Books
©2025 by Leo Tyler
“My life is but a weaving / Between my God and me,” wrote Grant Colfax Tullar, early 20th-century Methodist minister, poet and hymn writer. You will find this second collection of Leo Tyler’s poetry a beautiful weaving of the poet’s own life seasons. Poignant memories of Louisiana childhood, unrequited first love and deep sorrow from loss intertwine as threads with present moment awakenings, joyful play and undeniable realities to create a tapestry—personal and yet remarkably universal.
For Your Interpretation Only, Volume 2
Coming soon! Read sample poems from Volume 2 and engage bonus content
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Coming soon
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From the early days of my childhood, I remember being drawn to weavings. My maternal grandmother, with whom we lived for the first seven years of my life, shared with me and my older sister her cherished assortment of handmade patchwork quilts, and needlework samplers, designed, stitched and signed in multicolor embroidery by the dear ladies of the Sunday school class she had taught for over 25 years. I loved running my fingers over the stitched signatures and imagining each seamstress who had pulled the thread through the fabric. I loved searching for the patterns on the patched quilts. There is something so wonderful about history you can see and feel!
Like the unique creations in my grandmother’s treasured collection, Volume 2 of Leo Tyler’s poetry collection: For Your Interpretation Only is a textured weaving. Vivid memories and echoes of childhood joys and pain intertwine with mature reflections on present lived experiences of death and loss, transcendence and peace, to create a colorful, intricately layered tapestry of human life evolving into God’s Uninterrupted Love.
Be forewarned! The poems of Volume 2 cannot be read in a single sitting. You will want to run your fingers over the threads and search for the patterns again and again. Allow yourself the time. Sit with each poem. Let your own memories and reflections emerge to reveal the intrinsic threads of your life tapestry. In the words of my favorite French novelist Marcel Proust, whose multi-volume work Remembrance of Things Past awakened my interest in the sensory aspect of memory, “Every reader finds himself. The writer’s work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself.” Real literature, real poetry has that power.
—Lisa Andreason, editor
©2024 by Leo Tyler
“Life’s a long song...” goes the chorus of Ian Anderson’s (Jethro Tull) classic rock hit.
Open this inaugural volume of original lyric poetry, composed by Leo Tyler, and you will hear the complex melodies and varied tones of life’s long song. You will encounter honest emotions from ethereal joy to darkest despair. You will dance; you will wonder; you will cry; you will breathe. For Your Interpretation Only, Volume 1 is traveling music for everyone on life’s winding path.
For Your Interpretation Only, Volume 1
Read sample poems from Volume 1 and engage bonus content: reflection questions, scriptures, and prayers.
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Coming soon
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When Leo Tyler, my longtime friend and pastor, asked me in the summer of 2022 to edit Uninterrupted Love, the literary culmination of a lifetime of deep personal reflection and spiritual revelation, little did I know the surprising discovery awaiting me. Sprinkled through the pages of expository prose were bits of disarming poetry. I remember asking Leo in a casual way about these poems, some of which had obviously been written earlier in his life. Here I was, I thought, veteran former teacher of English and Latin literature, lover of Ars Poetica, stumbling upon an undiscovered poet. “Have you ever considered publishing a collection of your poetry?” I ventured. In response, with his characteristically wide Cheshire grin, Leo opened to me his startling treasure house of lyrical poems that spanned decades of his life.
So began an exhilarating adventure into what Gwendolyn Brooks called “life distilled.” I found myself listening to an authentic voice singing the human experience in all its agony and joy, in all its messy glory. I heard dissonance and harmony, words playing with words, all the beautiful sounds of the kind of real poetry that one can “live into” as John Ciardi once put it. I knew Leo’s poetic voice must be shared.
This inaugural volume of what has now been fondly deemed The Poetry Project, in light of its ongoing nature (Leo is ever composing), will beckon the willing reader into a world of wonderment, hauntingly familiar and yet refreshingly new.
—Lisa Andreason, editor
©2023 by Leo Tyler
Take an exciting, transformative adventure with Leo Tyler as he shares his personal search for true identity in a world dominated by false images and misleading messages. As you journey, you will find a tapestry of wisdom woven from Leo’s own experiences, holy scripture, the words of centuries of Christian mystics and contemplative philosophers, as well as those of modern psychologists. Leo introduces you to a new season in each of the five stages of his newly created Identity-in-Christ Development Model to help you chart your own inner path to true freedom and uninterrupted love in communion with the Triune God.
Uninterrupted Love In Every Season of Life
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Coming soon!
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FREE! Download this PDF to read a short, 12-page excerpt from the book.
The 21-Day Adventure
©2007 by Leo Tyler
Experience more freedom, joy, and purpose than you ever dreamed possible. In The 21-Day Adventure, Leo Tyler helps us replace old doubts and fears with this simple truth: We are new creatures who are loved, forgiven, and accepted by God!
This adventure will introduce seven life-changing principles, combined with 21 days of helpful, reflective questions. An inventory at the close of each three-day section will encourage you to overcome obstacles and soar in your walk with God.
So, get ready to learn correct responses, get rid of negative fears and doubts, and celebrate the joy of having a healthy soul!
