As many of you know, I don’t like leaving my house. Later this month, I will. If only for a handful of hours.
Just a few days before the regular season gets started with a trip to Kansas City (and I love Kansas City) for the regular-season opener followed by a visit to NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut for the first Sunday of the 2023 season, I’ll make the drive from my secure location in North Central West Virginia to my hometown of Wheeling for an appearance in connection with Father of Mine.
Do I want to do it? No. But the event to be held at the Ohio County Public Library on Thursday, August 31 at noon ET will happen just a few blocks from the bar my dad operated for years. That bar loosely serves as one of the primary scenes for Father of Mine. It’s enough of a connection to get me to go back for a little while.
The book, if you’ve missed any of my prior posts, is set in Wheeling, in 1973. The mob ruled the town, and many others like it. While the story is made up, it’s based on some of the actual events that transpired among the local mafia in the 1960s and ‘70s.
I’m assuming most of the wiseguys of days gone by are long gone. If I’m wrong, I guess I’ll find out two weeks from tomorrow. (Just in case, I will come heavy.)
If you’re in the vicinity of Wheeling and you’d like to get your copy of Father of Mine signed, here are the details. And if you don’t have a copy of Father of Mine, here’s how you can get one before August 31.
This is a one-time-only thing. I don’t do book tours. I don’t go far beyond my usual routine of grocery store, barber shop, pharmacy, bank.
In 15 days, I will — unless I can come up with a plausible excuse to not show up between now and then.
