THE ELEPHANT ON THE RAFT:
Remembering Dad on a Mark Twain Odyssey
by Thomas Curley
Wilder Street Press presents
In a charming tribute to his late father, author THOMAS CURLEY embarks on a free-spirited series of road trips to recapture a lost father/son bond. When one trip triggers memories of growing up in a racially-torn Philadelphia neighborhood in the 1960s and ‘70s, the adventure unfolds in an unexpected direction. This inspires a powerful awakening about the history of racism in the United States, and how Mark Twain offers, as described by actor Hal Holbrook, “the clear path to the soul of America.”
Filled with anecdotes about renowned figures from Benjamin Franklin to Frederick Douglas and John Denver to The Grateful Dead, THE ELEPHANT ON THE RAFT takes readers on an uplifting ride from South Philadelphia to Twain’s Hannibal, Hartford and beyond. With stops in Gettysburg, Ireland, Haiti and culminating on a Rock and Roll cruise, THOMAS CURLEY shares revelations about film, fatherhood, American life, and a potential path to healing a national wound.
