Goodbye Emily - Softcover

Murphy, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938467213 ISBN 13: 9781938467219

Publisher: Koehler Books, 2013

Synopsis

Three baby boomers relive their 1969 trip to Woodstock. One final roadtrip. One last chance to say Goodbye Emily.

They met at Woodstock, and the love lasted a lifetime. Then she was gone, and so was his college teaching job. Heartbroken but determined, he calls on his two best friends to help him return to the place it all began.The professor and his Woodstock buddy need the third tripper from back in the day, now in a nursing home with early stage Alzheimer’s. When the home refuses to allow their friend to come along, the professor and the vet bust him out, attracting the attention of the cops and the media, fascinating the public.   The roadtrip turns into a flight from “the man” and not even the professor’s defense attorney daughter can help. In a psychedelic van, the trio dodges cops and prosecutors. Against all odds, they close in on their destination, where thousands of supporters and cops await them.   Goodbye Emily is the irreverantly funny story about a journey of self-discovery for a man who thought he’d left all important journeys in life behind.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Murphy lives in Arizona with his wife of forty years, four dogs, five chickens and a feral cat. Goodbye, Emily is his eighth novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

My life changed forever the night I drank the last of my bourbon.  Two blocks from home, I entered The Library, once the top tavern in Milton, Pennsylvania. I climbed on a stool at the end of the bar, tuning out the one-liners, high-fives and lame pickup lines of my fellow patrons. I just wanted a drink. Maybe two.

I signaled the bartender. “Bourbon on the rocks.” No water to dilute the alcohol.

Time changed everything, including one’s favorite bar. In the sixties and seventies, students and faculty from the nearby college hung out and debated war, Watergate, disarmament and nuclear power while classic rock played in the background. Now I had to tolerate Lady Gaga.

The bartender, in his twenties, wore a starched long-sleeve maroon shirt with a glossy “Librarian” button pinned to his black vest. He slid a napkin in front of me and studied my face. “Professor Ellington?”

That’s me. Professor—former professor—Walter Fitzgerald Ellington. Close friends, back when I had friends, called me Sparky. He set the drink in front of me, apparently determined to strike up a conversation I hoped to avoid.

“You let your hair grow since the bastards forced you to take early retirement.”

“No one forced me out. I retired a year ago to write the great American novel.”

“How’s that worked out?”

This kid was either charmingly droll or a complete smart ass. I lifted the glass in a mock silent toast and swallowed half the booze.

He wiped down the counter with a white towel as if the bar paid him for each swipe. “Last night the dude who didn’t force you out, Chancellor Warfield, and his co-conspirator who took your place, Professor Blake, came in. They shared a booth, and Blake didn’t look happy.”

“I really don’t care.”

I vowed not to think about those two self-indulgent, backstabbing bureaucrats again. I’d moved on. I sipped the bourbon as if I enjoyed the taste while he prattled on about taking my Nineteenth Century English Lit class. I caught something I never expected to hear.

About this edition

• Publisher: Koehler Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1938467213
• ISBN 13: 9781938467219
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270