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Why the Author Wrote Band Boys
Writing Band Boys instilled in me a valuable truth: every word spoken and every action taken in our life can one day become a story. We all carry within us seeds of a story just waiting for the right moment to spring to life.
The idea for Band Boys came to light three months after an October 1998 reunion of the Blue Beats in Seaside, Oregon. It had been thirty years since the members of the Blue Beats last met and three months after the death of Richard Stacy, lead guitarist for the band. My memory was jogged by the reunion conversations at Seaside, the countless e-mail exchanges after the reunion, and the stream of telephone calls, all leading me to an unexpected conclusion: the life we shared as the Blue Beats read like a novel - people, places, and events - full of life and purpose.
The drive to begin writing Band Boys was fierce; the motivation to continue the story wavered; and the ability to conclude the story was elusive.
Delay in concluding Band Boys lingered for years, and I knew of no way to bring the memoir to an end. However, during the summer of 2005, on writing how Dennis Snell and Phil Miller each came to know Richard, I then realized Richard was the one most instrumental in drawing us together as a band in 1966 - a common thread in all our lives. And through his death, Richard drew us together once again in 1998.
The conclusion was now apparent: Band Boys was written as a testimony to the enduring power of human relationships and their lifetime of influence over our spirit.
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