January 5, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Osaka manager also a passionate three-time author
by PAULA M. RILEY

Marion Ingram, local author, outside of Osaka Restaurant in Chestnut Hill, the site of his “day job.” (Photo by Paula Riley)

Among Chestnut Hill’s old homes, quaint shops and great restaurants are some fascinating people. We pass by them everyday, knowing only the role they serve in our lives – waiter, shop clerk, neighbor, et al. We often don’t know their passions, heartaches or goals. Take Marion Ingram, for example.

As assistant manager at Osaka, the Japanese restaurant at 8605 Germantown Ave., he has encountered many local residents. He may have taken your reservation, assisted a server with your meal or warmly greeted you. If you’ve ever encountered Marion, you can’t help but sense his passion for life and warm regard for others. As the author of three very different books, he openly exposes his passions and his goals.

“I want to provoke change,” Marion, 29, explains why he wrote his recently published book, The State of America, in the Blink of an Eye. “This book was provoked out of my passion and concern for America.” After spending five months in Paris in 2002, Marion returned to the states with a completely new perspective.

“In Paris I found that the French were freer to be themselves and had more respect for differences. There aren’t levels of better or worse there. In the US, there is too much identification in groups and superiority. We need to respect each other and see all persons as unique. We need to respect and accept differences … But this is hardly a political book. I wanted to explore the current conscience and temperament of America. I wanted to be the voice of those whose voices were silent, to be the voice of the unheard.”

These voices include a woman fighting AIDS and a homeless man who had left his Columbia degree and previous life behind. The book is a series of stories with powerful photographs. The photographs were absolutely necessary. As Marion explains, “I went to 13 states and took photographs, I wanted to capture the physical validity of the circumstances and provide a vivid account of America. I spoke to gang members in south central LA, to drug addicts in Harlem and to the homeless right here in Center City. I wanted to tell their story so we could be accountable. I wanted to provoke change.”

Marion’s desire to use his writing to provoke change was sparked years ago. “I first read James Baldwin in high school,” Marion says of his favorite writer and personal inspiration; “I started reading him and never stopped. His writings fueled the fire in me. I felt like we were cosmic brothers, drivers for humanity, peace and unity. He has a certain eloquence in his tone and voice that promotes change.

“Baldwin triggered my writing desires. I immediately felt a response when I read him. I wanted to shout out, ‘I get your message!’ His style of writing was so eloquent.”

Like Baldwin, Marion knew he too would draw upon personal experiences to inspire his writings. Before writing The State of America, Marion had many experiences with the homeless. A visit to New York’s Washington Square Park was one of his many exposures to the suffering of the homeless. He starts to tell me a story of that day but stops, draws himself closer to me and opens his first book, Uncensored Thought: Learning through Life and Experiences,” to further illustrate his point. He reads his poem, “In the Park.” His voice softens, and his eyes become immersed in his delivery. As he slowly reads, he vividly describes the park and of the struggling people in it.

This moment seems quintessential Marion. He loves poetry readings and loves to see his poems touch others. Marion is not afraid to hang his heart out for the world to see. This first book is a collection of poems and essays about coming in and out of relationships. These are honest and raw poems which speak of the cycles of love, the pain of infidelity and the hurt of lost trust.

Accompanying these are intensely romantic essays. In his essay, “Two Strong Hearts,” he writes, “Unleash your love into my ocean, fueled with strawberry raindrops and clouds made of whipped cream. Chocolate sidewalks and candlelit trees. Non-stinging bees, making honey in a non-humid summer breeze. Come float on my pond; I have a strong heart, too.” The song sung in these words echoes Marion’s comments in the book’s introduction: “Poetry is the music of my heart. It allows me to transcend the things that everyone thinks but never speaks.”

Speaking, writing and developing his strong sense of self was the product of many influences in Marion’s life. “I met her when she dropped her purse at a fruit stand, and I chased her car four blocks to return it,” Marion tells of “Nana,” an older woman he encountered as a young boy growing up in Ewing, New Jersey. “She helped make me what I am today. Her greatest impact was that she was someone I couldn’t disappoint. Everyone needs someone like this.” Nana was a retired woman who gave Marion odd jobs, taught him the value of saving money and always reminded him to set goals for the future.

Nana was accompanied by Marion’s mother and another woman named Mary McBride who shared her wisdom with him and encouraged him to dream big. Marion is one of four children born to parents who knew at an early age he was strongly independent. He was, as he describes, a highly ambitious kid. “Nana taught me to save the money I made, so much so that when I went to college I needed no help from my parents.” At Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, Marion received a degree in Criminal Law. He had always planned on becoming a lawyer one day. After college, he worked at Vanguard and Delaware Investments but soon realized he wanted to write more.

“I needed a job that would give me the flexibility to support my writing career,” Marion explains. Before joining Osaka in Chestnut Hill, he worked at Morimoto in Center City. He loves the people at Osaka and the warmth of the ‘Hillians,’ as he calls local residents. The job has served him well, as he just completed his third book, titled, No Time for Love, a partially autobiographical fictional novel of an overly ambitious man who can’t settle for love. In between his Osaka work, his writing and supporting a homeless shelter in New York, Marion just launched his website, www.readingmarion.com. This will serve as his gateway to touch others, share his passion and take his hidden treasure beyond our wonderful neighborhood.

You can purchase Marion’s books at www.readingmarion.com. All of his books will be available on www.iuniverse.com and www. amazon.com in mid-January 2006.