Reaching for Fireflies Decisions That Extended My Grasp

"Growing up nearly everyone at home told me I wouldn't learn anything reading a book, so I decided to write one myself."

Ed Tar's debut book, Reaching for Fireflies . . . Decisions That Extended My Grasp, is the powerful story of how he decided, at the age of nine, to resist the negative forces around him. Through sheer will, instinctive street smarts, creativity and relentless hard work, he changed the direction of his life.


Tar's stories poignantly capture both the fun and the tragic moments in an often emotionally filled home environment in Detroit, including a father/son relationship that will strike a deeply felt and familiar chord with many.

Summoning the courage to question "the way we've always done things" separated him from the crowd.

A life-changing decision after high school, a shock to his family, was a key turning point to erasing self-doubt and demonstrating a willingness to go beyond his comfort zone.

Then a transformative experience in a college English class, taught by a well-known author, gave him the spark and confidence to move his journey forward.

Reaching for Fireflies is a metaphor for his resilience in the pursuit of luminous opportunities.

Ed Tar was born in Detroit, Michigan. His memoir takes on his journey growing up in vibrant Motown- the car capital of the world.

Ed was the sixth-born in a family of seven children. With two parents and a grandmother also in the home, it was a chaotic and often negative environment, with constant turmoil surrounding a lack of money, oftentimes, not enough to buy coal and heat the house. "The home situation taught me resilience." Tar said.

Finishing high school, a challenge in itself, as half his older brothers and sisters simply quit school before graduating, Ed decided he would leave that toxic situation as soon as he received his high school diploma, making the life-changing decision to enlist in the U.S. Army.

Not certain what his future would hold following three years in the military (two of which were served in Europe), he was encouraged by his boss to go to college. Though not entirely confident he could succeed in "this college thing," as he referred to it, Ed finally decided to give it a try, enrolling in the University of Detroit. It was another life changer.

"The most memorable of all my college courses was my English class," said Tar. "It was taught by young author Joyce Carol Oates, who challenged us every day to broaden our thinking by introducing us to exciting new authors to explore and study. Her class turned me on to college, and I just thought to myself: "I get it."
He eventually earned his BA degree in Business, with minors in English and philosophy.

It was in college where Ed met his future wife Pat, a sparkling and popular student with aspirations of modeling and acting. Despite going separate ways after graduation to pursue their respective careers, his in journalism, they met up again over a year later and decided to get married.

After moving back to Detroit and working for four years as a producer at a large media production company, Ed decided to strike out on his own as an independent producer and writer. He did that for a year in Detroit. Then with a growing family and a childhood dream of living on the West Coast, he picked up his family and moved to Los Angeles.

Pat continued her career as a TV and motion picture actress in Hollywood while Ed ran the Los Angles office of a Chicago film company for two years. Then, once again, he reached for glimmering independence and the freedom to chart his own path. He left his steady job to go at it by himself as an independent writer and producer, writing television documentaries, short films.

Ed's work has been honored with awards at film festivals across the U.S.- including the prestigious International Film and TV Festival in New York-plus many other individual awards.

With "Reaching For Fireflies," he is presenting his first book. "There were so many moments, stories, and challenges growing up that I began looking at them as glimmering fireflies within my reach," he said. "If I was going to realize my dreams, I had to learn how to grasp opportunities and make my own decisions early on. That also helped me navigate the tough and competitive business world."

Ed Tar continues to live in Los Angeles with his wife, now an international painter/artist. They have two adult children: one a television producer, the other a sought-after independent designer.