Father of the Man
2002, book cover proposal
Client: Pantheon
1 of 6
...a dispirited, deranged bus driver from Binghamton, N.Y., hijacks his vehicle and demands to see his son, a Vietnam vet who has been MIA for a dozen years, in return for the release of the seven passengers on board. The novel starts off with a series of WWII flashbacks that establish the patriotism of Dutch Potter, who struggles to find rewarding work after the war and ends up as a bus driver whose unhappy marriage offers little solace. Potter turns his attention to trying to find his MIA son, Jom, but as the years pass Potter becomes increasingly disaffected and his behavior grows erratic. The passenger hijacking represents a quantum leap in his criminal resume, bringing in not only the local police but also the FBI and finally a Marine officer who specializes in tracking down MIA veterans from the Vietnam era. --From Publishers Weekly
Not only was this book set in my hometown of Binghamton, NY, but it is also partially set in 1982 so I would have been there (my senior year in high school). If you have ever been to the Twin Tiers, you would have been as suprised as I was.
I am only showing 6 of the directions I presented. This one got out of hand with us showing at least a dozen, if not more. This is the norm: after 3 or 4 the creative director, (in this case Archie Ferguson) will usually pull the plug. This was different because it involved HOME. I felt like a salmon swimming up stream.
