Robert C. Saunders: Local author and poet

BY JOYCE NANETTE JOHNSON, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG – A cardiovascular nurse by day, and writer and poet by night, Robert C. Saunders has four books under his belt, three of them published in the same week!

Although his late father, Victor E. Saunders, was an avid reader and his mother Gloria, who has also passed on, wrote poetry, his fascination with the art was a gradual process.

Saunders explained that he dabbled with creative writing while attending Lakewood High School, but had not become passionate about it until he was in his early 30s when his love of prose was born.  His wife, Victoria, encouraged him to pursue his dream of writing, and the reading public is the beneficiary of her encouragement.

Saunders’ first book, “Nurses Bred for Business: The Awakening of Legions of Nurse Entrepreneurs,” is a roadmap for those in the medical field to identify their skill sets and how to translate those skills into the world of entrepreneurship.

Robert C. Saunders

In the book, he writes: “Attaining to victory in one area can carry over to victory in all areas. So as a servant leader, what will be your personal corporation’s mission and vision? Will it be compelling enough to pull you out of bed to clock in early and keep you up at night?”

He switches gears for his next three books, which were all released in May. Revealing his inner poet, “Dances in the Theater of the Mind” is a collection of 105 poems that are broken down into acts such as in a play. He feels that each one of us has played a role in the dance of life. We all have experienced joy, heartbreak, recovery and restoration of hope with wisdom anew — scripted and unscripted.

Saunders describes himself as a foodie, so it only seemed natural to combine both his love of food and poetry and what sprung from it is “Foodie Dessertations: Bite sized recipes of foodielicious poetry.”

“Food brings back childhood memories,” he said. “It takes me back to my mom cooking in the kitchen on Sunday. Food is cross-cultural.”  Each poem has a recipe to match.

In “Rhythmic Elegance: A poetic treatise on our place in the universe,” Saunders piggybacks on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in pointing out that relative to an orderly and harmonious universe, humanity has much to learn by its disunity and lack of accountability toward the good of all.

“The universe with the planets and the stars remain in balance, but we here on earth and humanity are in a bad alignment on the principles of love and solidarity.”

In the chapter “The Power of She,” he wrote:

“It is in the best interest of humanity to value her childbearing wonder, while civilizations have faded for lack of recognizing this blunder. Wars and violence destroy good men who cherish the uniqueness of her, strong shoulders and testosterone flexing necessitate healthy females; help her be all she can be. When she wins, we all win.”

For Saunders, his writings have become not only part of his lifestyle but have also taught him valuable lessons.

“It has taught me that laser focus on one thing long enough and diligently enough simply has to produce success,” he stated with conviction. “It also taught me to not give up doing a thing simply because it is hard or needlessly complicated. The objective should be to eclectically piece together a success formula that works for you consistently and regardless of harsh conditions.”

So if you are in need of some inspiration, a new recipe or if you just fancy a well-written poem, you can find all four of his books on Amazon.com. You can also email Saunders for a copy of one or more of his book or book him for speaking engagements at rcsaunders77@gmail.com.

About the author

A St. Petersburg native, Robert C. Saunders graduated from St. Petersburg Junior College with an associate’s degree in nursing, and is now employed as a registered nurse at Baycare St. Anthony Hospital.