Book Reviews of First to Last - The Tale of a Biker by Dennis W. LidHoly Grail, adventure, bikers, family, friends, general, humor, life, love, memoir, military, motorcycles, person

   First to Last - The Tale of a Biker by Dennis W. Lid is a mixture of romantic quest for the Holy Grail, biography, travelogue, military memoir and personal motorcycle journey that will strike a chord with more than a few members of the military community, veterans, adventurers of all stripes, romanticists and the far-flung tribe that is the motorcycle community.  It's a story as much about man as about motorcycles. 

The quest… a military man… his motorcycle adventures – all are weaved into a life's odyssey of war and peace that culminates in the answer to one man's lifelong search, and perhaps yours as well.

The question is: "Where does your treasure lie?"

First to Last is the true story of a soldier's life through the motorcycles he has owned and the most prominent action events that have occurred on those bikes and during his lifetime. It is a factual, first-hand account of the tale of a biker, a warrior and an

incurable romantic. The story has an international tone, is action oriented during peace and war, and spans the generations in its common appeal to motorcyclists, military enthusiasts, world travelers, hobbyists, adventurers and romanticists of all ages. The book includes maps and photographs with captions that follow portions of the storyline. Its theme combines historical nostalgia with adventure romance to yield an avant-garde, neo-classic novella of the two-wheeled conveyance – the motorcycle. The weave of motorcycle, man, places and events is nothing less than a lifelong search for the Holy Grail that culminates in answering the question of where one's treasure lies.

Book ReviewsFirst to Last: The Tale of a Biker by Dennis W. Lid encompasses the author's lifetime love of motorcycles and a military career that spans the globe. Dennis W. Lid's search for his “Holy Grail” and to find “where his treasure lies” unveils one man's romantic quest for answers that all of us must seek within our lifetime. While the author's love of motorcycles is a strong recurrent factor, this is a personal and revealing true story. His narrative delves deeper into the physiology of being uniquely human. Lid's ability to share his tragedies, victories and inner self are moving and open, showing how we all are different, while being the same. First to Last: The Tale of a Biker is more about the man than motorcycles and leaves his readers looking into themselves to ask and answer the questions the author found so compelling and important to him, and each of us. A powerful story full of life's risks, joys, loves and an understanding that each of us seek. Job well done, compelling and insightful! - NewBookReviews.org

Dennis is an old-timer who no longer rides, but has a keen ability to share his love of the two-wheeled world. This is demonstrated through his new book called First to Last: The Tale of a Biker. The book is the chronicling of his life story from the perspective of how his life experiences and motorcycles influenced the outcome. Dennis served as a Special

Forces soldier in the Vietnam War. After the war, he spent time at various military locations in the US, owning different motorcycles. While abroad, Dennis met the woman of his life and they eventually settled down in Japan. Dennis did a lot of riding in Japan with a riding club called Camp Zama Motorcycle Club. The book tells of the rise and fall of the club, as well as the final scene of Dennis’s riding career - with a friend riding off on his (now) sold Ninja. He has not ridden since. The book is well written and a short, easy read. Having read some other articles from Dennis, he is a deep thinker, sometimes with a focus on the soft side. Throughout the book, he challenges each reader that life is about finding one’s own Holy Grail. As every reader will find out, Dennis has found his. - Motorcyclebloggers.com

A true story of a soldier’s life as remembered through the motorcycles he has owned. It is one man’s journey through life, revealing his passions, hidden treasures, and sharing his testament. Quick read with glimpses into what sacrifices a soldier makes for his country. - Nancy Brotherton, BellaOnline.com

Book Review by Jim Algar for RealClassic.uk.co of First to Last - The Tale of a Biker

First to Last: the Tale of a Bikerby Dennis W. Lid

                                                                        

112 pages                                                                                                    Published by CCB PublishingISBN 978-0-9781162-9-3  Reviewed by Jim AlgarFor RealClassic.co.uk Those who love motorcycles tend to find easy, convivial company with others who share that love. But what leads us to motorcycles and motorcycling in the first place is always a personal journey, not always easy to explain or relate to others, whether their own journeys are similar to ours or wildly different. But there remains with most of us a desire to make that connection, to explain how it started, to share the story of the “first bike” and all the adventures that followed. Dennis Lid has written a slim memoir regarding his own journey and its objective, which he offers in an opening biblical quote: “For where thy treasure is, there also will thy heart be.” By no means a philosopher, he nonetheless understands what most of us feel, even it we have trouble articulating it; that motorcycles are more than just a conveyance or a mechanism, and our enjoyment of them and attachment to them goes deeper than we might think or admit. A CAREER MILITARY MAN, MUCH OF LID’S MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY HAS DOVETAILED WITH THE TENURE AND TRAVELS OF HIS MILITARY CAREER. HE IS OF THE AMERICAN GENERATION THAT HAD ITS LIFE SHAPED, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, BY AMERICA’S TRAGIC INVOLVEMENTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. (HE HINTS AT STORIES HE COULD TELL OF THOSE TIMES AND PLACES, BUT WISELY ADMITS THAT THEY WOULD BE BEST SAVED FOR ANOTHER TIME AND ANOTHER BOOK.)  THIS BOOK, “FIRST TO LAST,” STARTS AT THE END FOR LID, RATHER THAN THE BEGINNING, AS AGE CATCHES UP WITH HIM AND HE IS FORCED TO WATCH HIS LAST BIKE, A 1987 KAWASAKI NINJA 750R, DISAPPEAR DOWN THE STREET WITH ITS NEW OWNER, AND HE MUST COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT MOTORCYCLING FOR HIM WILL NOW BE A MATTER OF NOSTALGIA AND MEMORY, NOT TANGIBLE ACTIVITY. HE IS NOT BITTER; RATHER, REALISTIC. “IT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US SOONER OR LATER. YOUR TIME WILL COME AS WELL. IT’S THE DREADFUL EVENT OR OCCASION THAT ENDS YOUR RIDING DAYS. FOR SOME IT’S ACCIDENT OR INJURY; FOR OTHERS AN ILLNESS, AND FOR STILL OTHERS IT’S OLD AGE OR JUST PLAIN LOSS OF CAPABILITY OR INTEREST THAT BRINGS ON THE OCCASION…THAT HAPPENING WOULD

SEEM TO BE AN ABSOLUTE TRAGEDY—LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD—EXCEPT FOR THE MEMORIES, THAT IT.” FOR LID, THE NOSTALGIA AND THE MEMORIES BEGIN WITH A CLASSIC AMERICAN CHILDHOOD OF BICYCLES, BB GUNS AND DOUBLE-DARE BOYHOOD ADVENTURES IN THE BAY AREA OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA…AND A PAPER ROUTE THAT PROVIDED THE LEVERAGE TO CONVINCE HIS PARENTS THAT HE NEEDED SOMETHING WITH A MOTOR. NOT A MOTORCYCLE; HARDLY EVEN A MOPED. IN REALITY JUST A PUSH BIKE WITH A SCOOTER WHEEL ON THE RIGID REAR WITH MOTOR AND CHAIN. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, YES…AS IS SO OFTEN THE CASE. BUT IT WAS A START. “THE BIKE DIDN’T JUST PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION BUT A MEANS OF MOBILITY, FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE AND CONTROL.” THERE FOLLOWED A DRY PERIOD—DRY OF MOTORCYCLES, AT ANY RATE—INVOLVING COLLEGE YEARS, ROTC, COMMISSIONING AND A TOUR OF VIETNAM. BACK STATESIDE, DRAWING A CAPTAIN’S PAY, MOTORCYCLING RESUMED WHILE STATIONED IN GEORGIA WITH A 125CC DUCATI. MOTORCYCLES AND A MILITARY CAREER REMAINED ENTWINED, AS EACH ADVANCED. A LARGER 250CC DUCATI MADE WAY FOR A 161CC FOUR-STOKE HONDA (CONVERTED FOR TRAIL RIDING), THEN A HONDA 305 SCRAMBLER THAT FIGURED IN A 3,000-MILE DASH FROM CALIFORNIA TO NORTH CAROLINA, BUT REMAINED BEHIND FOR A POSTING TO OKINAWA. THERE LID DISCOVERED SCRAMBLING AND A NEW 175CC KAWASAKI SCRAMBLES BIKE, PURCHASED AT A LOCAL MOTORCYCLE SHOP THAT OFFERED TO SPONSOR HIM AT THE LOCAL SCRAMBLES RACES.  THAT SAME BIKE WAS CONVERTED FOR STREET USE IN TAIWAN, NEXT STOP ON THE MILITARY MERRY-GO-ROUND. MORE BIKES FOLLOWED IN VARIOUS WORLD-WIDE LOCALES; A YAMAHA 250 SCRAMBLER IN HAWAII, A BRIEF NON-BIKE PERIOD IN PANAMA, THEN RETIREMENT FROM THE MILITARY AND A CIVILIAN POSITION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, WORKING IN JAPAN FOR…THE U.S. ARMY. A COUPLE OF HONDAS THERE; CS 500 AND A SABER 750. A YEAR OF WORK IN EUROPE SAW HIM PURCHASE HIS LAST BIKE, THE AFOREMENTIONED 1987 KAWASAKI 750R NINJA, WHICH RETURNED TO JAPAN WITH HIM, UNTIL THE “END” OF HIS BIKING DAYS. THIS MAY SOUND LIKE A DRY CV AND BIKE-PURCHASING HISTORY—“AND THEN I WAS SENT TO, AND THEN I BOUGHT” —BUT LID MANAGES TO CREATE MIXTURE OF BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELOGUE, MILITARY MEMOIR AND PERSONAL MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY

THAT WILL STRIKE A CHORD WITH MORE THAN A FEW MEMBERS OF THE FAR-FLUNG TRIBE THAT IS THE MOTORCYCLE COMMUNITY. “MY FRIENDS, REMEMBER THIS TALE OF A BIKER, AND THAT YOUR TIME WILL COME AS WELL…IN THE MEANTIME, KEEP ON RIDING AND HOLD ON TO THOSE HAPPY MEMORIES FOR A LIFETIME. ENJOY YOUR BIKES AND EVERY EXPERIENCE ON EACH OF THEM FROM FIRST TO LAST.”  AT 112 PAGES WITH PHOTOS AND A FEW MAPS, FIRST TO LAST: THE TALE OF A BIKER IS A QUICK READ, BUT NOT WITHOUT ITS ENJOYMENTS. AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON.COM; JUST SEARCH USING THE ISBN NUMBER, 978-0-9781162-9-3, OR SEARCH ON THE AUTHOR’S NAME.     

A Lesson in Motorcycle Book Signing Sales

posted 11/30/07 adventure, general, life, love, memoir, military, motorcycles, news, other, personal, veterans, bikers, adventure

The first book signing of First to Last - TheTale of a Biker by Dennis W. Lid took place at Barnes &

Noble

book store at Westfield Mall in Palm Desert, California on November 23rd, 2007.

The first book signing of First to Last - The Tale of a Biker went fine.  Met and talked to lots of folks, passed out flyers and business cards with the book cover on one side and my personal information on the other, and sold seven books in four hours.  Sold two more books as a follow-up to the book signing event.  Most of all, I gained invaluable experience for setup and operation of a signing event.  I’m ready to do more of the same. 

     The key to success is to talk to people instead of letting them pass on by . . . and not necessarily about the book . . . just about whatever interests them.  Engage them first by whatever means, then let nature take its course in leading them to the book.  If it doesn’t take right away, leave them with a good impression and a business card with web site address and book title for purchase on the Internet.  

     Two pretty teenage girls were my first customers.  I lured them to the signing table with the question:  “Do you have any biker friends?” as they were walking by.  One of the girls said, “Yes, my father rides a motorcycle.”  I responded, “Great!  Here’s  a Christmas gift idea to consider for him.”  Both girls, who were sisters, thought it was a good idea and bought a book for Pop.

     Another conversation started with a little flattery.  I said, “I like your shirt” to one passerby.  He stopped passing, started talking about aloha shirts and ended up buying two books, one for himself and one for a motorcyclist friend.  And he was neither a biker nor a veteran, but he had good tastes in shirts.  (I happened to be wearing a Hawaiian Aloha shirt at the time.)  

     Then there were the two, young U.S. Marines and their wives.  I asked if they were bikers, based on their haircuts, bearing and attire.  They bit on the book right away after reviewing the back cover information and recognizing the military common denominator and the inherent brotherhood.

     Pat, a 70-year old man, and his wife stopped at the table and looked at the book.  I asked if he was a motorcyclist, and he acknowledged that he was a lifelong biker who currently owned two bikes - an 1100cc Honda and a 650cc Yamaha.  We “jawed” for about five minutes about bikes and our experiences.  There was a lot of common ground.  I let him do most of the talking and involved his wife in the conversation as well.  His wife said she wanted to buy the book as a Christmas stocking stuffer for her husband.  He countered that he wouldn’t mind that at all, and with tongue in cheek added that he would even let her read it.  They were a tandem riding couple to the end.            Anyway, all went well.  I’ll get a repeat book signing six months from now at the same location.  I’m also working on two other signings with 30 minute lecture/discussion/Q&A sessions included.  Things are looking up.

     My thanks to all those kind folks who have bought and read my book.  And to all of you who have not, thank you for patiently enduring all of my incessant ramblings about it. 

                                                                                              

From Skid Lid at Motorcyclebloggers.com

Also see Lid's Lair at http://www.dennislid.com

Dennis Lid and favourite bike - 1987 Kawasaki Ninja 750R

http://journalspace.com/new/photos/browse.php?&u=dennislid&show=248584

Dennis W. Lid, 2007 Photo

About the Author 

Dennis W. Lid served in the U.S. Army Infantry, Airborne and Special Forces worldwide during peace and war for over 20 years. Major Lid retired in 1980. He then worked abroad for the U.S. Department of Defense Civil Service for 19 years as a Management Analyst, a Military Plans Specialist and as an Exercise Plans Specialist. Freelance writing, reading and motorcycling have been the favorite passions of his life. He is previously published in several online and offline publications around the world.