Literature of the Road - Tonight at 6:30 p.m.

February 25, 2008

Anyone who has ever treasured a long and loyal friendship, or has felt the pull of the open road on a motorcycle, will be interested in hearing Prof. Mark "Tiger" Edmonds read from his latest non-fiction work, "Hard Scrabble," at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28 at Cannon Memorial Library, on the main campus of Saint Leo University.

Admission is free.

"Hard Scrabble" is a memoir of the final year of Edmond's enduring friendship with Nancy Pacey. She had helped Edmonds quit drinking decades earlier by suggesting he reach for a "Scrabble" board whenever he craved alcohol. Years later, in 2002, after Pacey was diagnosed with incurable cancer, Edmonds visited with his old friend often, talking, playing games of "Scrabble," and taking motorcycle rides. "Hard Scrabble" is the story of those last months.

"Hard Scrabble" was released earlier in 2008 by Livingston Press, which is owned by the University of West Alabama and which also published Edmonds' two earlier books.

The BMW motorcycle-riding author has taught English courses for 28 years at Saint Leo University, and will retire this year.