day-to-day struggles of single-motherhood and the male-child relationship. I couldn't put it down. The simile that did it for me was your description of the children in the Bottoms (page 22, last paragraph): "like grass determined to grow through the cracks in the sidewalks"- ...it's my personal mantra as a single-mother by choice - not circumstance.

My copy of The Window Pain is so marked up with hi-liter and notes in the margin that you'd thought it was a text from an English 101 course or something...
No fairy tale ending here - just reflections...

Let me first say it was a pleasure to meet you at the festival and I am so glad that I kept your e-mail address. I hope you are well and working on or finishing up another great novel.

I would like to know if I can get another copy of Window Pain (autographed please) I would be so thankful, someone stole my book and I am quite upset. If you can e-mail me and let me know, I realize you
are busy so when you find time I would appreciate your help.

Hi Mr. Perry, I heard you on the radio this morning and I'm going to make an effort to read it. You said something, which I'm going to put it to heart. That we all have 24hrs in a day and is how we utilize. Thanks for the words. "it feels like you are looking in the mirror as love makes a boy a man, and a man vulnerable". This is deep.

Steve, just a note to say thank you for participating in the grand opening and providing a book signing, Q&A, and discussion.

I received your note and thanks. We were honored to have you and your wife here.

Continued success and looking forward to having you here again soon.
Reflections Bookstore