Manchester native expresses himself in the arts

Jeremiah Ford currently lives in Ann Arbor but he maintains a strong connection with Manchester friends

From the time when he first made a hard cover children’s book in fifth or sixth grade, Jeremiah Ford has found excitement and gratification in creative pursuits.

"We each were given an empty children’s style book to make our stories in," he recalls. "Mine was a combination of the popular Berenstain Bears children’s books and the movie The Bad News Bears. The title I came up with is evading my memory, but we did also do our own illustrations for the book. I just remember it being a lot of fun and was really excited at what I was making."

Jeremiah graduated from Manchester High School in 1999, and 20 some years later, he's still writing and creating original art, plus writing and performing music. He currently lives in Ann Arbor but keeps in touch with Manchester friends and family members, many of whom still live in the community. He enjoys the close-knit atmosphere of the small town but in order to pursue some measure of success in his career, he finds Ann Arbor to be a good match.

Jeremiah started off writing short stories, then a novelette (both of which were on a laptop that was subsequently stolen), and then two scripts at once, one being Not the Every Day Nine to Five and another called Crazy Ball Player.

"I was working frantically, pacing about the room to stimulate my thoughts with a notepad and pen in hand feverishly searching for ideas to complete these scripts. I turned Crazy Ball Player into a screenplay, which is complete as well as finishing up a couple other screenplays that I wrote, whose origins are from 2011.

"It wasn’t till after I began calming and slowing down the writing process that I have become more diligent, patient, and accurate. Over the past few years I began 'sailing' steadily and rewriting, editing, proofreading, etc., and that has brought me to the point where I am now."

His most current effort is the process of publishing a play, "Not the Every Day Nine to Five," a fictionalized but semi-autobiographical work that describes a young man's struggles with unemployment, drug and alcohol use, and depression.

"Yes, this play has a lot of bits, pieces, and maybe sometimes chunks of different times in my life," Jeremiah explains, "but mixed in with a good amount of fiction. I did start writing this book when I was in the hospital after (a bad episode) and from this I took elements from different parts of my life and made some semi-fiction."

The main character, Bob, is also busy creating art, music, and written material, sometimes working through a day and night to complete a project; other times spending his day ... and night ... at the bar with friends. It's during one of those bar nights that he meets the girl of his dreams, Claudia. Claudia is an art student at the university but the two share many common interests — including music and art, philosophical discussions, and more.

Part of the play is acted out in "real" time and some of it is narrated by Bob, as if the events happened in the past. Scenes occasionally shift unexpectedly from quiet to action-packed, but it always comes back to Bob's narration and his own explanation of events.

While he's proud of all his works, and tries to spend some time on each different facet of his creative expression during any given time period, Jeremiah is currently focusing most strongly on getting "Not the Every Day Nine to Five" into production.

"I am really into the Not the Every Day Nine to Five and would love to see it come full circle and be acted out as a play on stage," he sats. "I just found out about this playhouse called Theatre Nova here in Ann Arbor and that they are interested in producing new plays. I sent them a copy of my script and hopefully I'll hear back from them in the near future with some good news."

He credits his family and friends with keeping him going through the rough times of his life. "I have a great family who supports me and a handful of friends who I see and talk to practically every day. I have three brothers and a sister and I am in the middle." He adds, "My mom is probably my best friend and she is very proud of me and my work. We stay in touch with each other fairly regularly and that is a big portion of my life and very important to me.

"And to the readers, just know that there are people who are here to talk with whether you are doing well or are having a tough time. Stay close to your friends and family. I think that they are a huge part of our happiness and progress as individuals."

One of Jeremiah's recent art works. His work has hung in coffeehouses such as the B-24's in Ypsi and the Cafe Verde in downtown Ann Arbor. He's currently in the process of making a large piece that he hopes will be put into a museum in the near future, and putting the final touches on an application to be juried and hopefully selected as part of the U of M hospital's art gallery.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.