I will never forget the range of emotions Joe and I went through Joe's senior year of high school. For nine months the two of us hardly did anything at all with the Explorer Post that Dad led. What's more, Joe even risked his career path, in a way. Instead of visiting schools of higher learning that autumn, Joe put all his energies toward doing something for "River Hayes," an eight year old friend of ours who had been diagnosed with leukemia. River's case was very "touch and go", and personally I have never been through so many highs and lows- myself- in so short a time. But with River's case worsening it was then or never -to try to make River's one dream come true. Our story begins after school at the barber shop in our lovely one-horse town of Townsend, Tennessee.
About the Author: David Feist is a career elementary school teacher originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As a lad Feist explored in the outdoors -fishing, hiking, camping, gardening, playing baseball, and hunting in his spare time. At an early age Feist enjoyed writing poetry and short stories for school assignments. Feist settled on elementary education for a major at East Stroudsburg University in the Pocono Mountains, completing his graduate work in 1994. In his tenure as a teacher he has taught every grade from K-8, with many years taught at the Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade levels. Feist focused much attention at those stages on reading and writing instruction. After a move to Tennessee, Feist would have his students publish class remembrance books each school year, with every student publishing articles and illustrations. Between the years 1990-2005, Feist read hundreds of children's books for themes to share with his students. Feist began actively writing in 1995, he recollects, and began to illustrate and release many of his works in 2013. Look for the books Gold in the Volunteer State!, The Princess of Brookwood, The Lost Campsite of the Smokies, Abandoned Homestead Americana, Sketches of an Amateur Naturalist, The Cook Nearly Killed Us, plus many others, in many genres. Feist emphasizes nature, family, loyalty, personal responsibility, conservation, natural science, American history, values, beauty, and humor themes throughout his poetry, short stories, novels, and illustrations. David Feist and his family's thirty-two title website can be located at: www.easternwoodsbooks.com. Contact their publishing company any time at the e-mail address: davidfeistpublishing@yahoo.com. Dedication: To all the Children who have ever needed to visit East Tennessee Children's Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. With love, The Feist Family* We've Been There, Too. *With gratitude to Mr. Lenny Hayes for all the great ETCH baseball tournament fundraisers through the years.