Jack Madison

Picture a small town in Illinois in the 1950's. Tree lined streets, tranquil evenings, drinking lemonade on the front porch, a Major League baseball game on the radio while kids chase lightning bugs.

The picture is shattered into a million pieces as one talented young man and his teammates undergo life changing societal events similar to those facing towns all across America today.

The story, told through the eyes of baseball, details the life of Jack Madison from the age of 10 to 17 and his relationship with his black baseball mentor, Fred Jenkins. Fred, originally from Mississippi, was spotted playing in a Negro baseball league by a scout from the New York Giants and was an early signee after Jackie Robinson. He played seven years in the minor leagues before retiring and moving to Fairmont to manage all the towns baseball activities.

Jack Madison in many ways is your typical young person growing up in the 1950's. He is passionate about baseball. Sometimes headstrong and a bit of a showoff Jack's charismatic personality attracts those he meets. All Jack wants to do is play baseball, win and support others in playing the game.

Fred recognized Jack's potential at an early age and began to mold him to become leader and outstanding player.

Follow Jack, Fred Jenkins, Jack's family, his teammates, and the town as Jack's personality, and above-average talent land him in events where he learns life's lessons that will shape his life and the life of those around him."

Experience the golden age of the fifties. The transition from radio to television, Rock and Roll, the exploding economy, the establishment of the first suburban home communities, mothers changing role, and the excitement of America's pastime, baseball.

Technology is moving at supersonic speeds, communications are immediate sometimes with unthought-of consequences, many forms of social media tend to make us judgmental and personal relationships are more difficult with electronics creating barriers between us. Jack Madison was written to provide young adults, or all others, an avenue to experience a series of life lessons that can be transferred and absorbed in today's culture.

Larry R. Wiles lives in Goose Creek, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston, SC. He retired from a long and successful business career in 2013. His constant companion while he writes is Lola, a seven-year-old mini red, Dachshund, and says he is living proof that you are never too old to be creative and enjoy life to its fullest. Larry wrote Jack Madison to share my experiences growing up in the 1950s with the desire to engage the reader in learning how Jack's life lessons can apply to anyone in today's world. Jack Madison - The Shaping of His Life is loosely autobiographical with the necessary changes made for a fictional novel. He is currently working on a sequel.