Beverly author Dennis Foley presents ‘Feloniously Yours – a memoir’
While writing an early 1900s love story about anarchist Emma Goldman and doctor Ben Reitman, Dennis Foley paused to begin another book.
“I had 40 to 50 pages of the novel written and started getting bombarded with stories from the golden days. I went back to ‘The Drunkard’s Son.’ Me as a young kid fighting gets stabbed in the back and almost croaks,” said Foley of Chicago’s Beverly community.
“When my buddies are finally allowed to come and see me in the hospital, it ends with me looking at them and saying, ‘What will become of us? What will become of me?’ That became an impetus to write this.”
He is referring to “Feloniously Yours — a memoir,” a sequel to 2012’s “The Drunkard’s Son: A Chicago Story” (Side Street Press), which is billed as part memoir, part not.
McBride and Roche Press releases “Feloniously Yours” Nov. 1 but people can celebrate early at an Oct. 22 release party at O’Rourke’s Office in Chicago’s Morgan Park community.
“It’s a fun little place. It has a neighborhood feel. It’s set up in a cool way. You have the bar on one side. You have two big double doors that open up into another room so you’ll have a band there. (People can) go freely back and forth,” Foley said.
He plans to read a couple of “Feloniously Yours” stories about his grandmother Mary Roche at the
event, which also features music by a three-person band including Foley’s cousin Kevin Roche and complimentary food.
“Feloniously Yours” focuses on how Foley overcame difficulties including stuttering, undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and being a terrible student. There are also stories about St. Laurence High School in Burbank, where he was on the basketball team for four
seasons.
“I had some big influences at the high school,” he said about people including John Kocher, who taught psychology during Foley’s senior year, and basketball coach Chuck Schwarz.
“I did get a chance to meet up with (Chuck), go out with him later in life and get to know him better. It was then that you realize what this guy did to help you along the path. He wasn’t warm and fuzzy, but he let you know you can
accomplish a lot of things with hard work and determination.”
St. Laurence’s 1977-1978 basketball team, which finished at 27-1 and ranked second in state, included Jim Stack and Kevin Boyle.
Foley noted that Stack became a scout for the Chicago Bulls and helped bring Dennis Rodman to that team and later became a general manager for the Minnesota Timberwolves while Boyle coached at the
University of Northern Iowa for years and later became the college’s men’s basketball radio analyst.
“The primary theme that echoes through (‘Feloniously Yours’) is overcoming obstacles. No matter what we’ve done or where we are in our lives, we’re getting curveballs thrown at us. You can’t control that but what you can control is how you respond,” Foley said.
His other writings include the film “Not a Stranger,” which debuted in 2016 at Beverly Arts Center, and the 2004 guidebook “The Streets & San Man’s Guide to Chicago Eats” (Lake Claremont Press).