The Final Thanksgiving

About the Book

The Final Thanksgiving – Full Summary Abington, Pennsylvania – During a visit to his doctor, Stewart Sherman, 75, a widower and retired from teaching high school English, is told that he has hodgkins disease, in all likelihood curable by radiation treatments. He decides not to tell his children, who live in four different cities. Stewart and Dr. Brady are both fond of opera and chamber music. Since retiring, Stewart has written theater reviews for one of his brother’s local-community newspapers, has tutored adults in English (mostly Asians) in a library-sponsored program, has conducted monthly book-review sessions (tutoring and book discussions are done in the township library). A fairly new student, Mee Oh, appeals to Stewart. She is visiting one of her three daughters who lives in Seattle. Stewart’s family is scheduled to travel to his younger son Wade’s home in Austin, Texas for Thanksgiving 1999, the final Thanksgiving of the decade, of the century, of the millennium. However, his older son Dirk and younger daughter Fern (and their families) are forced to cancel. Hid older daughter Gale, a lawyer in Chicago, her two grown children, will attend as well as the family of Laura, his daughter-in-law. Stewart has written several novels since retirement. Gale is paying $10,000 to Mercury Press in London to publish one. Wade will transcribe the typed manuscript of another for publication on the Internet, free. Before leaving for Austin, Stewart undergoes a radiation treatment, reviews an amateur performance of The Fantasticks, leads a discussion of Camus’ The Stranger, tutors, drives to New York to see Deborah Voigt in Aida. Rose, the former wife of one of his brothers, William (she lives in New York, William is remarried and living in Peru) manages to get an invitation from Wade. Rose and Stewart will meet in Dallas, rent a car; all the guests are saying at a motel and will need transportation. The meeting in Dallas, renting a car, reaching Wade’s home turn out to be more troubling than Stewart had expected. Austin, Texas – The 10-day stay is rewarding, and taxing. Wade, Laura, and her mother Dora are staunch Bush supporters, Laura’s two bothers and sister in-law are non-committal; grandmother Milcah (Dora and Milcah are widows) and everyone else (Rose, Stewart, and his family) favor Gore. The political exchanges stay mostly friendly. Thanksgiving Day dinner is mostly friendly too. The transcription of his novel, Continental Divide, is full of errors; making corrections on Wade’s word processor is an arduous task. Before leaving for home, Stewart is unable to complete the manuscript that Wade can send to bookfair, the Internet publisher. San Francisco, California – Mee returns. Stewart enjoys his tutoring sessions with her. The radiation treatment isn’t helping but isn’t hurting. Stewart attends the funeral of a former student from 1966 and speaks at the pre-burial ceremony. Matters do not go well with the London publisher or with Wade. Mercury Press changed all the punctuation to British style, and Stewart won’t accept it. Wade keeps putting off completing the corrections. Stewart is certain that he will encounter complete failure. His visits to Dirk and Emily, and their four children, for the end of 1999 and beginning of 2000 is thoroughly rewarding. All potential voters in this household favor Gore. Boston, Massachusetts – His daughter Fern who runs a public relations firm is divorced, has two grown children, mostly recovered from surgery that prevented her from traveling to Austin for Thanksgiving. She has a boyfriend and during Stewart’s visit is often too busy to spend time with him. Chicago, Illinois – Older daughter Gale will receive an honor from a state legal association. Stewart decides to attend the ceremony and visit for a few days, but she is too occupied during much of his stay. New York, New York – Rose calls him and asks him to visit her, but it doesn’t turn out well. Later, William calls, he has b

About the Author

Born in Philadelphia in 1926, earned a B.A. from Penn State in 1948 and an N.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949. He taught English in high school and Penn State until retirement in 1992.