Rapido to Endstation

Rápido to EndStation relates what happened to the author in the five years following his official retirement from the University of Southern California. The author compares himself to an Italian train, mistakenly called a Rápido, being far from rapid and stopping only at minor stations. In a similar fashion Boerlage did not stop working after his exit from U.S.C., but continued to direct and teach at universities and to coach students. Thus the analogy: both he and the train have merely taken a different route. Rápido to EndStation gives a frank, brutally honest description of his struggles-with age, bureaucracy, relationships. The many high, sometimes low points of an adventurous life are mixed with some homemade remedies against frustration and depression (among others). His major interest in writing was challenged when, with the onset of Parkinson's disease, his barely legible handwriting impossible to decipher, the author was forced to collaborate with a computer: a Herculean task (he being far from technically astute) achieved. Fifty years on stage (more precisely backstage as opera stage and T.V. director) are told; famous names recalled. The book is filled with self- mockery, fantasy, real life experiences, thoughts and visions. Surreal dreams intertwine with the author's life work. Portrait Incomplete (Xlibris 2005) was well reviewed by its readers. His novel Changing Gears is soon to be published.