If I Remember Him: The Croy Cycle, Book 1

by Louis Flint Ceci, Robert Roßmann (Narrator)

When a tornado nearly wipes the town of Croy, Oklahoma, off the map, Lerner Alquist, its wealthiest citizen, vows to memorialize the wife he lost by building a magnificent library. It is a splendid goal, but hard times keep delaying it. By 1952, Alquist needs one final ornament to make it a sculpture over the main entrance. Pursuing that vision sets in motion a series of events that uncovers the racism, religious bigotry, and sexual tensions that underlie the town.

If I Remember Him blends historical context with public triumphs and personal tragedies to portray a town torn between its better angels and its old wounds.

Audible Audio

Published July 23, 2025

About the author

Louis Flint Ceci’s poetry has been published in Colorado North Review and read on air as part of PRI's Living on Earth. His short stories and essays have appeared in Diseased Pariah News, Trikone, Jonathan, and the anthologies Queer and Catholic and Gay City Volume 4: At Second Glance. His first novel, Comfort Me, was published in 2009. He is a former high school speech and English teacher, and a former college professor of Journalism and Mass Communications. An avid swimmer, he has competed in the past four Gay Games, two FINA world championships, and several IGLA swim meets. He won the Gold Medal in the Poetic Justice poetry slam at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney.