Local Teacher Publishes Novel Based On Growing Up In Eastern Kentucky

By Chuck Keller

I stopped into The Hidden Chapter bookstore to browse but the cover of a particular novel at the counter caught my eye. It took me a minute to realize that Richard Whitt, the author of The Great Pretenders, I know as Rick Whitt who I knew when we taught together at Highlands High School.  He now teaches English at Indian Hill High School. It was a pleasant surprise. 

We met on a warmish February Saturday afternoon in the new coffee shop and book space that was still under construction at The Hidden Chapter. We settled into a couple of comfortable chairs in front of a fireplace to chat. Rick is tall, quiet, has a wicked sense of humor, and is obsessed with fly fishing. 

Like all readers I was curious about what influenced this story. How much was real? How much was made up? Whitt said, “It’s a story built on tragedy. About twelve or thirteen years ago I had four deaths in my family within a thirteen month period. Everybody else went to counseling but I went to the computer and wrote.” Then he sat on those stories for a long time. 

Then one day he heard local writer, publisher, and former Enquirer reporter, Peter Bronson, owner of Chili Dog Press, on the radio and Whitt contacted him about his novel. They worked on the novella for about a year. “He’s fantastic,” Whitt said. “He walked me through the whole process…. He’s a great editor.”  So now Whitt is reviewing two other stories that he wrote during that time and he’s “playing around” with something new.

Whitt grew up in Boyd County in Eastern Kentucky. It is said that the schools were not challenging and Whitt’s family were poor farmers – just like so many other families in the area. The family’s fortunes took an upward turn when his father landed a job at the local refinery. Early on Whitt saw that sports would be his path to success. Many of his classmates died early from “doing stupid stuff” as Whitt observed. “They were searching for a thrill because they weren’t getting meaning from their lives,” he said. This becomes the backdrop for the characters.

The Great Pretenders is narrated by Joel Morrison who left his home in Eastern Kentucky in fictional Ulster County many years ago but is pulled back to settle affairs after his father’s death. Complications occur when he meets friends from his youth and that dredges up unresolved conflicts. As Joel settles his family’s business he realizes that he must also settle these other personal issues in order to move on with his life. His visit to his past is not as delightful or nostalgic as he would wish, but by the end, though, he finds his direction. But there is a cost and a loss. It wasn’t quite what he may have desired but he knows that this is the truth.

The novella is not autobiographical. Thomas “Tonto” McCauley, the colorful and charismatic antagonist, is a combination of a number of people who Whitt remembered. Tonto is full of loyalty, anger, apathy, and deep affections. But he is also violent. Whitt writes, “No one ever talked about the why so much bad had occurred. Everyone wanted to talk about the effects, never the causes, never the truth. I wish someone had the courage to talk about the truth for once. But apparently truth had become the enemy.” That tension reverberates throughout the story in a love triangle with the lovely Esther, Joel’s high school crush and the ex-wife of Tonto. Joel tries to help his friends and perhaps advance his love interest. And that is the conflict in the story. 

All of this plays out in the shadow of the local oil refinery – where a raw material is stripped and boiled down to a valuable product – that casts a dark shadow over the community and people. 

I enjoyed the book. You can leave where you are from but you can never ever leave it behind. It lives in you. It has a way of coming back – especially if there is unfinished business. 

I asked Whitt if he had any final thoughts. He said, “You know, this has made me a better teacher.” And to become better is the point of any creative exercise. 

The Great Pretenders is available at The Hidden Chapter Bookstore in Fort Thomas, The Book Shelf in Madeira, as well as on Amazon.