Town councilman promoted new book at HF Library
“Be like a ball and bounce back, instead of like an egg and cracking.”
Those were the words of Tyrone King, a native of Highland Falls who served a career in the U.S. Army and now is a third-term Town of Highlands Councilman, as he spent more than two hours at the Highland Falls Library last Friday afternoon talking about the book that he recently released. He spoke to a full house, with those in attendance ranging from childhood friends to several youth of the community to colleagues and local leaders, and, simply, fans. Among his biggest fans in the audience were his mom and dad, wife and one of his daughters.
While it was billed as a book promotion event, it was just as much an event where those in attendance heard a motivational speaker.
King’s message is basically wherever you are put, no matter what you are going through — don’t give up on yourself and don’t give up on society.
The book is called ‘Resilient Transition: Combating the Feelings of Stress and Anxiety’, and while initially geared toward those leaving military services, turned into a book, he said, it’s for just about anyone going through just about anything.
King, who wrote the book under the name Sa’eed Mustafa, which is the name he adopted later in his life.
He addressed that early in the presentation, noting that “just because I go by two different names don’t misunderstand that I’m trying to avoid one or another.”
King told his story of growing up in Highland Falls, referring to childhood mentors such as coach Dave Fleming, teacher Dr. David Baker and neighbor Mike Bowe, and paid tribute to his parents, George and Juanita King, longtime — and still — residents of Schneider Ave. in the village.
He also talked about his time in the Army, from an early visit with an Army recruiter where he nearly joined the Army but then didn’t, to his eventual signing in Albany, to rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major and serving numerous deployments.
It was following his retirement in 2014 he struggled a bit with “transitioning into civilian life”. From that, the book was born.
He began writing it in January 2020, but he made the most progress, and finished it, in the winter and spring of 2021. He then went through the long process of editing, before independently publishing this past September.
King said the pandemic lock down, and protests across America during the summer of 2020 reinforced his desire to write the book. He said he knows both of those times have been difficult on many Americans.
“When I saw all the madness on TV last summer, it made me question what’s going on in the world,” he said. About racial tensions, he said that he personally has not experienced that, either locally or in the places he visits (“and I get around,” he said).
But again, he said he hopes his book can help those struggling during these challenging times.
The event at the library was more than just King speaking, he featured several local youth — Boy Scout Colin Monaghan leading the Pledge of Allegiance and O’Neill High School’s Emily Faint singing the National Anthem. Several others spoke about wellness topics for a few minutes, something important to King. He spoke later in the session about his recent sessions in equine therapy, and how he wants to work toward more veterans and others with PTSD and other brain injuries taking advantage of what he called “an amazing experience”.
After he spoke and before signing copies of his book, King left some time to show off a display about Buffalo Soldiers he and his team had set up. He has noted repeatedly lately how proud he is to be a descendant of Buffalo Soldier Sgt. Leon Tatum.
King has donated a copy of his book to the Highland Falls Library, and it is available also on Amazon.com ($9.99 for a paperback and $14.99 for a hardcover, and also available as an electronic book). While he sold and autographed books at the library event, he also said he’ll happily autograph other copies of it from community members who want him to.
The book currently has ten reviews on Amazon, with five out of five stars in those reviews. He was asked at the library session if he plans to record it as an audio book, and indicated he’s been asked that several times and is considering it.
He closed by telling those in the audience that at one point in his life he decided he “wanted to be somebody” and feels like it was working hard from within that he feels he has made that happen.
“I’ve always wanted to help people,” he said, adding that he still works on that goal every single day of his life.
“You’ve just got to keep caring about other people,” he said.
