I Am The Water Bucket
A Story of Fathers and Sons
by
Book Details
About the Book
After reading the latest biography of baseball legend Mickey Mantle, the authors hero, he was stunned to realize that his own life had, in his later years turned out much like Hall of Famer Mantle; a life of deep regret, guilt, depression and alcoholism. Robinson immediately recognized a series of similarities in their childhood experiences, especially with their respective relationships with their fathers. Robinson decided to journey to Commerce, Oklahoma on a kind of pilgrimage to the childhood home of the baseball legend and see if he could find some insights about his own life. The journey opened up painful questions about his relationship with his football coach father and led him to further investigation of the father/son issues of some of his favorite authors such as Hemingway, Faulkner, McMurtry, Salinger and James Joyce. The pilgrimage ended in a visit to the grave of his father and served to reset his life back on course. He has written with pain, humor, honesty and insight about his "Salvation Through Mickey Mantle."
About the Author
Grady Jim Robinson is a former minister, humorist, storyteller, columnist and author. Over two dozen of his entertaining stories about growing up in Arkansas as the second son of a football coach have appeared in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest and dozens of other magazines. He has written two books, "Did I Ever Tell You About The Time" (McGraw-Hill) and a collection of his best stories in "Where Have You Gone Lance Alworth". He writes a popular column called "Table For One" aimed at semi-happy, senior, singles. In 1994 he was inducted into the National Speakers Association's Hall of Fame along with platform giants Ronald Reagan, Norman Vincent Peale, Paul Harvey and Zig Ziglar. He lives in Arkansas and roots for his beloved Arkansas Razorbacks.