Curt Iles, Storyteller
Today is February 7, 2016. It’s Game Day. Super Bowl 50, and we’ll make another string of pearls. Memories. We’re in a season of making memories. And there’s no more important people to make memories with than grandchildren. How do I know? I simply go back to Super Bowl I. I watched it with my …
Continue reading “Making Memories: A String of Pearls and Super Bowl I”
Up to the Task I watch him run around the yard with his cousins. I have one thought: this isn’t fair. Rylan is a precocious tow-headed five-year-old. He is precocious. That’s just a fancy word for full of life. He is precious. That’s special. Rylan has seen a great deal in his young life. …
East Beauregard Trojans seniors of 2007. Back L to R: Michael Maddox, Richie McKay, Terry Iles, Front Brady Glaser, Kyle Burk, Tyler Adams They’ll bury Michael Maddox this morning. He’ll be wearing his Atlanta Braves cap and shirt. It’s fitting. It may seem shallow talking about baseball when a young man …
“The historian tells what happened. The novelist tells how it felt.” -E.L. Doctorow As many of you know, I’m in the midst of writing our fourth novel, As the Crow Flies. It’s the third book in the Westport Trilogy (the first books are The Wayfaring Stranger and A Good Place). Crow is currently …
DeDe and I are sharing today about the needs of Voluntary Retiring Missionaries. These are career overseas workers who’ve chosen to take voluntary early retirement in our organization, the International Mission Board. Here is the outline of our presentation: Pray for peace in the spirits of these servants. They’ve spent a lifetime …
Losing a dog, leaving a cap It may not seem like a big thing. But to me it was. Dee and I had spent three years without a dog. It’s the only time in our marriage we didn’t own at least one dog. Or to put it better: the only time a dog …
It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day here in America. My first MLK Day in America since 2011. Once again, my thoughts have returned to Africa today. To Jinja, Uganda. Where the world’s greatest river, the Nile, surges out of one of the world’s greatest lakes, Lake Victoria. A plaque to Gandhi is at the source …
We’re deep into the second draft of our latest novel, As the Crow Flies. I need your help in fleshing out some of the characters, scenes, and storyline. Join our Creekbank Tribe by sharing ideas at the end of this post. Thanks in advance! Today, you’ll meet the narrator of the book, a spunky teen …
Continue reading “Meet an unforgettable character named Missouri.”
A Word from Curt I have two questions today: Where do you go for your lonely place? Where are your sacred spaces? I’ve chosen to make the first question singular: where is your lonely place? In the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the writer makes a key statement on the life and ministry …
“Rounding third, headed for home. It’s a brown-eyed handsome man.” -“Centerfield” John Fogerty A Word from Curt My Keyword* for 2016 is Encouragement. It’s one of my 6 Plus Words** for the year. One of the richest seasons of my life was coaching high school baseball. I’ve always felt at home in the third …
Officially, it’s known at the Loma Prieta Earthquake. To me, it will always be the World Series Earthquake. October 17, 1989. Game 3 of the World Series. The Bay Series: cross-Bay rivals the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s. Just before game time, this 6.9 quake struck the Bay Area. When the shaking stopped, 63 …
A word from Curt It’s a new year. Time for looking ahead. But also time for looking back. I call the rear view part “our yearly review.” I’m gleaning from my 2015 journals. There are five of them. Uncensored and uncropped. I encourage you to in your own style, record this new year. Journaling …
This is chapter 20 from Christmas Jelly. It’s written by one of my favourite people, Erik Pederson. Mr. Erik touched all of us with his love, humour, and smile. He’ll always be missed in Dry Creek. I encouraged him to write this story and had the privilege of editing it. A Danish Christmas By Erik …
Tractor Time When this old world starts getting me down And people are just too much for me to face. I climb way up to the top of the stairs And all my cares just drift right into space. On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be And there the world …
