A Eugene man, Dale Bradley, recently wrote me to say a piece of music he wrote was inspired by a book of mine he’d found at a garage sale. I was honored. Humbled. Stoked. No, not because someone had found my book at a garage sale — they’re my No. 1 outlet! — but that someone had written a song after reading A Father for All Seasons.
The out-of-print book was written in 1998 after my father had died at 72 and my older son, Ryan, was heading off to college. In a sense, I was losing a father and a son in the same season of life. Father rests on the premise that fathers and sons go through five seasons of life, much of it a process of letting go.
At any rate, what’s important here aren’t my words but Dale Bradley’s music. When I first heard it, I can’t even explain how moved I was. It reminded me vaguely of my favorite movie score, Mark Isham’s A River Runs Through It. Every bit as good.
So, I just wanted to post it here so others could enjoy it as I have. Thank you, Dale. As an author, it’s nothing I ever thought I’d receive as a gift for my words. (Usually, it’s just a small royalty check.) But I treasure it deeply.
Here is a video of his trio playing it:
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