Raw Dog: An Aging Baby Boomer Comes to Terms With His World War II Father

by Bill Koch

In “Raw An Aging Baby Boomer Comes to Terms With His World War II Father,” Cincinnati author Bill Koch steps away from his usual genre of sports books and explores his often stormy relationship with his father, Harold, who died in 1986 after a year-long battle with cancer. The book begins with Harold’s birth during the Roaring Twenties, his upbringing during the Great Depression, and his service in India during World War II. Based on a trove of over 250 letters Harold wrote to his sweetheart, Rose, who would later become his wife and Koch’s mother, the author takes readers through Harold’s wartime experience. He then transitions to Harold’s postwar family life and his relationship with his son, each with his own view of the world. The book concludes with Harold’s debilitating battle against cancer, chronicled through Koch’s journal entries at the time, as the disease slowly and painfully consumes the strong, domineering, often distant man Koch knew as his father.

161 pages, Paperback

Published August 21, 2020