The Mentor: Shaping a New Generation

What is a man? That is the question twenty-one-year-old Alex, deeply in love with his fianc and earnestly determined to be a proper husband, asks his grandfather. In response, the older man draws upon his own life experience, psychology, history, and vivid imagination to introduce his beloved grandson to his own inner manhood. The resulting tale is an odyssey through 16th century Nuremberg, Germany, where the protagonist, a young G.I., encounters and becomes apprenticed to historical figures representing the male archetypes of Warrior, Magician, King, and Lover. The soldier who emerges from that experience presents Alex-and an entire generation of young men-with a clear vision of manhood in its fullness.

In The Mentor, Robert Day Potter combines his interest in the history of Nuremberg, Germany, where he served with the U.S. Army during the Cold War, with an abiding commitment to guide young people to their full potential. He teaches writing at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin.