Rufus The Doofus Loves Helen the Melon

About the Book

God asked me to write this book. Let me explain. Upon retirement in 2010, I decided to write a Dr. Seussian style children’s book about bullying. Once it was published, I believed my literary career was over. Apparently, God had other plans. Several months later, while savoring an early morning snooze, a rather troubling poetry verse began buzzing about my brain: “… he now had his answer; His lovely young bride had ovarian cancer,” Being an optimist by nature, I couldn’t fathom why such a disheartening verse, in Dr Seussian rhyme no less, was intruding upon my morning slumber. After puzzling over this for several days, I concluded God wanted me to provide a Rufus the Doofus sequel to help Christian adults deal with the inevitable crises of life that could conceivably challenge their faith. The result is a short story in easy-to-read verse that is intended to help Christian adults deal with whatever heartbreaking events they may encounter that might cause their faith to waver. Life can be hard, but God is good.

About the Author

Mr. Rhodes graduated from Earlham College on 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and a dislike of cerebral poets like Coleridge and Yeats (His favorite poets continue to be Dr. Seuss and Ogden Nash.) A Master’s Degree in Education Administration from Ball State University followed. After four years of teaching junior high English, a close encounter with Christ brought about a career change. After an ensuing 32 year career in long term care management, punctuated by a perfect survey and corporate recognition as the top financial performer, (Unison Healthcare 1979), He retired in 2010. With newfound time on his hands, Mr. Rhodes decided to pursue lay preaching to Quaker adults and Christian writing for children. Rufus the Doofus: The Story of a Bullied Child was published in 2018. The sequel followed in 2024. Mr. Rhodes lives with his wife of fifty years in Richmond, Indiana. He enjoys playing pickleball, strumming the guitar, spending time with his three year old nephew, and rooting for the Indianapolis Colts..