In his song “Railway Tracks”, musician John Illsley wisely observes: 

Life doesn’t run on railway tracks 

It twists and turns 

It’s not white or black 

In “Power: A Memoir”, memoirist Frank “Rue” Tamru isn’t trying to take the reader on a one-dimensional journey. 

From his humble beginnings as a member of an Italian American family in South Jersey, to his first tentative steps toward independence in the Big Apple, Tamru’s rollercoaster traces an ever-widening track across the Pacific – Hawaii, Australia, and Asia. He highlights the charms and not-so-charming aspects of the exotic locations in which his career deposits him, sometimes at breakneck speed. 

However, this is not an ordinary travelogue – because it’s not ordinary and it’s not a travelogue. This is a memoir in the true sense of the word – composed of struggle and transformation, emotional honesty, and vivid sensory details. 

The primary focus of “Power” is the rapidly changing science behind the innovations in heart surgery that began in the 1970s. Tamru covers, in layman’s language, the cardiac devices and the brave surgeons who pioneered the proper use of the equipment that became a central part of his life’s work. He doesn’t neglect the less admirable side of the story – the greed and jealousy, the competition and corruption. 

Behind the narrative of a globetrotting existence is a human life, always questioning the right path, attempting to balance relationships with career, an effort that can and does lead to heartbreak. 

This is a story that satisfyingly goes full circle, back to roots and family and the acceptance of a different definition of power.