Cedar Key Beacon - October, 2009
NEW NOVEL EXPLORES LIFE AFTER TRAGEDY
“You’re not dead and you have a lifetime ahead of you. It’s just not going to be the same life you had before,” George Frias, a vocational rehabilitation specialist, tells Pete Collins after an accident leaves him paralyzed. How can one create order out of chaos and how one finds the purpose, meaning and strength to forge a new life worth living is the central theme of Cedar Key author Pierce Kelley’s most recent novel, A Foreseeable Risk.
Based on the true story of Matthew Chatowsky, A Foreseeable Risk invites the reader on Pete’s journey from river guide in Glacier National Park to paraplegic, from outdoorsman to invalid, from carefree youth to dependent patient, and finally, from victim of chance to self-determined personhood.
Ever the teacher, Kelley, who has practiced law for more than 30 uears and taught college for more than 25 years, blends a real life human interest story with the portrayal of legal ramifications and how the justice system works in a gripping narrative. The reader experiences an interesting story while becoming more informed about matters of disability, the law and insurance practices.
KELLEY WRITES WITH GREAT EMPATHY AND DETAIL ABOUT THE STRUGGLE TO ADJUST TO A SUDDEN LIFE-ALTERING DISABILITY.
The plot follows Pete’s progress from initial despair to self-confidence that comes through mastering his miseries by developing new talents, learning new skills, making new friends and finally, interacting with people from the past.
“What used to take you five seconds might take you an hour now, or more,” Pete’s life-skills coach, Mr. Cunningham, says about re-learning things that we all take for granted, such as getting dressed.
Kelley follows the arduous step-by-step process of reclaiming one’s own independence while simultaneously re-creating and re-envisioning one’s place in the world when one chooses to live life despite catastrophic limitations.
Dialogue between Pete and his hospital mates, who have all experienced cataclysmic spinal injuries, rings especially true.
Pierce describes the grief process even as Pete and all those around him search for a reason to live in a world suddenly changed through accident. One refreshing aspect of the novel is that it doesn’t romanticize disabilities, the medical labrynth, or the legal process.
A Foreseeable Risk is a novel that will be of interest to people who are curious about what it might be like for people with a spinal chord injury, as well as people who want to know more about how the legal system works, especially when one has possibly signed away the right to sue, as all of us do, whether when sending a child to school to participate in a sporting event or even when finding fun at an amusement park.
It would be nice to live in a world without accidents and injuries, but the novel counsels that until we do, read the fine print before signing your future away.
Williston Pioneer - July, 2009
ARCHER ATTORNEY PENS NEW NOVEL
Attorney Pierce Kelley announces the release of another novel, entitled A Foreseeable Risk, a story about a friend of his who was paralyzed after a fall off of a horse.
“This book tells what it is like to go from being a young, strong, virile man to being in a wheelchair in an instant as a result of an unfortunate incident,” Kelley said.
“My friend, who helped me write this book by providing me with details of his ordeal, is now a musician and lives in Cedar Key part of the year. He fell off a horse while working as a guide for an outfitter in Yosemite National Park about 15 years ago and became a paraplegic when a disk in his cervical spine was crushed after the horse fell on top of him.”
“It is based on his true story, which I have fictionalized. It is a story of survival and I think it is a story that people will like to read. I learned a great deal about his situation while writing it.”
Kelley, who has also written a legal text book, Civil Litigation: A Case Study, which he used to teach paralegal students at St. Petersburg College for many years, as well as a “how-to”instructional book for parents of beginning tennis players, says that he likes to create a plot which most people can relate to.
“I like to think that my books entertain readers, first and foremost, but I also like to provide legal scenarios which are realistic and could happen to any of us at any time.”
“The legal issue in A Foreseeable Risk involves the question of whether or not a release everyone is required to sign when going on a trail ride, whitewater rafting, sky-diving or even a ride at an amusement park, is valid. The legal issue centers around what risks are “foreseeable” or can be anticipated and which ones are not. “I think people will be surprised by what they will find, if they read the book, but most of all, I hope they enjoy the read.
The book begins on a raft on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in Glacier National Park and ends in Glacier.
In September, Kelley will travel to Montana for some book-signing events at the Great Northern Whitewater Rafting Company where much of the action in the book takes place.