Under Every Stone: A Collection of Short Stories

Is the idea of free beer too good to be true?

In the battle of boy versus squirrel, who will emerge victorious?

And just what could go wrong when a group of teens decides to wade a mile out, barefoot, in Utah’s Great Salt Lake?

These questions and more are addressed in Under Every Stone, a humorous and nostalgic look at one man’s adventurous youth and travels.

From moral dilemmas, to perseverance, to serendipity and luck, this collection of fourteen true stories was carefully chosen from F.P. Nieman’s repository of life experiences to reflect a wide range of different themes.

Born into poverty in the Saint Louis housing projects in 1957, Nieman’s large family moved frequently during his childhood—instilling a sense of fearlessness and individualism at a young age. And while he didn’t climb Mount Everest or explore the deepest seas, his unusual upbringing created a thirst for the adventures that would one day comprise this book.

The result? Plenty of youthful shenanigans, displays of daring determination, and spontaneous, bold actions that will inspire readers to live every day as if it is their last.

F.P. Nieman grew up in a family of ten that had moved eight times before he was fourteen years old. As a result, he developed a love of adapting to new places and learning from new experiences.

After working as an auto mechanic during his teens, he went on to travel around the world and study languages-and during his teens and twenties, his travels took him throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, the West Indies, Europe, and Asia.

Nieman earned a BA in German from the University of California, Berkeley, a teaching credential from California State University, Hayward, and an MA in education from San Jose State University.

He has been a foreign-language teacher for over thirty years at Independence High School in San Jose, California, where he loves to inspire students with stories of his travel adventures.

Nieman is the author of the nonfiction books Under Every Stone and The Sunbaked Tin Can.