Once More To The Rodeo: A Memoir

Once More To The Rodeo: A Memoir

By Calvin Hennick

Released December 10, 2019

Five years into fatherhood, Calvin Hennick is plagued by self-doubt and full of questions. How can he teach his son to be a man, when his own father figures abandoned him? As a white man, what can he possibly teach his biracial son about how to live as a black man in America? And what does it even mean to be a man today, when society’s expectations of men seem to change from moment to moment? In search of answers, Calvin takes his young son on the road, traveling across the country to the annual rodeo in his small Iowa hometown. Along the way, a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame turns into an impromptu lesson about racism and segregation. In Niagara Falls, a day of arcade games and go-karts unexpectedly morphs into a titanic struggle between father and son. A stop in Chicago rips the scars off of old wounds. And back in Iowa, Calvin is forced to confront the most difficult question of all: What if his flaws and family history doom him to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Calvin Hennick is the author of Once More to the Rodeo, winner of the Pushcart Press Editors' Book award. His essays, fiction, journalism, and travel writing have appeared in more than 50 publications, including The Boston Globe, Esquire, Runner's World, Eating Well, and Bellevue Literary Review. Originally from Iowa, Calvin now lives with his wife and two children outside of Boston.