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"The Egyptian obelisks are the oldest globally distributed human creations on earth and have a unique physical presence in the lives of millions of people every day. It is as if they have intentionally positioned themselves far and wide in order to tell the contemporary world something. And I wanted to hear what they have to say."Easing into life after the daily grind of corporate climbing and consulting, semi-retired businessman Mark Ciccone was faced with a first-world problem--how to find meaning as a "man of leisure"?
He finds the answer more than five thousand miles away, lying in the stone quarries of one of the cradles of civilization: the Egyptian obelisk. With a presence on four continents, the twenty-six surviving granite monuments are some of history's most mysterious and meaningful man-made objects, each with its own "voice" and message for the world.
Setting out to see each one, he embarks on a six-month, twenty-five-thousand-mile odyssey of "fun with a purpose" from his hometown of Boston to Egypt, England, Italy, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, and beyond to discover what these ancient "voices" have to say about religion, technology, tribalism, and the conflicts that plague the world of today.
Obelisk Odyssey is a powerful blend of history, humor, and self-discovery that reveals just as much about the present and the future as it does about the past.
About the author
Mark Ciccone is a semi-retired world traveler who worked for thirty-two years for Procter and Gamble in various senior management positions, where he traveled widely in the US and abroad, including a stint living in Italy.
He subsequently became a consultant with Monitor (now Monitor Deloitte) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then the president of a boutique consulting firm specializing in strategy and innovation.
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he has taught twice: once as a graduate student in English and, more recently, as an instructor in the business school at the university's campus in Rome.
He lives in the suburbs of Boston with his wife, Eileen. They have four daughters and one granddaughter. His hobbies include travel, history, skiing, and following the Boston sports teams.
