In Search of a Boy Named Chester: A gift to my father for his 100th birthday

by Ford S. Worthy, Nicole Pajor Moore (Cover Art)

A "genealogical detective story ... a rigorous investigation through the narrows of history that comes to a beautifully anticlimactic conclusion."
-- Kirkus Reviews

Shortly after the end of World War II, a 21-year-old Navy officer - just back after a year at war in the Pacific - was eager to return to his small hometown in eastern North Carolina for a brief home leave. At the San Francisco airport, a mother travelling to Omaha offered him her seat - a patriotic gesture of gratitude, he believed. There was one the sailor would need to accompany her 10-year-old son and see him safely to his grandmother in Omaha.

The boy's name was Chester. The sailor never forgot him.

Nearly 80 years later, the sailor's son sets out to give his father a special 100th birthday to discover what became of that precocious boy.

The book blends memoir, investigative nonfiction, and family history into a poignant and suspenseful journey. Through letters, military records, census and newspaper archives and outreach to strangers-turned-allies, the author pieces together the life of a boy nearly lost to time. Along the way, the story explores themes of memory, intergenerational connection, and the lasting impact of wartime experiences. Rich in historical detail and emotional resonance, the book will appeal to readers of narrative nonfiction, World War II history, and family sagas, and to genealogical sleuths drawn to real-life mysteries. In Search of a Boy Named Chester is a story that shows us how even the most fleeting encounters can reveal who we are and who we may become.

120 pages, Paperback

Published September 22, 2025

About the author

Ford S. Worthy spent his formative professional years as a journalist, took a brief detour as a corporate securities lawyer, and then focused his career in biotech venture capital. At every stage, he has been drawn to the art and challenge of finding things – most often people who were hidden from sight and sometimes didn’t want to be found, but also the hidden financial truths frequently embedded in prosaic income statements and balance sheets. In Search of a Boy Named Chester, the story of his quest to find out what became of a young boy whom his father briefly encountered in 1945, is his first book. Kirkus Reviews described it as "a genealogical detective story" that "is ultimately a celebration of the lives we all lead."

A longtime North Carolinian, Ford was born in Charlotte, grew up in Raleigh and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. He worked as a researcher and writer for Fortune magazine in New York and later served as the magazine’s bureau chief in Chicago and Hong Kong. His article “The Coming Defaults in Junk Bonds” was selected as a finalist for the National Magazine Award in 1988. He authored or co-authored stories about the fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich, the intensely private Pritzker family of Chicago, and the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Following his time at Fortune, he earned a law degree from the University of Chicago, where he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. He worked as an attorney in Raleigh before joining Pappas Capital, a biotech venture capital firm in Durham. He has served as a partner, and now senior advisor, at Pappas Capital since 1997, and is a senior advisor and board member for North Carolina Longform Magazine, publisher of The Assembly. He and his wife Allison live in Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was amazing! It was more than a birthday gift from son to father, it was a son expressing his love for his father and his fathers amazing story! I am so glad I was given the chance to be apart of this family through the journey to provide the perfect gift for someone's 100th year on earth.

[ROXANNE HAMMERLE · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was able to hear this story first hand from the author before reading the book.
What a wonderful present for his father’s 100th birthday.
The book is about family, friendship and the art of telling a story.
The biggest gift are our memories and the time we sep d with friends and family making them.

[Todd DeVries · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially hard pressed to see how the premise would appeal to me. I was drawn in to the real story, which is a labor of love from a son to his father that draws on their shared passion and skill for detail and connection. I highly recommend.