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All the Colors Came Out. Kate Fagan.

 



All the Colors came out.   Kate Fagan.

 

A father, a daughter, and a lifetime of lessons. 

This book is about basketball, it’s about family, it’s about memories, it’s about life and it’s about death, too.   Kate Fagan delivers a snapshot of what it is like to prosper, grow, suffer and lose a loved all in the space of 186 pages.   

Kate Fagan, who is maybe best known for her ESPN days serving on the panel for Around the Horn among many other important duties and appearances, was a basketball player growing up in her native New York.   So was her father.    She followed in his footsteps to excel at the prep level and travel circuits and ultimately complete at the division one college level.    Basketball was one of the bonds that connected Fagan to her father.

We learn that Fagan was also influenced by both parents in many ways beyond sport.   This is where the story begins to resonate with the average reader.    In it, we become acquainted with lessons such as approaching the “free throw line”, modesty and even sense of adventure.   

Along the way, the author moves on with her life and is consumed by work and career ambitions.   She reveals a cognitive dissonance between career, family and even her spouse.   This stage in life evokes tension among family members.    This quagmire clouds the best decision for her and all involved. 

Everything changes when Fagan’s father is diagnosed with ALS.  The author provides an up close and personal account of what it is like to care for a loved one stricken with this disease.      What is more, the book letting the reader in how much the loved one sacrifices, and suffers, through the process.    During the latter stages, her father was reduced to communicate through blinking his eyes.  

The experience and process changes Kate Fagan’s life or forces her to make changes that she did not necessarily want to make at first.   The lessons are many, though.   While sports may rally families to early cohesion, the relationships formed and roles within forged are what keep the family connected long after the hobbies and playing days are a thing of the past.  

At first glance this might feel like a chick flick in a book.    However, the author skillfully touches on areas that any sports fan or simply any family member can connect and ponder.    These might be the “colors” we experience through life as emotions, bonds and life experiences.  Alas a sad ending but an interesting if not fascinating journey along the way.  

You might like to read this book if you are a fan of basketball.

You might like to read this book if you are a daughter.

You might like to read this book if you are a father.

You might like to read this book if you enjoy family dynamics.

You might like to read this book if you reading about daughter – father bonding.   

 

Read more from the author on Twitter:   https://twitter.com/katefagan3

 

 

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