By Jane McChesney

“Everybody has a story to tell,” says Timothy Bennett of the town of Onondaga.

And the 58-year-old author of two books —  “With A Grain of Salt” and  “Salt For The Supper Table” — finds that helping others publish their stories is the best part of his working day.

While he sees writing and publishing as a major part of his future, as with many writers, his past has been sprinkled with an interesting variety of jobs and activities that serve to enrich the written word.

“I worked for a nonprofit organization called ‘Youth with a Mission’ in France for about 10 years [1983-86 and 2000-2006]. Some of my activities included teaching English to children using games, songs and creative exercises.”

He also had students who witnessed the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Col., come to France and share with his students how they were able to go on with their lives after such a tragedy.

Bennett’s life experiences have given him plenty of fodder for writing his collections of articles. “I’ve worked as a vinyl and leather repairman, picked apples, driven a truck, wrote for a community newspaper… just to name a few of my various and sundry activities.”

Today, he’s a very busy man indeed. Bennett and his wife, Veronique, have recently celebrated 25 years of marriage. He’s currently going through a three-year ministry school based out of their church, Faith Chapel on West Seneca Turnpike and, of course, there’s the world of books.

Bennett published his own books in 1999 and 2006 under his own company, Sel Publications. Sel means salt in French.

“I first got into publishing when I published the Christian Business Directory of CNY from 1994 to 1998. I sold the business in 1998 and felt I wanted to publish my own book, ‘With A Grain of Salt.’”

After he and his family returned from France in 2006, Bennett asked himself, “What would I really like to do?” He decided he’d help people publish their own books. He could write the books based on oral readings. He could edit books they had written. Or he could edit and publish the books. He said the best thing about this type of collaboration is helping people share their stories, and perhaps have a positive impact on others.

“The two books I have published for other people are radically different from one another. The first on ‘Anger Reconciliation’ is more of a teaching book about expressing your anger in a healthy way. The second, and the one I’m working on now, are both memoirs, ‘My Life, Zero to Sixty’ is the story of Terry Bish, the host of The Car Care Clinic on 570 WSYR. He has a number of interesting stories to tell.”

As a publisher, Bennett says he guides the book through the editing and layout stage, depending on what the author wants him to do. Once the author has approved the manuscript, he sends it for layout, where it is put in format. It is sent back for the author and Bennett to go through again.

If everything looks right, the books go to a digital printer in Tennessee. They set up the book for printing and print one book, sending it back to be checked one more time before they do multiple printings.

Bennett also works with a man in the Boston area who teaches writing composition on a college level with a doctorate in English, who goes over the book for punctuation and grammar.

In addition to his publishing business, Bennett works as an interviewer at KRS, a market research company in DeWitt. “I have the opportunity to gather the opinions of business leaders of multimillion companies as well as your average ‘man on the street.’”

Bennett has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the King’s College, formerly in Briarcliff Manor and now located in the Empire State Building in New York City.

When he’s not writing or helping other publish their stories, Bennett is busy with his three children: Jonathan, 14; Samuel, 16; and Alicia, 20. Alicia gave birth to their first grandchild, Xavier, on May 7. He also enjoys reading memoirs, watching movies, walking and traveling.

Bennett grew up in Putnam County in a small town called Carmel, about 70 miles north of New York City. He said he started reading voraciously in the fifth grade.

“My mom let my twin brother and I order up to six books apiece from the Scholastic Books catalogue that came out and I loved it when our teacher, Mr. Gambino, opened those boxes and handed out all the shiny covered books. I couldn’t wait to get home and start reading.

“My favorite author as a child was Robb White. He wrote adventure stories for young boys. I also liked Ken Holt books, which were similar to The Hardy Boys series.

“As a teenager I was smitten by “The Catcher in The Rye.” I could identify with Holden [Caulfield’s] angst and alienation and I appreciated his raw honesty,” he said. Bennett said he aspired for years to write like J.D. Salinger.

Bennett said he writes on the computer in his office. “I don’t know how other writers can waste so much time writing long hand, or on a typewriter. The editing is so simple and easy on the computer. I can’t see doing it any other way,” he said.
Time management will likely be an important tool in the future, as Bennett sees himself writing and publishing more books, because, as he says, everybody has a story to tell.

Bennett recently held two self-publishing classes at the Oasis in Syracuse. For more information on his projects and future classes, visit his site at www.selpublications.com.