The Stories Our Fathers Leave Behind: Marshall Terrill on Dust, Copper and Curveballs

What happens to our parents' stories when they're no longer here to tell them? Marshall Terrill returns to Boomerocity for his fourth conversation with Randy Patterson, this time to discuss perhaps his most personal project yet: Dust, Copper and Curveballs: A Globe–Miami Childhood, a memoir built around the words his late father shared about his the life and memories during one of their last trips to his dad's home town of Globe-Miami. His father's story begins in Arizona's Globe-Miami mining country, in a world of copper dust, neighborhood ballgames, bottle-cap curveballs, hard work and tightly knit communities. His life would eventually encompass military service, a career as an Air Force colonel and educator, and decades of service to others. But this conversation goes beyond biography. Randy and Marshall explore what happens when a son becomes the keeper of his father's memories, what Marshall learned about his dad while bringing the book together, and why the everyday stories of our parents and grandparents may be far more important than we realize. It is a conversation about fathers and sons, memory, service, community, aging, legacy—and preserving the stories of a generation while we still can. Dust, Copper and Curveballs: A Globe–Miami Childhood is available now.