Sheehan: Heartbreak and Redemption

By Terry Trueman

SHEEHAN: HEARTBREAK AND REDEMPTION is a re-publication of the 1992 poem that inspired the Printz Honor novel STUCK IN NEUTRAL by Terry Trueman. In the second part of this e-book, based onthe 2007 Xlibris edition,is an extensive interview that includes 23 photographs relating to the real life story of Truemans son Henry Sheehan, the creation of the poem, and the remarkable history of thenovel STUCK IN NEUTRAL, an internationally beloved best seller.

Soon this book will be updated with anew interview segment, in e-book format,available at www.terrytrueman.comand other e-book distributors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 25, 2007
• ISBN: 9781477181836

Terry Trueman

Terry Trueman grew up in the northern suburbs of Seattle, Washington. He attended the University of Washington, where he received his BA in creative writing. He also has an MS in applied psychology and an MFA in creative writing, both from Eastern Washington University. Terry is also the author of Stuck in Neutral and its companion novel, Cruise Control; Hurricane; 7 Days at the Hot Corner; No Right Turn; and Inside Out.

Book preview

Copyright © 2007 by Terry Trueman.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2007901533

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4257-6254-4

                Softcover     978-1-4257-6247-6

                Ebook     978-1-4771-8183-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

                  United Writers                  Xlibris Corporation

                  Suite 221                           1-888-795-4274

                  1818 W. Francis Ave         www.Xlibris.com

                  Spokane, WA 99205         [e-mail]

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CONTENTS

About United Writers

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART I

Acknowledgements

Preface

After Word

Editor’s Note

PART II

Who Is Sheehan? A True Life Inspiration

The Birth Of A Poem

A Stormy Reception

Sheehan Resurrected: Stuck In Neutral And The Mcdaniel Family Novels

A Writer: Past, Present & Future

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

ABOUT UNITED WRITERS

T his publication of Terry Trueman’s Sheehan is the premier book of United Writers.

United Writers is a confederation of authors interested in supporting the creation of works that may not be viewed as commercially viable by major publishers and large book selling conglomerates. These works, which might otherwise be overlooked, merit publication for their artistic and cultural value. Using new technology to create and promote books, United Writers will assist in making available works by established and new poets and writers

February 2007

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T his publication of Sheehan would not have been possible without the support and help of the excellent people at Xlibris including Greg Haigh, Gian Duterte, Sherwin Soy, Jane Sabuga and all the people in design and marketing at Xlibris who helped with this project . Thanks to Cliff Neilsen for his cover designs for Stuck in Neutral and Cruise Control and to Cliff and HarperCollins for allowing the reproduction of those covers in this book. Thank you to Ginger Ninde for her Sheehan portrait on page 63 and Russ Wexler for his photo on the back cover of the book. Also thanks to Kelly Milner-Halls, whose interview with Terry Trueman required hours and hours and patient and persistent effort. Thank you to Stacie Wachholz, Stephanie Squicciarini, and the ‘yearbook’ photo students at Shadle Park H.S. in Spokane WA. Thank you to YALSA/ALA for permission to use their Great Stories CLUB logo and web site page. Thanks also to my patient and supportive wife Patti, and all the other usual suspects. Gracias to Ren é Salda ñ a, Jr. for assisting in the creation of the publishing entity United Writers .

INTRODUCTION

by Terry Trueman

T he version of Sheehan presented in this edition is the same as the earlier chapbook of the same title. A lot has happened on account of this poem since it was first published in 1992. Much of this is discussed in the interview that comprises part two of this book, the most thorough interview I have ever given and perhaps will ever give about these subjects.

Every writer writes to be read and only a few of us are lucky enough to achieve a widespread readership. Thanks to the extraordinary success of my first novel Stuck in Neutral, I am in this number and grateful for it. Yet the subject matter and the life experiences that made Sheehan and Stuck in Neutral possible are not those I would have chosen for myself or would have wished upon anyone else.

My work is autobiographical, but it is not all true. Both in the poem Sheehan and in my fiction I strive for emotional truth, not for factual or narrow actuality. It is enough, I think, that a writer attempt to capture the heart of an experience. If you are seeking other kinds of ‘truth’ read encyclopedias or religious tracts, newspapers or watch the televangelists.

The Forward to Sheehan written by Chris Crutcher, first appeared in the fourth edition of the chapbook. The After Word by Michael Gurian, appeared in the edition right after that.

The interview in part two of this book is published here for the first time and was started with Kelly Milner-Halls over the months of August and September 2002, revisited in November and December of 2004, and completed just prior to this book going to press in early 2007.

I’d like to thank these writer friends, Chris, Michael and Kelly for their support, interest and involvement in keeping the poem Sheehan alive and well. Special thanks also to Stacie Wachholz for her role in editing and publishing this book and Stephanie Squicciarini for assisting, also to my family and friends who continue to support me. A writer’s life can sometimes be lonely, crazy and filled with moments of both bliss and desperation. Without the people who love me and keep me semi-attached to the earth, I’m not sure where I’d be, so on behalf of both myself and Sheehan, thanks.

This book is written for mature readers, including but not limited to parents, educators, siblings and other care-providers of people with special needs. While this publication is strongly connected to some of my other writing, especially my first novel Stuck in Neutral, it is a different type of book for a different audience.

PART I

Sheehan

1.jpglogo.jpg

Copyright © 1992 Siobhan Press

Suite 402 400 S. Jefferson

Spokane, WA 99204

ISBN 09629744-0-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book

may be reproduced in any form or by any means without

permission from the publisher.

This book and cover were designed by Roy Carpenter.

Photographs on pages 8. 16 and 30 depict sections of

a sand-blasted glass triptych Ghostbirds, by

Roy Carpenter. photographed by Larry Conboy.

Cover and page 43 photograph by Ginger Ninde.

Text is set in ITC Clearface. This book is printed on 100% recycled Speckletone paper. Printed by Diamond Press of Spokane.

First Edition

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Michael Gurian for his intensive editing, Roy Carpenter for his design concepts and Ian and Keli Cunningham, publishers and friends. Many people have helped me with this story, too many to list and remember.

but John Keeble, Ursula Hegi, Mary Randlett, Paige Kinney, Jim McAuley, Sherry Martin-Kimball, Kevin Gilmore and

Joyce Thompson offered time and ideas

that were invaluable

Ginger Ninde has been a good friend to this poem.

Leslie Yach deserves all the thanks

and love I know how to offer.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Michael Gurian for his intensive editing. Roy Carpenter for his design concepts and John Smith for helping with this edition. Many people helped me with this story, too many to list and remember, but John Keeble, Ursula Hegi. Mary Randlett. Paige Kinney, Jim Mcauly, Sherry Martin-Kimball, Kevin Gilmore, Joyce Thompson and Ian and Kelly Cunningham offered time and ideas that were invaluable. I thank Leslie and Steve Yach, Ginger Ninde, Patti Nasburg and Jesse Cruz Trueman. Thanks also to Almut McAuley and The Wire Harp where Part 1 of SHEEHAN appeared in Spring 1992; KPBX-FM where SHEEHAN was read in its entirety in January 1992; The Space Gallery in Toronto where part of SHEEHAN was included in their exhibition Birth Tales in Spring 1992, The Washington State Head Injury Foundation, Aunties Bookstore, and the dozens of other places where the poem has been read and warmly embraced since its completion. Finally, my appreciation to the faculty and students of Spokane Falls Community College who have been generous and supportive of SHEEHAN.

PREFACE

by Chris Crutcher

I    was angry the first time I read SHEEHAN; angry that Terry Trueman had t o experience what he did to gain the knowledge to write it, and angry that his narrator didn’t have that comic book kind of courage to suck it up and accept what is. Sheehan deserved better from his dad. He was an innocent of the first order.

But then I remembered what planet I live on, to which species I belong.

If I have learned anything in my twenty years as a therapist working with families involved in every kind of abuse and neglect, or in my ten years before that working with kids