Fanuka, a man behind the book REFLECTIONS,
personalizing life, nature, man and God; has knowledge
brought on by his simple life and poverty in his
youth. Read his book and you will gain ?
what you have lost. His writing will
refresh your mind and your soul.
God bless Mr. Fanuka!

Carmelo Ramos, New York

Radenko Fanuka’s book,Reflections,
Personalizing, Life, Nature Man and God,
is an inspiring road through Mr. Fanuka’s
reflections upon his life here and in his native Crotia.
I found the book to be fascinating and inspiring.
It kept my interest throughout. His ideas and
beliefs in family, Life and God are truly an inspiration
to us all. I highly recommend this book.

Saul Biegacz (New Jersey)

In a collection of essays that depict one man’s
philosophies on life, nature and his god,
there are some simple truths that will apply to everyone
who reads them. “Reflections: Personalizing Life,
Nature Man and God,” is an interesting book that
reaches out to us all in effort to relay the lessons that
author Radenko Fanuka has learned throughout
his very interesting and full life.

Some of the essays left me a bit puzzled as to their
point and meaning, while others were quite clear
and concise and well understood. In particular,
“How Could She Survive?” touched me deeply
and demonstrated how simply one could live
life and be quite happy in it, for it was about an
elderly lady who loved her animals and lived off
the land, alone and content. Another story
that was touching was about another woman
who endured being alone for her husband had
gone off to America to earn a living. When he
returned, he shunned her, not even knowing
the person she had become due to her
years of hard living.

Whether portraying a difficult life, or sharing a lesson
learned at the side of his mother, the author has
answered the call to write out his thoughts and ideals.
With respect to his beliefs and hope for the world, he
has put together a collection that will surely
touch the lives and minds of many readers.

Review by Heather Froeschl of BookReview.com

Mr. Fanuka’s book, Reflections: Personalizing Life, Nature,
Man and God, is unique. Pride in America, his new home,
is one of his many topics. He has essays which are
touching and others which make you laugh. His
sensitivity and respect for his parents are heart warming.
Love of his mother is very pronounced and treated with
great tenderness. His early years in Croatia and his outlook
on life is mesmerizing and refreshing. Mr. Fanuka’s book is
like a breath of fresh air. It reflects his appreciation of life
and his eagerness to take time to smell the roses.
He encourages us to do the same.

F, Goldberg (New York, NY)

Time has come that Mr. Fanuka’s book, Reflections:
Personalizing Life, Nature, Man and God be written.
I love God and I believe in Him.
I found Mr. Fanuka’s book to
be refreshing and inspiring. His writing encompasses the
ideas of the last offer of a gift of power above that of any
other power for the existing world and how we as humans
live today. Five years ago I was a
passenger in my own car, driven
by my husband, and I was carrying my
daughter who is now
five years old. I experienced a miracle.
When my husband made a
very sharp turn, our car turned over twice
and yet, noone was hurt.
This book is a constant reminder that we
should not forget God
and all he created. I find it to be an
outstanding gift which teaches,
offers and tells the world that there is
only one existing power
found within love and respect, which
can help you. It is the kind of a
book which will be appreciated generation
generation.

Reflections: Personalizing Life, Nature,
Man and God will
help your mind, heart and soul and it
will have an everlasting
encouragement upon you to walk with hope.

Sandra Sevilla (Queens, New York)
As long as I will read this book,
I will reveal new messages.
This book is definitely written
otherwise than others.
From any part of this book come
forth the writer’s love of
nature while at the same time come
forth and his message
what to do to be better. Someone,
who wants to be deep
involved in writer’s consideration, can
sometimes pull parallelism
between one of the possible views of world
and actual happening.
The writer feel himself some things which
surround us and have a
strong effect on our life but unfortunately
these things affect
adversely. According to writer’s philosophy
many of things in
human life would be better to change if we
want to be better in
our future. Briefly told in a human life we
can meet real nature
only in the tracks in our ideas, while at
the same time
artificial nature knocks on the door.

Professor Josip Brnic, Ph.D (Europe/Hr)

Radenko Fanuka has written a book,
Reflections: Personalizing Life,
Nature, Man and God, that is unique
in almost every way.
Most books are about stories, real, or
imagined, that seize the
reader’s interest until the final chapter,
or epilogue, when
the outcome is at last disclosed. Other
books are written for
the express purpose of helping the reader in
very specific ways.
These books fall into the “How to” category,
where the range of
topics, and subjects has truly become endless.
They include such diverse categories as health, finance,
gardening, home decorations,
sports, hobbies, etc. They serve their purpose
well because they
provide their readers with the information
and directions they seek.
Mr. Fanuka’s book has no such purpose
in mind. Thankfully so,
otherwise, it would fall into the same
big basket of books
available to readers at any
good book store, or public library.
What Mr. Fanuka has done,
is something very different,
very special, very valuable, and
extremely insightful. He has
chosen to share major character forming
experiences that took
place in his life as he grew up on a rural
farm in Croatia. He also
included those experiences which greatly
affected his life from
the time he moved to America in 1962
until the present day.
In essence, his book is a series of short
essays which revolve
around a variety of everyday subjects,
people, animals, birds,
morals, ethics, and feelings. In each
essay, we are asked to think
and reflect in ways we never do during
the course of our everyday
lives. Thankfully Mr. Fanuka constantly
reminds us of the simple
beauty, glory, and joy of nature and
all living things that
inhabit it, especially people.
I cannot recall, or imagine an author
who writes about animals,
birds, plants and even insects in
such descriptive terms
which show their place and value in the
grand scheme of life. Mr. Fanuka
accomplishes this task because he has
lived it, believes in it, and has
used it to shape and guide his life and
dealings with family and
friends alike. His main theme in the book
and in his personal life is,
truth in all things, with nature serving as
his guiding light. A poet
once wrote, “Truth is beauty, beauty is
truth.” How fittingly this
describes Mr. Fanuka’s simple
philosophy about how
life should be lived by all people.

Answer this question objectively
and honestly. How many of
us truly take the time or spend the
energy to faithfully carry
out the commandment, “Honor your
Father and your Mother?”
Again, Mr. Fanuka leads and guides
us through his own personal
care and devotion to and reflections
about his parents. It is a constant
source of strength and pride throughout the book.

Unfortunately, our lives are
here and gone at such a rapid
pace that we often don’t
devote our time, energy and efforts
on those who brought us
into this world, cared for us, protected
us, and guided our lives
toward productive ends. To read
and understand how Mr. Fanuka
accomplished this greatest of all
commandments is to realize and
appreciate the meaning of only
one of the many messages the
author conveys. The list of lessons
is long and vital, yet there is
one more that I wish to
include in this review.
People who were born here in America,
as I was, can never
fully comprehend, or appreciate
what freedom really means.
Yes, we mumble the usual platitudes
about freedom, and how sacred
it is to us, but we can never fully
understand the value of such a
blessing when we have never been without
it since birth. Can a person
ever truly appreciate water or food when
he/she has never once
been thirsty or hungry? Obviously,
the answer is no, and
the same can be said about freedom.

America, its freedoms, values and
way of life, is a constantly
recurring theme in the book, and it is
not by accident, but by
design and appreciation. Indeed, the
terrible events of 9/11 are
a source of deep, traumatic and sad
reflection by the author.
This theme surfaces in several of his
essays. It is thus his hope and
prayer that our suffering as individuals,
families, and as a nation can
be sustained and eventually overcome
by our devotion to the ideas,
ideals, and loving spirit that have made
us the freest, kindest and
greatest nation in the history of mankind.

Allen Gewirtz (Principal, P. S. 113Q, 1974-1989,
Glendale New York)

The words for Reflections:
Personalizing Life, Nature, Man
and God were born in the mind of a
very simple man who lacks formal
education, yet possesses much more
knowledge than any human
being I have ever encountered.
That man is my brother,
Radenko Fanuka, the author of this book.
I worked with my
brother and helped him to edit his
work before its publication.
Our time spent on this project was a
wonderful time of sharing the
good old times, the old memories, the
laughter and the hardships
we lived through our young lives in
Croatia. I know Radenko my
entire life, yet when I began working
with him on this book, his
ideas inspired me in a new way. Here
was a man who I know as
my older brother, my helper, the good
cabinet maker in the family,
and now I saw him in yet another light.
I now saw an inspiring
writer with solid ideas, once again
attempting to help others.
These ideas touched me as a human
being, a woman, a sister,
a daughter, a wife, a friend, a teacher and
a mother. His heartfelt,
genuine concern for a simple, good
life and preservation of
nature as our foundation, his desire to
help others, his love for
all children, the past, the present and
future generation is stated in
simple, loving terms, for that is the only
way that he knows how to
express himself. Simplicity was how
our parents brought us up.
Pride, respect and belief in God was
what our Mother and Father
taught us. Our survival depended on that,
as well as on our willingness
to work, and the ability to recognize
and help those less fortunate
than us. This book is a wonderful revelation
of basic truth and
beauty. It is a form and guide for
survival from a man who was
taught the best possible way, by “simply” living.

vera Repic (Astoria, New York)

World, what has happened to God’s
creation? Nature’s balance is
lost. Why? Step one, step two,
step three and on, and on,
and . . . . .? World, do you know how
many steps this
ladder has? I wonder if the creators
of the ladder and of the
words in the dictionary were twins? The
night is dark, nature
is resting and waiting for another
day, another sunrise.

Three dictionary words have been on
my mind for a very long
time and they woke me up. They are the
words SMART, TRUTH
and NOTHING. The word SMART is
laughing and climbing,
the word TRUTH is worrying and
the word NOTHING is
underneath the ladder,
waiting. TRUTH is begging,
please write a review, but
not tomorrow, write it today.

Radenko Fanuka

Mr. Fanuka has the ability to
analyze life through his own
experiences with nature and God. His feelings come
across simply, but purely
genuine, and awakens the
reader to ideas that surely are
imbedded, surely, in their own mind.

I have given copies to my children who have grown
up in today’s “High Tech World”. I want to remind
them of some of the very basic
principles of life
that are neither computer nor scientifically
generated, but rather inborn
and a part of our own human nature.
I particularly enjoyed some
of the stories relating to the author’s own
life as a young boy. He truly
captured the colors, sounds and the beauty
of our earth; the world we live in.

Reflections set a wonderful example
for young people of what you
can accomplish with little education
but a big heart, combined
with strong family relationships,
will and determination.

Mary A Jurkovic (Westbury, New York)

My name is Peter Czekan .It is my
pleasure to express my fillings
about this book “Reflections:
Personalizing Life, Nature, Man
and God” and about the man who
wrote it. Seven years ago I
was twenty years old. My wife just gave
birth to my daughter.
I had no skills and no job, but I was looking
for one. I met Mr. Fanuka .
He took one good look
at me and said: ” If you’d
like to work for me, you have
to be good, honest man
and always think”. Then slowly
he started asking me
about my childhood, my parents
and my grandparents.
He spent time talking to me more
than anyone before. He is a
man like he says in his book “soft
like a butter and hard like
a rock”. Through seven years
working for Mr. Fanuka I
learned trade, discipline and
value -all that my life can
give me. All these years Mr.
Fanuka never stopped
teaching me about life’s value
which I find in my wife
Jola and my two children.
Last week Mr. Fanuka
told me “look what you
have- beautiful wife two
children and food on the
table. Is there any
better luck what God can
give you?” Mr. Fanuka
did let me read his writing
during the process of
making his book. My wife
Jola who works with
computers helped him to
process his book.
“Reflections: Personalizing
Life, Nature, Man and God”
is one title, one book which
covers thousand other
books, and I belief it’s
hard to find category for
one man writing. It’s new
writing, which makes
me think and read it over
and over again. I found in
Mr. Fanuka’s book what I never found in any other
book before. If you read
this book, you will not be
able to say :I lost my time
reading this book. I
strongly belief it will help.

Peter Czekan (New York City)
Reflections, a simulating,
motivating
book reminds us of the important things in life:
Love, Faith, Beauty of Nature,
Respect for the uniqueness
of people, and work. I
have the privilege of knowing
Radenko Fanuka. He lives by his words and
spreads happiness where he travels.

Barabara Portnof