Author will be reading from a series of essays reflecting on fatherhood at Inkwood Books on Oct. 27
From generation to generation, the only constant is change. In the early part of the 21st century, that constant has been amplified by a healthy dose of fear and unease — about the world, about personal safety and about one’s own ability to adapt to responsibility.
Author James M. Chesbro feels that every time he returns from his Connecticut residence to his hometown, seeing the big picture in the gap of independence between his youth and the current day.
“I wonder if kids in Haddonfield now have chances to go make their own fun. I see it where we live with my own children, in that so much of their activities are structured or planned. As a young guy in Haddonfield, my friends and I used to collect the tennis balls behind the Haddon Field Club. Played street hockey. We rode bikes to 7-Eleven, and Wedgewood. We showed up to Lizzy Haddon hoping there might be a stick ball game,” Chesbro said.
Chesbro, whose previous works have appeared in The Writer’s Chronicle, America, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, will return to Haddonfield for a reading of his latest work, “A Lion in the Snow: Essays on a Father’s Journey Home,” at Inkwood Books on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m.
Chesbro was born and raised in the borough, attending Central Elementary School, Haddonfield middle and then high school, graduating in 1996. The seeds of his future career weren’t planted until he had one foot in the next phase of his life.
“My senior year, I had Dr. Kathleen Pierce for English. In addition to genuinely caring about my well-being, her class was the first formal experience I had of reflecting on something I had already written. I hadn’t had any kind of metacognitive experiences before with respect to writing, but my appreciation for the well-crafted story has always been there,” Chesbro said.
Looking to expand his horizons and experience life beyond the Delaware Valley, Chesbro headed north. He revealed, as a public school kid, he was drawn to attending a Catholic college or university. While St. Joseph’s was a short trip away, the lure of Fairfield University and the possibility of a house on the beach next to Long Island Sound as an upperclassman was hard to beat.
After graduation, Chesbro embarked on a teaching career that remains his bread and butter. About 10 years ago, he said, he began to take writing more seriously and wanted to create his own material.
Fresh on his mind was the relationship with his father, whom he lost in August of 2001 after succumbing to complications in recovery from quadruple-bypass surgery. Chesbro was only 24 years old at the time.
Additional sources of inspiration were authors who created similarly known works on the topic of father-son relations such as Tobias Wolff, Cherry Hill native Paul Lisicky and Steven Church, among others.
In the collection of essays that comprise his new work, Chesbro examines his disorientation and bewilderment in becoming a father, while exploring the unexpected and often maddening moments that provide a trigger point for understanding his children and himself. Those thoughts, feelings and experiences in becoming a father of three ended up providing a striking, poetic image taken from his daydreams, which framed the essays as a whole and provided a catchy title.
Chesbro also sees each particular facet of his life able to inform the others, and that everything he has built in terms of career and family can be considered a calling rather than merely a job.
“Teaching and writing are my vocations as much as husbanding and fathering are. I love teaching the guys at the Jesuit all-boys high school, Fairfield Prep. I particularly love teaching the seniors in my AP English Language and Composition classes. I’m always working in great essays from contemporary writers, so alongside the students, there’s always something new to identify or appreciate about how these essayists are approaching their material,” he added.
Though the bulk of his appearances to promote his new work will take place in his adopted home state, Chesbro revealed plans to participate next year in the TireFire series, a regular, once-a-month reading that is held in different Philadelphia bars. He also stated he would like to return to Haddonfield for future readings as well.
For more information on Chesbro, “A Lion in the Snow” and future readings, visit www.jamesmchesbro.com.books
