Book is open letter on reasons for electing Obama president

By Rita Frankenberry

The Virginian-Pilot

Virginia Beach

Early in October, Jerry Sheeley had a premonition about the presidential election.

Sensing a win for Sen. Barack Obama, the Virginia Beach resident began funneling his pre-election energy elsewhere. He secluded himself in his studio and began writing a book about the historic election, instead of watching the coverage on TV.

The result is Sheeley's first self-published book, "19 Reasons Why We Wanted a Black President." The book is written as an open letter addressing 19 different populations, including African Americans, Caucasians, politicians and the middle class.

Sheeley said he wanted to share his take on why so many people came together to elect the nation's first African American president.

"I wrote this book is as a resource for people to come back and look at," said Sheeley, also owner of Independence Realty on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

"It's an honest look at it," Sheeley said.

In researching the book, Sheeley said he talked with family and friends to get an idea of why they voted for President-elect Obama. He completed the book in about 35 days.

Helping people from different political parties and different cultural backgrounds understand the reasons people voted to elect Obama, Sheeley said, is important.

"I'm very interested in what people think," he said. "I wanted to try and bring it down to have a clearer understanding. A lot of my style of writing is just writing what's in my heart and writing it in a way that anybody can understand it and relate to it."

After the book went on sale on Nov. 15, Sheeley sold 200 books within seven days. He just received another shipment of copies and is selling them at area businesses.

He expects this shipment will sell quickly, too, which is good news for a number of local charities. Sheeley said a portion of each book sold will fund local chapters of the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, as well as the Union Mission Homeless Shelter in Norfolk, and the Barrett Haven Shelter for Women in Norfolk.

So far, much of the feedback Sheeley has heard has been positive.

"They're saying that for someone to express this message, this way, it's a different perspective," Sheeley said. "A lot of people are saying they're seeing their own thoughts expressed on these pages."

Rita Frankenberry, 222-5102,rita.frankenberry@pilotonline.com