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Rounding the Bend: The Life and Times of Big Red
What Do Heroes Look Like?
Certainly not like Big Red, a washed-up 290 pound Vietnam vet and ex-Mississippi River towboat pilot haunted by his past. There’s no ‘S’ on his huge chest, no cape on his back. He’s certainly no hero.
Or is he? The answer is in his notebook. Penniless and cooped up in a Minnesota veterans home by the banks of the Mississippi, he’s lost everything but his riotous wit. He won’t speak of his past with anyone. Instead, he writes in his notebook and stares out toward the River, wishing to once again ‘drive a tow through a bend on the Mighty Miss’.
Enter Wihopa, aka Toddy, Red’s nurse, a wise, nurturing and beautiful Lakota Sioux woman. She’s dauntless, spiritual, has a wit to match Red’s, and is a genius at transformational healing. Toddy grants Red his fervent wish, and together they head downriver on a tow. At day’s end, trapped by a freak fall blizzard and hunkered down aboard his old houseboat, Cirrhosis of the River, Red learns from Toddy what being a hero really means as she guides him back through the profound ethical choices of his from the horrors of Vietnam, to his bizarre confrontation with life, death, and the law off a remote Maine island, and finally to an astounding revelation.
Certainly not like Big Red, a washed-up 290 pound Vietnam vet and ex-Mississippi River towboat pilot haunted by his past. There’s no ‘S’ on his huge chest, no cape on his back. He’s certainly no hero.
Or is he? The answer is in his notebook. Penniless and cooped up in a Minnesota veterans home by the banks of the Mississippi, he’s lost everything but his riotous wit. He won’t speak of his past with anyone. Instead, he writes in his notebook and stares out toward the River, wishing to once again ‘drive a tow through a bend on the Mighty Miss’.
Enter Wihopa, aka Toddy, Red’s nurse, a wise, nurturing and beautiful Lakota Sioux woman. She’s dauntless, spiritual, has a wit to match Red’s, and is a genius at transformational healing. Toddy grants Red his fervent wish, and together they head downriver on a tow. At day’s end, trapped by a freak fall blizzard and hunkered down aboard his old houseboat, Cirrhosis of the River, Red learns from Toddy what being a hero really means as she guides him back through the profound ethical choices of his from the horrors of Vietnam, to his bizarre confrontation with life, death, and the law off a remote Maine island, and finally to an astounding revelation.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 16, 2017
Dave Roper never ceases to amaze me and his "Rounding the Bend"is a true page turner!
March 18, 2018
Congratulations to David Roper
David Roper is to be congratulated for this book, I absolutely loved it. In fact I loved it so much that after reading it almost non stop in a weekend, I read it again, aloud to the woman in my life. We were hysterically laughing at times and weeping at others. This book is filled with humor, wisdom and emotion. One of the best books I have ever read. I only wish I had a hard cover copy to to keep, cherish and share.
David Roper is to be congratulated for this book, I absolutely loved it. In fact I loved it so much that after reading it almost non stop in a weekend, I read it again, aloud to the woman in my life. We were hysterically laughing at times and weeping at others. This book is filled with humor, wisdom and emotion. One of the best books I have ever read. I only wish I had a hard cover copy to to keep, cherish and share.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews