Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. Mr. Echols grew up in Exeter, NH and was educated at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy. He received his B.A. from New York University and his J.D./M.B.A from Emory University.
Mr. Echols served in the U.S. Army as an enlisted man from 1973 to 1976, subsequently as an active duty Army attorney (JAG Corps) at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1982-1986.
Mr. Echols later served as an attorney and ethics/compliance officer for several Defense contractors, ultimately retiring in that capacity as Director of Business Conduct for Monsanto.
Thereafter, Mr. Echols served as Founder and President of the For Our Friends the Animals Foundation, an eleemosynary entity he created and funded that constructed animal shelters and rescues.
A cancer survivor, Mr. Echols now frequently blogs on a reverence for life on LinkedIn and is authoring a four-volume treatise on that topic under the title: For Our Friends the Animals.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “For Our Friends the Animals”?
A2. The most difficult obstacle was overcoming a worry that I was not worthy of attempting to carry on Albert Schweitzer’s tradition. In the end, while admitting and coming to grips with my status as mere epigone, I came to the conclusion that picking up the torch and doing my best would be exactly what Dr. Schweitzer would want me to do, would want each of us to do.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. All books by Albert Schweitzer; The Divine Milieu by Teilhard de Chardin; everything by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. I enjoy my home state of New Hampshire. Though having been “discovered”, it still remains an unparalleled locale of serenity, a blessed mixture of human history and natural beauty.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘For Our Friends the Animals’?
A5. While growing up I was vaguely aware of Albert Schweitzer, but as an adult I read a detailed article about the man and was most impressed by his erudition, academic accomplishments, literary skills, and most of all his compassion, a compassion he evidenced all through his life. That article detailed his ethos of a reverence for life, the firm tenet that all life is possessed of innate worth and value, that no life may be downgraded in worth to serve as a mere means to some human end, that our sacred duty as mankind is to embody a reverence for life by serving as stewards to all nature, all life, all God’s creation. Bringing that idea to as wide an audience as possible became my life’s work and shall remain so until I pass on.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘For Our Friends the Animals’?
A6. The book required one year from start to finish, as the spirit of Jesus moved me to write, emend, and rewrite until I thought I had done the best I could. There are three more volumes coming, and their gestation periods are likely to be of the same length, depending on whether I can keep my lymphoma in remission.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. As far as I know the book is available from all e-tailers, including but not limited to Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Some editions have also turned up on eBay!
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘For Our Friends the Animals’?
A8. The title stems from a prayer attributed to Dr. Schweitzer entitled: A Prayer for the Animals. Here are the first two lines: “ Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends, the animals,…”
I wanted the cover to reflect that prayer, that sentiment pictorially. I also love the Latin language, so used the Latin for reverence for life, i.e. reverentia vitae, at the top of the animals.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. I pray for the spirit of Jesus to infuse itself in me and guide my heart and brain. With Jesus as my coach, freshness is assured.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. Be yourself and write from your heart and soul. No matter how long it takes, if you comply with that dictum somebody will seek the words of wisdom you’ve penned.
Buy For Our Friends the Animals on Amazon
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