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| Jim Gill |
Editor’s Note: Jim Gill lives in an area of the country
where the passion for football runs deep. Gill, who serves as Director of the Dover Public Library in Ohio, is a football fan who’s very familiar with
the story of the Marshall University plane crash. Jim recently shared his
thoughts about the book with me (see below).
I am captivated
by the Marshall story and was
browsing iBooks and downloaded the free sample of
November Ever After. I later purchased the print edition for
the Dover Public Library. There are so many aspects of this story that
captivate people nationwide – regardless of whether they are football fans or
not.
In reading
Craig’s book, I learned that there’s so much more to the story than just the
crash and the rebirth of the football program. I had no sense of the
racial
issues that seethed through Huntington, West
Virginia and the Marshall
campus during that time. The “Homegoing Caravan” was sad and beautiful
all at the same time. Ed Carter’s story is both chilling and
inspiring.
The film We Are Marshall is a powerful portrayal
of the crash and the rebuilding of the football program. Sadly, most
people who even know of the Marshall
story view the story only through the Hollywood lens. November Ever After adds more depth to
the story by bringing to light the stories of real people who lived through
real pain.
November Ever After has been very
popular in Dover. Thanks to
the movie, the Marshall story has better
name recognition with the average library patron. Craig’s book
complements our existing collection
very nicely.
Libraries in
communities that have a passion for football should definitely purchase
this memoir for their collection — especially those in the Ohio
River Valley. Thanks
to the movie, the Marshall story
has worldwide appeal now.
The
first-person accounts in November Ever
After resonate with people because they are true. The stories of the
people who lost their lives and those who survived strike an emotional cord.
Deep down, we realize that those who perished were sons and daughters, husbands
and wives, fathers and mothers.
Those tragic
deaths remind us of our own mortality. But the story does not end there.
Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the Marshall
story is the tale of hope and rebirth and renewal. That is the real beauty of
the story.
