"Parish the Thought," is an inspirational memoir about growing up Catholic in the 1960s. Author John Bernard Ruane shares the evolution of his faith beginning with his entry into a Catholic grammar school, making his First Holy Communion, Confirmation and serving as an altar boy. He relates tales of the good and bad teachers, as well as the priests and nuns who affected the lives of so many impressionable young Catholics. The Catholic experience of that time seems to be a shared one for the millions of Catholic Baby boomers across the country.

Parish the Thought is John Bernard Ruane's second book. In 1999, ECW Press published The Earl Campbell Story, profiling the life of NFL Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell and his battle with panic disorder. Ruane has also written two stage plays and co-wrote three comedy revues, all produced in Chicago from 1985 to 1992. In 1988, he wrote and produced Comedy on Rye, a five-minute film short taken from the stage play, which won the Illinois FilmCam Award. In 1989, he wrote and produced a half-hour comedy titled, Deckinger's Place, which also won the Illinois FilmCam Award.From 1980 through 1989, he wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times, working alongside heroes from his paperboy days, including Mike Royko, Ray Sons and Jerome Holtzman. His work has also appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and North Shore Magazine.