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Debut author to hold local book signings on Nov. 30

Photo provided Iowa native and former public school teacher Tommy Murray based Cottage Park, the fictional town in his debut novel Fathers, Sons and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball, after his hometown of Bancroft.
Photo provided
Iowa native and former public school teacher Tommy Murray based Cottage Park, the fictional town in his debut novel Fathers, Sons and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball, after his hometown of Bancroft.
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

Descriptive setting is so important when telling a story.

It comes down to properly detailing the sights … the sounds … even the smells.

Tommy Murray made sure his readers got a whiff of his hometown, Bancroft, Iowa, in his debut novel, Fathers, Sons, and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball.

“It all depended which way the wind was blowing,” Murray said. “When it blew one way, it smelled like cow poop; another way, it smelled like pig poop … or turkey poop.”

While trying not to offend the residents he grew up with, Murray decided to make the region from which the story takes place completely anonymous, not even locating it on the map of the states in his first draft.

“I learned that was a big mistake,” said Murray, who gave his initial manuscript to renowned author and National Book Award recipient J.F. Powers to critique.

The subsequent review was brutally honest.

“He told me he had no idea where this story was taking place,” Murray said. “For all he knew, it could have been on the east coast, west coast … midwest … anywhere. He said my story needed a specific place.”

Like Hickory being the thinly veiled fictional version of Milan in the movie “Hoosiers”, Cottage Park fills in for Bancroft in Murray’s book.

“Anyone from the area who reads it will recognize the similarities,” Murray said. “On the book’s cover, there’s a water tower with ‘Bancroft’ on it.”

Set within a single baseball season in 1974, the story  follows 14-year-old T.J., along with a band of misbehaving teens and three cantankerous old coaches, as the high school baseball team makes a concerted push for the championship – a summit never yet reached by the team from Holy Trinity High School.

For the coaches, the elusive championship looms large as they enter their final baseball season before retirement. For the players, the road to the finals is a confirmation by fire – a rite of passage they must navigate before facing the realities of adulthood.

“It really took me 25 years to write it,” said Murray, a former school teacher who now lives in Minnesota. “It came down to forcing myself to write at least one word a day … then two words … then a sentence then a paragraph, and before you know it you have 100,000 words. It was a challenge.”

In the book, Murray pays homage to his uncle, who led his high school team to its first state championship in 1943 before going to fight in WWII where he was killed when his tank unit was ambushed in the Philippines.

After the critique by Powers, Murray put the manuscript away for an extended period of time. But he decided to pick it up again and polish it for possible publication.

“I just thought it would be a shame if I never got this out,” Murray said. “I just wanted to publish one copy for my father and maybe a few more for family members. That’s all.”

Murray’s publisher said that publishing just the couple copies wouldn’t be feasible, so instead they published 200 copies. Though Murray had no aspirations of making the New York Times Bestsellers List, his book proved to have some legs as it sold all of the first printing of 200 copies as well as the second printing. It’s now on its third printing less than a full year after its release.

Unfortunately, Murray’s father died of dementia before he was able to receive a copy.

In addition to sights, sounds and smells, settings also need a time. Murray considers 1974 significant to the story.

“Things were starting to change back then, especially in Iowa,” Murray said. “Small towns were starting to get even smaller. Local farms were starting to get hit by mass production. The era of big families was coming to an end.

“A way of life was ending. I’m glad I was able to get it in print.”

Tommy Murray will hold several meet and greets, and public signings of his debut novel Fathers, Sons, and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball.

Friday, Nov. 30

Clear Lake Public Library, 10:30 a.m.

Mason City Public Library, 12:30 p.m.

Charles City Public Library,
2 p.m.

Marble Rock Public Library, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1

Bancroft Memorial
Park Fundraiser

Main Street Tap and Grill,
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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