January Keck

Writer  ♥ Author  ♥ Songwriter  ♥ Illustrator

ABOUT BEACHSHADOWS

Reader’s Group Guide for BeachShadows

(the short story)

BeachShadows is the title of the book of short stories, also the first story in this eclectic short story book that reads like mind candy and sparkles with a resonance in memory long after they are over.

The title and background for BeachShadows came from the author’s stay in Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada.  The time was spring.  Ontario’s springtime is sometimes similar to the end of our winter weather with its periodic strong icy winds, 30 degree Fahrenheit temperature, and overcast and sunny days.

The beach bum in the story was an actual person that the author observed over a period of several days traipsing through the glamorous summer cottages, along the beach, and through this luxurious cottage community.  He had ragged clothing and a battered and faded poncho about his shoulders. Observing this person while passing in traffic while being driven in the comfortable warmth of a

Pontiac Safari Van, January couldn’t help but be titillated about this man and the vague possibilities of his life foraging on the beach.  “To many of us, such people are beneath notice, and this should not be so,” explains the author.  “But this is life.  I used a real-life observation of life going on around me and turned into a fictionalized story.”  

 

FOR DISCUSSION

1. By the time that the main character, “Andy,” had come

to terms with his wife’s illness and impending death, he

was still deeply devoted and in love with his wife.  How

or in what way does Andy become nearly “anti-establishment”

in his manner of living? How does his wife’s life and death

continue to haunt and guide his life?  How does he cope with

the accusations against his character?

2.  What do you think about Andy’s act of taking on his old role of writer/tutor/teacher in order to help another person?   Do you feel that Andy, in losing himself by helping another, that he gains or loses?

 3. Does the young boy who flags Andy down as his next school

project do the right thing by introducing Andy as a tutor, or

does the boy act out of hostility and self-preservation from his

step-mother?

4. The boy has an early understanding of the sexual attraction

between men and women.  What point is the author trying to

make?

5. In Andy’s mind, the step-mother is a brazen barracuda, ill-

designed for motherhood.  Are his observations, from

character standpoint valid? 

6. After his wife’s death, Andy knows that he will be blamed

for the death of his wife and doesn’t really care because he

is numb.  Do you think the following question is more true than false? If so, why? Is Andy blamed because people must blame someone?  Do you think that famous people are more often in the limelight when a tragedy of this sort occurs? Must someone be held accountable for a death in which the person was terminally ill, or could death be attributed to “tragic accidental overdose?”

7.  Andy weighs the decision to aid in his wife’s death. To some readers, the author may seem vague as to his actual participation in her death. This is implied though never very concrete in the author’s story plot.  This leaves a lot to the interpretation of the story by the reader.  Do you think the author should have been more concrete with her plot, or does the loose interpretation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the death enhance the mystery factor?

8. How well-matched are Gerri's parents? Does the step-mother to stand out as a certain character type? Do you see her marriage as well-suited and happy?

9. Do you think that the relationship that develops

Between Andy and Gerri is a lesson, or is it more of

a needful accident? What role model does Andy begin

to ease into near the middle of the story?

10. In the final analysis of this story, do you think that

Andy behaves responsibly during his farce of “tutoring?”

And how does the farce become something more real

to the boy and teacher?