“Sterling
Bridge” is an historical fiction film novel. It is largely based on the story
behind the namesake that is Sterling Elementary in Tooele, Utah. Both
commemorate how Sterling Harris championed the bridging of two towns.
With
a Mormon mother and Catholic father, Joe Lacey, Jr. especially finds himself in
the middle of a struggle between Catholic immigrants and Mormon settlers of the
early days of Tooele, Utah. He is not the only one who doesn’t know where he
belongs amidst the conflict, but on the verge of facing the adversity of becoming
a teenager he’s not sure he’s the right man for the job of overcoming it. To
take on the greater travails of a broken community, on the verge of its own
heightening adversity, yet unaware of the Great Depression soon to hit, they
need a bold leader who is aware of everyone’s needs.
When
Joe is up against stacked odds of being the first to attempt integrating with
an all Mormon student body, he has a pivotal decision to make, but he is afraid
and naturally only thinks of his own predicament. Survival dictates a flight or
fight response. Will he gamble with his future, continue to dodge his parents,
lie, beg, borrow and even steal his way out of their higher expectations? Or
will he let someone show him a better way? To do so he will have to stand up to
the challenge posed by another outsider, a new larger than life football coach,
who is willing to put it all on the line to integrate not just Joe Lacey, Jr.,
but the whole community. Both must learn how to strive for high moral ground
without leaving any friends behind.
Coach
Sterling Harris, aka “The Bridge Builder,” knows building relationships will be
of most importance. He also knows Joe is at the center of it all. This young
man will need to be a key player, if Sterling is going to be able to use the
opportunity of playing winning football for the pride of a town, to bring an
even greater good—blessing a community with harmony by curing ignorance and
bringing education to the masses.
Short excerpt:
“Is that Joe Lacey
over there?” Across the tracks now open to all of the boy’s view stood the
austere man with the car, his hands cupped to his mouth to yell. His broad
shoulders and bold stance made him look larger than life.
I did an about face.
The other boys finished tackling each other into a pile.
“You know that guy?” Mike stood next to me.
“What does he want with you?”
Sterling beckoned with
a big swinging motion of his arm. But when I made no motion toward him, he then
approached us, confidently crossing the tracks.
“I’ll be back,” I
scurried toward him.
“Hey Joe, you gonna
introduce me to your friends?” Sterling walked right by me.
“You’re not going to
tell my parents, are you?” I held my hands out.
“What’s to
tell? I can still give you that ride to school.” Sterling looked at his car.
“My friends
don’t know I’m switching schools.” I spoke so only he would hear.
Sterling pivoted. With
his back to my friends he offered me a deal. “If you win you’ll never hear from
me again, but if I win you have to at least let me take you to school.”
Now I felt calm and
casually strode over to huddle up certain I would never lose our bet.
Author bio:
CHAD
ROBERT PARKER
lived
in six states growing up, and is the second of six boys. Each served two-year
missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the son of
two great, humble parents. They taught him a love for family, church, and life.
Chad is an avid sports fan and likes creating games. He also likes juggling; he
chose to juggle publishing his first book with getting married and starting a
new venture hosting anecdoting.com: a site to share and collect good
everyday life stories. Chad works in the library by day at BYU and dabbles in
marketing and creative writing services at writcreate.com by night. He
lives in beautiful Saratoga Springs, Utah, with his lovely wife. They are
enjoying the life of newlyweds and feel like this is just how life was meant to
be.
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