Munky MindJ. Parrish Lewis was born and raised in Maryland. In his youth there, he and his brother had many adventures in the dogwood forests near his home. His nostalgia for these adventures has strongly influenced his characters, their relationships, and their perspective on the world they inhabit. He moved to California’s coast to earn his degree in communications and now lives with his family in the San Joaquin Valley. Lewis is profoundly deaf and uses American Sign Language to communicate. He enjoys hazelnut coffee, captioned movies, and walking his dog.
I’m the kind of person that puts too much thought into trying to be a better version of who I am. I was thinking about this last night, while driving to the store, because driving’s an excellent time for pondering life’s mysteries, including the mystery of why people so hard on themselves. Why am I?…
The other night I was talking with my daughter, Ladybug, and she laughed at something I said. I forget what, I say lots of silly things and once in a while I get a genuine laugh instead of the groan that follows a Dad Joke (which, by the way, I’ve developed an appreciation for, because…
I have lost track of the number of times I have opened up the computer to write and let myself be paralyzed by the blank screen, or opened up my sketchbook and let myself be paralyzed by the blank page. When I started this website, it was going to be whatever I wanted it to…
PART ONE: In which Alice learns about a new Deaf Student PART TWO: In which Alice meets Wren, a Deaf Boy who teaches her some ASL Secret Signs: Part 3 By J. Parrish Lewis By the end of the week, she knew how to make the alphabet with her hands, just like Wren could. She…
PART ONE: In which Alice learns there is a new Deaf student at school Secret Signs: Part Two By J. Parrish Lewis She saw his backpack first, outside the speech therapist’s office where kids who had speech therapy were always directed to drop them. It was worn around the edges, broken zipper and bore the…
Alice. The girl does not move. Her gaze remains fixed on the particularly bright line of green that she has drawn to represent the horizon. A vibrant green, it makes her smile. This is her favorite color and she will use it again, often, and with abandon. This is a color she will throw herself…
I think a lot about how to use the minutes and hours of my life in meaningful ways, at least meaningful to me. Like anyone else, I both use my time well and I waste time. I work toward shifting my choices toward using the time well, though it seems that’s not always within our…
I am asked by parents of deaf children for guidance on how to help their children succeed in life. I’ve already written plenty about the need for completely accessible language at home, with American Sign Language as the foundation no matter what else is chosen to accompany it, and I’ve written about tips for teaching…
Grief catches me in the back of the throat. That’s where the pain resides. I don’t know why this was, but that’s what I felt, trying to hold myself together while my grandfather lay in bed dying in his apartment in Seaside, California. I arrived two days ago, after getting the word the day before…
