GREENFIELD — Although the term is technically “collaborative writer,” Mark Tabb prefers “ghostwriter.”
He loved the 2010 political thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan of the same name, so ghostwriter, it is.
“I’m the ghost,” he said. “I work with people who aren’t writers and have a story to tell. I become them. I tell their stories.”
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Although Tabb of Greenfield has two more books on the horizon, the celebrating has already begun: “Convicted,” his most recent release, has been selected for the Christopher Award. The Christopher Award, created in 1949, recognizes authors, illustrators, directors and producers whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.”
“They give awards for the kind of books that give people hope,” Tabb said.
Tabb will receive his award for “Convicted” on May 17 in New York City.
“Convicted” recounts the story of white policeman Andrew Collins and black suspect Jameel McGee. McGee was wrongly accused and convicted on drug charges based after Collins lied on the stand.
McGee spent four years in prison, but the journey has a surprise ending. McGee has forgiven Collins for everything, and the two are now the best of friends.
How does a man spend four years in a federal prison for a crime he didn’t commit and forgive the man who put him there?
“That’s the story in the book,” Tabb said.
Tabb has written more than 35 books. In 12 years of authorship, about half are written solely by him, but in 2006, he transitioned from solo author to ghostwriter and now works collaboratively with others to tell their stories.
Tabb, who is on the ministerial staff at Brandywine Church, credits his experience in his line of work as helping him to make connections to his story subjects. As a minister he is often called upon to walk with people through death and difficult situations.
“I help people work through the trauma they’ve gone through to get to the other side,” Tabb said. “When they get to the place where they can talk about it, that’s when the healing takes place.”
Tabb’s work as a ghostwriter has taken him from one fascinating story to another, he said. His body of work includes “Not Forgotten,” the story of Kenneth Bae and his two years in a North Korean prison. Bae, a missionary based in China, had been guiding groups into North Korea to lead them on prayer walks for the North Korean people. After 18 successful missions, he was stopped at the border and charged with attempting to overthrow the North Korean government.
After his release, Tabb spent a week with Bae — and much time on the phone — to help him record his story.
“It was really hard to write,” Tabb said. “I was right there in prison with him.”
Tabb also ghostwrote “Mistaken Identity,” a story that happened close to home, when a van load of students from Taylor University in Upland collided with a semi-truck. Five people were killed, including Laura Van Ryn, who was mistakenly identified for five weeks as fellow passenger Whitney Cerak, because of bandages covering her head and face.
He also wrote “One Step at a Time,” the story of Hancock County native Josh Bleill’s recovery from a bomb that exploded under his jeep in Iraq and took both of his legs.
Tabb’s ghostwriting process is fairly simple, he said. For “Convicted,” he spent a week with the two men in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where they live. He records conversations, takes notes and then sends everything to his typist, who transcribes the conversations. Tabb then turns the transcripts into the story he wants to tell.
“The challenge,” he said, “is to craft the book in a way that the reader will stay engaged.”
Tabb’s attraction to a story like “Convicted” is the message of hope and the power of forgiveness.
“There is hope for bridging the lines of race, the divide of hurt and anger,” he said, “for bringing people together in a time when we’ve never been more divided.”
