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The Spirit in the Stick
The Spirit in the Stick is an historical fiction/fantasy story centered on the careers of Navy’s Jimmy Lewis ’66 and brothers Doug and Jack Turnbull of Johns Hopkins of the 20’s and 30’s. The book traces the history of an ancient Native American lacrosse stick as it is passed down through several generations, dating to the eighteenth century. The most recent recipient, a young boy named Robbie Jones, receives the stick from Jimmy Lewis and quickly becomes aware of the stick’s special powers. The book has received strong endorsements from the likes of Bob Scott, the Hall of Fame coach from Johns Hopkins who says in the Introduction, “This story is a major contribution to the great game of lacrosse. Indeed, it transcends the game. The rich historical and spiritual roots of its main characters provide stories which will touch every reader, regardless of age, gender, or association with the game of lacrosse.” An …“Are you doing O.K., Robbie?” Red Hawk asked as he saw how shaken the boy was. “What happened to the plane!?” “This is going to be hard to watch....” “I can handle it. I need to know.” “Are you sure?” “I’m sure.” “O.K., let’s go to Baltimore.” Robbie and Red Hawk next appeared at the home of Jack’s mother, Elizabeth “Mum” Turnbull, Baltimore, Maryland on Election Day, November 7, 1944. Mum Turnbull had risen from her breakfast table at 9 a.m. and changed into a dress in order to perform her citizen’s duty to vote in the general election. She proudly clipped on her set of pilot’s wings, a gift from Jack upon his earning his qualification. While it was a task she performed every day—on every sweater, blouse, dress, jacket (and she would eventually be buried with)—today she did so with a great deal of melancholy. She had been notified that Jack had been reported missing two weeks earlier and hadn’t received any more recent news. No news, in this case, she thought, was bad news. With each passing day she had a greater feeling of foreboding. She walked to the front closet to get her coat when the doorbell startled her. She looked at her sister May, her housemate since her husband’s passing. She briefly hoped the visitor might be a neighbor coming to walk her to the polling station. That hope lasted but a second, when a chill ran through her body. She knew before she opened the door. She looked at May and said, “This is it.” She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. Her breath left her lungs, and she briefly felt faint. Before her stood an army officer and a chaplain, certain to bear the news she feared most. “Mrs. Turnbull?” the officer asked delicately. Mum offered an acknowledgment with a barely perceptible nod. “Mrs. Turnbull, I am Colonel Finney. This is Reverend Sheedy. May we come in?” Still not speaking, Mum opened the door further, allowing the men to enter. She walked to her kitchen table and gestured for the men to sit. They waited for her and May to do so first. Finney began, “Mrs. Turnbull, it is with great regret that I must inform you that your son, Lieutenant Colonel John I. ‘Jack’ Turnbull has been killed in action over a small town called Petegem-aan-de-Leie/Deinze, Belgium, about nine miles southwest of Ghent and near the German border.” Mum did not move or respond. Her face betrayed the slightest hint that she wanted to know how and why, so the chaplain continued softly, “Mrs. Turnbull, your son was assigned as Command Pilot for a mission over Leverkusen, Germany.
173 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2004
13 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Neil Duffy
2 books1 followerNeil Duffy is a native of Massapequa Park, Long Island. He is a graduate of Alfred G. Berner High School, the United States Naval Academy, and Old Dominion University. He is a teacher, coach, and advisor at Norfolk Academy in Norfolk, VA. He resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, daughter, and son. He is the recipient of US Lacrosse's 2019 Gerald J. Carroll, Jr. Exemplary Coaching Award.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 19, 2013
when i first read this book i thought it was going to be a regular lacrosse story until i found my self reading past 1:00 in the morning. i found my self attached to the book so much that i dreaded to drop the book,it was not only an awesome book but one thing that this book was not was ordinary. From the spirit visiting the character at night to the parents that think there kid in crazy all made me crazy, just wondering what lacrosse was really like back in the olden days. The best thing about this book is that it's a story that can teach you a lesson that applies to any sport not just lacrosse, and it makes you feel like you've been holding back on your full potential. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes for a good and spiritual story.
May 27, 2025
A great and inspiring book. Reccomended for any young person starting their career in the game!
May 27, 2018
This is a soul-touching story. The book weaves examples of courage, spirit and humility taken from lives of custodians of an Indian lacrosse stick that they pass from a generation to generation. While this is a fictional story, the characters are real people who were great lacrosse players or officers in different wars. After all, lacrosse has begun as a game to prepare young man for defending their people.
December 16, 2011
Lacrosse? A book of lacrosse? Whats lacrosse? Thats probably the thing you are asking when you see what this book cover. Lacrosse is a great sport involving speed, toughness, and honor. If you truely want to learn what this sport is about, you need to read this book! It covers everything and more! It talks about it's history, honor, and future. This book not only explains the sport, it has a great story to it.
It starts off with a man watching a 9th grader finish a lacrosse game. The kid does not know the man, but the man sure knows the kid. The kid is named Robbie. The man is named Jim Lewis. After Robbies game, Jim walks up to him and introduces himself. He tells him that he has been watching him play and that he plays the game the right way. Now a days, there are a lot of players that do not play the game with the same respect this kid does. After Jim talks to him for a little while his parents tell him that he has to go. Jim pulls something out of this bag that he has been carrying that whole time. It is a real life indian lacrosse stick! Robbie had never seen one in person before. Jim explains to Robbie that this is a very special gift that has been handed down for generations. There is only one of these sticks in the world and it has been handed down to worthy lacrosse players across the world. Robbie has no idea what to say. He throws with Jim for a little bit and he is amazed. It has the smoothest release that is possible. It comes out so cleanly. There is a type of magic that Robbie feels when he throws with the stick. Its almost as if it is communicating to him. Jim leaves the stick with him and tells him to take very good care of it and to keep it close to him at night. Jim hand him his number and takes off. Robbie still has to take in what just happened. Robbie has no idea who this guy was other than his name. That night, Robbie does as Jim instructs him to do, keep it close to him. After Robbie falls asleep, he starts to have a dream right away. This dream is different though, it seems like it is real. He is all alone in a whit space. All of a sudden a young indian boy approaches him. He greets him with great joy in his voice. He tells Robbie that his name is Red Hawk. He asks Red Hawk what is going on. Red Hawk explains who he is and what he is doing their. I am not going to tell you the whole of what he says. Red Hawk then takes Robbie on a great journey through a dream. He explains many things, including what happened that day and who Jim is. Red Hawk knows Jim very well. When Robbie wakes up he explains the whole night to his parents. They don't really believe him, but Robbie is convinced that it was real.
Robbie looks up Jim Lewis. To Robbie's disbelief, he learns that Jim Lewis is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players in the history of lacrosse. He played lacrosse at the Naval Acadamy and was an all american 4 years in a row. Robbie calls Jim and explains everything that he had learned from last night. Jim says that this is all part of the gift.
Throughout the book, Red Hawk takes Robbie on these amazing adventures in his dreams. He teaches Robbie that there is more to life then just lacrosse. Family is the most important thing. Red Hawk teaches him about his own past and how he got inclined to this stick. Robbie learns his most important lessons from that stick.
Whether you are a lacrosse player or not, I gaurantee that you will enjoy this book. This book inspires people. I know that it sure inspired me. It inspired me to work harder then any one out there, love my family, play the game right, and simply be a better person. This is probably my favorite book I have read and I can't thing of any negative side to this book.
It starts off with a man watching a 9th grader finish a lacrosse game. The kid does not know the man, but the man sure knows the kid. The kid is named Robbie. The man is named Jim Lewis. After Robbies game, Jim walks up to him and introduces himself. He tells him that he has been watching him play and that he plays the game the right way. Now a days, there are a lot of players that do not play the game with the same respect this kid does. After Jim talks to him for a little while his parents tell him that he has to go. Jim pulls something out of this bag that he has been carrying that whole time. It is a real life indian lacrosse stick! Robbie had never seen one in person before. Jim explains to Robbie that this is a very special gift that has been handed down for generations. There is only one of these sticks in the world and it has been handed down to worthy lacrosse players across the world. Robbie has no idea what to say. He throws with Jim for a little bit and he is amazed. It has the smoothest release that is possible. It comes out so cleanly. There is a type of magic that Robbie feels when he throws with the stick. Its almost as if it is communicating to him. Jim leaves the stick with him and tells him to take very good care of it and to keep it close to him at night. Jim hand him his number and takes off. Robbie still has to take in what just happened. Robbie has no idea who this guy was other than his name. That night, Robbie does as Jim instructs him to do, keep it close to him. After Robbie falls asleep, he starts to have a dream right away. This dream is different though, it seems like it is real. He is all alone in a whit space. All of a sudden a young indian boy approaches him. He greets him with great joy in his voice. He tells Robbie that his name is Red Hawk. He asks Red Hawk what is going on. Red Hawk explains who he is and what he is doing their. I am not going to tell you the whole of what he says. Red Hawk then takes Robbie on a great journey through a dream. He explains many things, including what happened that day and who Jim is. Red Hawk knows Jim very well. When Robbie wakes up he explains the whole night to his parents. They don't really believe him, but Robbie is convinced that it was real.
Robbie looks up Jim Lewis. To Robbie's disbelief, he learns that Jim Lewis is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players in the history of lacrosse. He played lacrosse at the Naval Acadamy and was an all american 4 years in a row. Robbie calls Jim and explains everything that he had learned from last night. Jim says that this is all part of the gift.
Throughout the book, Red Hawk takes Robbie on these amazing adventures in his dreams. He teaches Robbie that there is more to life then just lacrosse. Family is the most important thing. Red Hawk teaches him about his own past and how he got inclined to this stick. Robbie learns his most important lessons from that stick.
Whether you are a lacrosse player or not, I gaurantee that you will enjoy this book. This book inspires people. I know that it sure inspired me. It inspired me to work harder then any one out there, love my family, play the game right, and simply be a better person. This is probably my favorite book I have read and I can't thing of any negative side to this book.
April 1, 2014
I can’t think of any sport with a history and culture as rich as lacrosse. The strong feeling of community among players, coaches and lacrosse families and their shared respect for America’s first sport are wonderfully expressed in The Spirit in the Stick, by Neil Duffy.
Robbie Jones is a fourteen-year-old lacrosse player, a young talent. He’s been noticed by lacrosse legend, former naval aviator and test pilot Jim Lewis, who has determined that Robbie will be the next recipient of an important gift. The gift is a special hand-made, wooden lacrosse stick, over two-hundred years old, with Cherokee and Iroquois origins. Lewis received the same stick from another legend when he was about Robbie’s age. And he has been only one in an exceptional line of “custodians” who have absorbed the full history of the sport and have learned difficult and important life lessons from the spirit in the stick.
There is a lot to this story. As Robbie travels in time to learn about the history of lacrosse and the stories of the stick’s previous custodians, you might be tempted to compare it to Honus and Me, by Dan Gutman, a very good story about a boy and a special Honus Wagner baseball card. But The Spirit in the Stick is something else entirely.
This is a book that is first about honoring the history of lacrosse, about respecting the game, about discipline, teamwork, about being strong of mind and body. But it’s also a book about injustices and persecution, about heroes in war, about the human element of war, about sacrifice and loss. Even still, tracing back to its Native American origins, it’s about being in touch with and respecting the subtle but powerful forces of nature.
Duffy has constructed a very original narrative and history of the game, long overdue, using lacrosse legends, coaches, military commanders, Cherokee and Iroquois to set an example that teaches important life lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Spirit in the Stick. The author’s reverence for the game and its history and the bonds that result emphasize, above all else, the importance of human integrity.
Robbie Jones is a fourteen-year-old lacrosse player, a young talent. He’s been noticed by lacrosse legend, former naval aviator and test pilot Jim Lewis, who has determined that Robbie will be the next recipient of an important gift. The gift is a special hand-made, wooden lacrosse stick, over two-hundred years old, with Cherokee and Iroquois origins. Lewis received the same stick from another legend when he was about Robbie’s age. And he has been only one in an exceptional line of “custodians” who have absorbed the full history of the sport and have learned difficult and important life lessons from the spirit in the stick.
There is a lot to this story. As Robbie travels in time to learn about the history of lacrosse and the stories of the stick’s previous custodians, you might be tempted to compare it to Honus and Me, by Dan Gutman, a very good story about a boy and a special Honus Wagner baseball card. But The Spirit in the Stick is something else entirely.
This is a book that is first about honoring the history of lacrosse, about respecting the game, about discipline, teamwork, about being strong of mind and body. But it’s also a book about injustices and persecution, about heroes in war, about the human element of war, about sacrifice and loss. Even still, tracing back to its Native American origins, it’s about being in touch with and respecting the subtle but powerful forces of nature.
Duffy has constructed a very original narrative and history of the game, long overdue, using lacrosse legends, coaches, military commanders, Cherokee and Iroquois to set an example that teaches important life lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Spirit in the Stick. The author’s reverence for the game and its history and the bonds that result emphasize, above all else, the importance of human integrity.
December 11, 2012
I read the book The Spirit in the Stick by Neil Duffy. This Book is about a boy named Robbie who one day gets a special gift and that gift was a lacrosse stick. This wasn't any ordinary stick, it had a spirit and because of it he would have dreams and other things. The Stick was made by an indian over 200 years ago. My favorite part of the book was probably when Robbie got the stick and started to have dreams. This was my favorite part because in his dreams he could go back in time and see how the person who gave him the stick got the stick and more things. I think Neil Duffy wrote this because he wanted to show lacrosse players that there is spirt in lacrosse it's not just how cool you look or how hard you can knock someone down. Overall this was one of the best book's I have read about lacrosse.
I connected this book to one of my lacrosse games. I connected this because I believe in the spirt of lacrosse not wrecking people. I learned from the heart of lacrosse is not having the coolest sticks it's about actually having fun with what you have. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who is into learning about lacrosse and who wants to amazed.
I connected this book to one of my lacrosse games. I connected this because I believe in the spirt of lacrosse not wrecking people. I learned from the heart of lacrosse is not having the coolest sticks it's about actually having fun with what you have. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who is into learning about lacrosse and who wants to amazed.
September 28, 2014
This book was recommended to me by Jim Thule, whom I met at a lacrosse camp my son attended this summer. The camp was put on by his son, Garrett Thule, who played lacrosse for army and had recently represented the US Lacrosse team at the international lacrosse tournament we had attended in July in Colorado. It was great to talk to a parent of a player like Garrett, about our experiences in Colorado, as well as helping our kids grow and advance in such a rich sport as lacrosse. This book is a great story that lays out that strong history, whether you knew of it already or are discovering it. I think players and parents alike would benefit from this tale. Makes me proud to have played it, coached it, and parented players through it.
February 21, 2013
I read this due to my son's Lacrosse team recommendation.
I never expected to really like the book, but I actually loved it.
The inserts of history, if you like historical books, MADE the book for me.
The lesson in this book are not for just the Lacrosse player but to develop the whole person.
If you are thinking you are going to learn anything "technical" about Lacrosse you may be disappointed.
I never expected to really like the book, but I actually loved it.
The inserts of history, if you like historical books, MADE the book for me.
The lesson in this book are not for just the Lacrosse player but to develop the whole person.
If you are thinking you are going to learn anything "technical" about Lacrosse you may be disappointed.
August 23, 2013
This is a great book about a stick that has been passed along for over 200 years. Every full moon the spirit in the stick visits the stick's owner in a dream. The spirit will teach the owner a lot about the stick's history and about the game of lacrosse. This was a very good book and I recommend it to people who enjoy learning about history. This book gives a lot of information about famous lacrosse players and their accomplishments and also about the Cherokee and other Indian tribes.
August 23, 2013
This was a great book teaching a lesson about life and nature. It also tell the history of the Cherokee Indian tribe and the trail of tears. It also tells about the meaning of lacrosse and the lessons lacrosse with teach.
June 22, 2008
This book is awesome! It teaches you to handle a lacrosse stick better. It is sweet!
November 4, 2011
I really enjoyed this book because I love lacrosse and it really told a lot of history about it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews