Roger Marum
Roger Marum, PhD, is a seasoned clinical psychologist with fifty years of experience treating clients. Currently based in Vermont, Roger has a thriving private psychotherapy practice with offices in Middlebury and North Ferrisburgh.
Dr. Marum has also been a visiting instructor at Middlebury College, where he taught a Winter Term course on communication and connections. A passionate jazz lover, lifelong athlete, and Chicago Cubs fan, he brings a well-rounded perspective to both his professional and personal life.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Marum is the author of Faith, Doubt, and Listening: Lessons Learned By A Reluctant Disciple and Seasons of a Psychotherapist’s Soul. He also writes regularly on his blog, The Reluctant Disciple, which offers readers insights on life’s philosophical and spiritual questions and challenges.
Facebook: @RogerMarumWrites
X (Formerly Twitter): @RogerMarum
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I love straight-ahead jazz. That said I can’t pinpoint how that has influenced my writing or thinking. I was raised in a conservative religious family in a suburb of New York City. Both of my parents had musical interests, played the piano, and loved classical music-- the only genre of music allowed in my home of origin. I would sneak listening-time for rock ‘n roll, but during my early adolescence discovered jazz and fell in love with the music of musicians like Monk, Davis, Peterson, and singers like Vaughn and Mc Rae. In fact, as I write this, I’m enjoying Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Jazz involves improvisation, a freeing way to approach writing when I have writer’s block. Even when story lines are straight ahead I may need to dance, sing, imagine playing an instrument to break the confining restraints of being blocked. Jazz opens that door.
Not all books are for all readers…when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
If something isn’t happening within the first pages, half a dozen or so, I skim ahead, and if the author doesn’t get my attention I skip toward the end to find out how the story ends.
What’s your favorite comic strip or graphic novel?
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale is my favorite graphic novel and Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite cartoon strip. Both deal with serious topics and the human condition, and do so differently, but use humor in the narrative and drawings.
What do you worry about?
I have concerns about the intolerance that seems to be flourishing in the world. There isn’t enough attentive listening and respecting the views and lifestyles of others. We are resilient beings who can tolerate not being right and accepting differences, but we appear wary of our ability or the ‘rightness’ of doing so.
What brings you joy?
Too many small and large aspects of life to fit in this answer. But a start might involve; nature, people who strive in spite of adversity, music, art, good reads, and chocolate!
