Kincaid Reviews Dickerson's Memoir
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Running All The Way: A Marine, A Runner, A Journey Through Life
A ReviewBy Douglas L. Kincaid, Sr. (Fayetteville, WV) December 8, 2013
I grew up in Kincaid, West Virginia which is about ten miles north of Oak Hill, West Virginia, the town that Lawrence Dickerson writes about in his book, Running All the Way. Larry was a 1950 graduate of Oak Hill High School and I graduated there seven years later in 1957.
This book brings back vivid memories of Oak Hill, WV in the 1950's and the teachers and coaches at Oak Hill High School. Larry talks about Shirley Thomas, Zella Bishop and Coaches Bill Moore and John Duda, all who were still there when I went to high school in Oak Hill. I too have those same memories of a great school that Larry describes in his wonderful book.
It is hard to explain how we West Virginians feel about our state; when we meet another West Virginian, no matter where we've traveled, it's as if both of us have come back to the hills. It's in our hearts! Larry has truly captured this spirit throughout his entire book.
Dickerson writes with a unique ability to express his life as a Marine and a life of running; about his dreams of succeeding in life from a Private to a Colonel in his beloved Marine Corps. It's the kind of territory where you expect to find the same old war stories from prior authors, but none of that is present due to the blazing speed of his brief chapters. The author wastes no time in leading you from chapter to chapter. Most chapters are no more than two or three pages. Each chapter reads like a compressed novel; a form that grabbed my interest quickly.
Growing up in Oak Hill, WV., Larry ran wherever he went. He ran to and from school. He ran on the football and track teams. He ran to and from Scarbro, WV. visiting girlfriends. He has continued to run his entire life. It is his therapy.
Larry is now a retired Marine Colonel, Reserves. He has just completed his bucket list of running in a race in all fifty states by running in the Snow City 5K in Anchorage, Alaska on Sunday, the 18th. of August 2013. He was the first and only finisher in the 80+ age group. Larry has now run more than 1,300 races while serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, graduating from Northwestern University and working forty years in corporate management, all the while running.
Larry leads you through his life's journey, page by page, chapter by chapter. The book is very readable as the action never lags and this reader was kept eagerly turning the pages. I highly recommend, Running All the Way.
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