The Story Behind Mendel by Damone Bester

 

The Story Behind Mendel

I love track and field. And, I love movies. The inspiration for Mendel came about after one of my best friends from high school and I were reminiscing over our “glory days” running track together. We discussed how there were so many movies and books about baseball, football, basketball, even hockey, but there weren’t any that we could think of about track. One of the most popular sports on the highest stage of the Olympics was track and field and we couldn’t readily name one movie or book about it. The closest we could think of was the awesome film, Cool Runnings that had a sliver of track scenes. So, from that conversation, the idea of Mendel came about in the year of 2009. And, what most don’t know is that Mendel was a real high school. That’s where my friend and I ran track. Mendel was founded in 1951 and closed its doors in 1988. Mendel is not a memoir about my life as some have wrongly guessed. It is a fictional story with a real setting. What also inspired me to write Mendel is that I wanted to pen something dealing with forgiveness and love. The overarching message of Mendel is that love is sacrificial. This book deals with topics of forgiveness, redemption, manhood, family and teamwork. None of these come easily. We must work hard for them. To keep with the sports theme, some would say you have to have “some skin in the game.” If we are to be a society that loves one another, willing sacrifices are the only currency. We have to be willing to lose something, to put ourselves out there in order to love one another, forgive one another, live with one another.

Imagine the mid 1980’s, last day of school, summer break. A teen rushes to meet his mother, who is being released from the hospital after cancer surgery. When the teen arrives, he finds out his mother is dead, but his ex-gangbanging dad, who has been in jail the last seven years, is at the hospital ready to take the teen home.

Mendel, is a coming-of-age story about a senior at Chicago’s legendary Mendel High who must learn how to forgive as he navigates life without his mother. Things come to a head when the teen accidentally finds his mom’s diary. In the journal, he discovers his mother’s dreams of becoming a collegiate track star were derailed due to getting pregnant with him. To honor his mother, he joins Mendel’s track team and excels, but before he can cash in on any scholarship offers, his father’s thuggish past catches up with them when a gun toting nemesis comes seeking revenge. The teen must decide between saving his own life or sacrificing it all to save his estranged father.

Book Information

Release Date: April 26, 2022

Publisher:  The Story Plant

Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1611883268; 288 pages; $16.95; E-Book, $7.99

Amazon: https://amzn.to/37qfkCC

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3NYZ0cS

Indigo: https://bit.ly/37qF69y

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611883268

Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mendel-Damone-Bester/9781611883268

Damone Bester was born and raised on Chicago’s Southside to blue-collar parents who were married 49 years, and one older brother, whose backyard scuffles taught Damone one lesson: “Never quit.” He wasn’t just a student at Mendel; he lived and breathed “Blue Smoke,” the mantra of his track team brethren. A brief conversation with another Mendel alum stoked the fire to pen his first novel about the school he so loved.

Damone is an author, poet, aspiring screenwriter, and voiceover artist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Illinois State University and has spent most of his profession in the Social Services sector. He currently lives in the Twin Cities area and enjoys fishing, bowling, basketball (watching, not playing), bean bags, and bragging about his nephew and nieces.

You can visit his website at www.DamoneBester.com or connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.