By Elaine Van Develde

His mission is one that is being undertaken all in fun — a global sort of fun — but he’s not kidding around. And he’ll tell you it’s not all about him, either.

He’s native Fair Havenite Jim Scanlon. He wrote a book that was just recently published on July 14. It’s a “social commentary wrapped in a fairy tale,” as he calls it.  He wrote music to accompany the book, aptly titled The Musical Adventure of ‘One-Shot’ Billy, for entertainment value and, more importantly, resonance, he says.

Why? “I didn’t want it to be a documentary,” the now-Little Silver resident said chatting recently in his hometown, which has a striking metaphorical role in the book. “Documentary style, more dry, is not an effective way, in my mind, to get the message out.”

The message is all about Mother Nature being pushed aside, he said. There’s Mother Nature and her three sons who manage the departments of Synchronicity, Ebb and Flow and, most importantly, Human Resources. They comprise Earth Management Systems (EMS). Get it?

The youngest son, One-Shot Billy, or Cupid, manages the humans. “It’s about who the sons are as related to her (Mother Nature) and how we found ourselves on a planet that’s sorta misaligned right now,” Scanlon said. “So, therein lies the irony of the EMS, right? The forces of nature applied their concepts and what they’re dealing with and put it right into a small town — Fair Haven. I know. I know. I was born and raised in Fair Haven. But, it’s truly a metaphor. It’s just the perfect name no matter how you look at it. I looked everywhere for a name of a town, and all I had to do was look right down at my feet. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to change the name, but it just didn’t work.”

And there are more coincidental names tied to Fair Haven in the story. Woods, dubbed Sickles, are threatened by development. But, never mind that (even though the name is fitting) Scanlon says, it’s about a much bigger picture that happens to be set in this microcosm of a small town.

The goal of the story that Scanlon says gives the forces of nature a right to express themselves: Really, in the end, the aim is to make the book’s protagonist, One-Shot Billy, or Cupid, come to life, Scanlon said. “He’s got his own life, but, at the end of the day, he learns his lesson” as the youngest of the three brothers and director of Human Resources for EMS.

And there are a lot of lessons to be learned, primarily about the givers and takers of the planet Earth, and “they’re all learned in an entertaining way with the songs,” said Scanlon, a longtime commercial real estate professional who has led a double life of status quo team corporate work by day and solitary writing and playing the guitar many a late night.

In fact, the idea for One-Shot Billy and his family grew out of a song Scanlon wrote in the wee hours of his creative solitude years back.

“A line in this song I wrote for my friend, also a musician, Ricky Eldridge, for Christmas one year drove me to the story,” he said.

It goes like this …

“Inspiration running high, a dead man rose and touched the sky. And even tho no witness spoke, the words spread of a holy ghost. Mother Nature pushed aside held the hand of Father Time. Everyone was so surprised a savior had arose.”

So, Scanlon, years later, came up with this mythical family that he wanted to introduce to everyone with music and a message on paper.

But a book? Why a book now? Why a book with downloadable songs rather than full-scale musical? Why not just music?

“Two reasons: I have a daughter; and, I wanted to put something on the planet to put perspective into things,” he said. “My daughter, Holly, is 13 years old and, at the end of the day, as she gets older it’s a matter of her understanding the concept of givers and takers. And I would like the world to be a better place for her. Why a book? Because if I dropped it on the ground, no cover, nothing, I hope someone would say, ‘Wow, you should read this!’ If all else failed, with a book, I could just drop it on the ground and walk away and hope its message spreads.

“I would also hope that people would want to help the story. It was written to do all the right things. It’s not some holier than thou piece. It’s designed to make me a better person, too. And it’s done in a fun way.”

Bottom line, too, he said, is that the music moves the story along and gives it its own life. There are 11 songs in the story.

And for the music, Scanlon went all out — and all the way to the Nashville, Tennessee. He contacted a friend from college (Rutgers) who had become an entertainment attorney.

Before long, he was in Nashville being introduced to principals at Major Bob Music, Garth Brooks’ production company, and lining up singers and studio time.

He went bach and forth to Nashville for several months and ended up with songs recorded and set for publication/online download. Lewis Lea and Shannon Labrie do most of the singing.

And, back home in status quo suburbia, life was still the same on the surface — until the book came out and so did Scanlon’s secret life.

“No one ever really knew I wrote songs and played guitar,” he said. “I never told anyone, except my brothers, who played with me, and my closest friends. But that’s what I’ve been doing all this time. I taught myself how to play guitar. I just wrote to write because I just had a passion to write.”

Now he’s taking his passion one step further. “I want this book and music to carry the message along until this guy One-Shot Billy comes to life.” The giver.

Takers anyone?

You can purchase The Musical Adventures of One-Shot Billy by clicking here.