A child of the 1980s relives a dysfunctional and hilarious childhood in the most difficult speech of his life. It's FORREST GUMP meets THE WONDER YEARS - but mostly true. Hysterically funny at times, heart-wrenching and heart-warming at other times, highly entertaining all the time. The story follows James Murphy, who lives an extraordinarily unique life learning ordinary life lessons to which everyone can relate through his many misadventures. James' misadventures feature everything from swindling friends out of valuable baseball cards to run-ins with bullies and kids in Connecticut "gangs", from awkward romantic heartbreak to family party fiascos, from sophisticated pranks that build up to a court appearance and community service to a death defying "rafting" incident. This is a fictionalized and dramatized adaptation of the author's autobiography turned into a full-motion picture screenplay turned into a novella. It's the unbelievable stories that are actually true. James isn't lying about the magic beanstalk growing on his back porch. Or the monkey in their tree--in New England. He did chase a UFO with his mother and stopped her from killing his dad. Let's just say this book is a collection of true stories made more entertaining and wrapped in a white lie. A Mostly Magnificent Memoir reminds us all that we are social creatures--how our seemingly insignificant interactions with others can significantly impact their lives. It reminds us how precious life is and how grateful we should be for the people in our lives. It reminds us that it is okay to laugh at our own misadventures because life is too short not to.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For updates on Bo’s latest projects, visit BoBennett.com.
Business.
Robert “Bo” Bennett started Adgrafix, a graphic design firm, right after graduating Bryant University in 1994, with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. In 1995, he sold the graphic design business but kept the name Adgrafix that he used for his new web hosting company. As a self-taught programmer, Bo created one of the first (perhaps the first) web-based affiliate systems and web-based web hosting interfaces. He built Adgrafix to a 5 million dollar a year business, then sold it to Allegiance Telecom in 2001.
A day after he sold Adgrafix, Bo started Archieboy Holdings, LLC as a holding company for many different web properties, some of which have become their own entities, and sold to new owners, and others which he is still running today. One of the past sales includes Boston Datacenters—the distressed datacenter in Charlestown, MA purchased by Bo from former HarvardNet founder. He took the company from losing tens of thousands of dollars per month to profitability in less than a year. In two years time, he sold the property to Hosted Solutions. Today, the property is currently owned by Windstream, and it remains one of the premier datacenters in New England.
Bo is currently the founder and CEO of eBookIt.com, a company that formats and distributes eBooks, print on demand, and digital audio books, as well as president of Archieboy Holdings.
Success / Motivation.
By age 10, Robert “Bo” Bennett started listening to and reading personal development tapes and books. Over the years, he has developed a science-based approach to success that differs quite a bit from the over-hyped success guru’s approaches commonly seen today. Before beginning his lifelong quest to shape the lives of others, he had to prove to himself that his theories, beliefs, and convictions worked.
At age 10, Bo started in business by creating and selling wooden key racks in his father’s workshop. Since then, he has started several companies and sold them anywhere from $1 to $20,000,000.00.
After selling his first company of significant value, Bo began writing Year To Success, the most comprehensive book ever written on success, based on his experiences, thoughts, and timeless success principles. Year to Success is a book Donald Trump calls, “an inspiration to every person who reads it.”
Psychology.
Bo’s interest in psychology began as an undergraduate studying marketing, specifically, consumer behavior. After many years immersed in the business world, Bo returned to school and received his master’s degree in general psychology and PhD in social psychology, focusing on social, cognitive, and positive psychology. Bo’s dissertation is in the area of social intelligence and online education, and can be found online at proquest.com.
Science, Critical Thinking, and Secularism.
Bo’s personal motto is “Expose an irrational belief, keep a person rational for a day. Expose irrational thinking, keep a person rational for a lifetime.” Much of his charitable work is in the area of education—not teaching people what to think, but how to think. His projects include his book, The Concept: A Critical and Honest Look at God and Religion, and Logically Fallacious, the most comprehensive collection of logical fallacies. His secular (humanistic) philosophy is detailed at PositiveHumanism.com.
Academia / Education.
Bo’s pro bono work focuses on education. He developed and taught a public speaking and debate course for Student Athletes Rising, a non-profit youth development organization offering guidance and training for America’s youth, ages 7-19, preparing them for enriching college experiences and productive lives as future leaders of their communities. As a PhD student, Bo spent time as a graduate assistant for Walden University, tutoring masters and other PhD students in research methodology. Bo has developed several online courses and the learning platform on which they run—as well as teaches those courses. These courses can be found in the “online courses” link on the main menu.
Bo is an active member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Psychological Association.
Toastmasters.
Bo joined Toastmasters in 2003, after a painfully embarrassing speech given to a room full of his contractors. Desperate to improve his speaking skills is the least time possible, he devoted full-time to being a Toastmaster, and completed all 40 speeches in a record six months. He served the required leadership roles to achieve his Distinguished Toastmaster Award (DTM) in record time of just over one year.
In 2004, Bo created the FreeToastHost website hosting platform for all Toastmasters clubs. Today, FreeToastHost hosts over 10,000 clubs around the world.
In 2008, Bo started the Toastmasters Podcast, which began as a district podcast, then in 2010 transferred ownership to Toastmasters International, to become the organization’s first official podcast. Today, Bo continues to co-produce and host the podcast that serves as the voice to over a quarter of a million members worldwide.
Personal Life.
Bo was born in Connecticut where he lived until he was 21. He attended Bryant University where he paid his own way through by running a promotional business while also serving as a Resident Assistant.
At age 13, Bo started studying the martial arts. By Age 18, he earned his first degree black belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate. Since his first black belt, he has also earned a second degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and continues to study several different styles. He is also passionate health and fitness.
Right after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Bo moved to Boulder, Colorado where after just five months, realized the “Rocky Mountain High” wasn’t for him. Missing his family, he moved back to Connecticut.
In 1994, Bo met his wife-to-be, Kim, at the bar “Archie Moore’s,” which is where they got the name for their first dog, Archie, which is where he got the name for his business. Bo and Kim moved to Boston, Massachusetts shortly after they met, got married, and been living in the Boston area happily ever since, with their dog, and two children.
