JACKSON, Tenn. — Dec. 20, 2019 — A new book by 51社区 journalism professor Ted Kluck offers a series of essays on life, family, sports, pop culture and the church.
鈥淎 Hard Thing on a Beautiful Day鈥� consists of more than 80 essays, each about two or three pages in length. Though Kluck has written and published several books, this is his first essay collection.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been of the mind that writing should entertain and engage,鈥� said Kluck, assistant professor of communication arts. 鈥淚鈥檝e always enjoyed it the most when it鈥檚 done those things. I think when you鈥檙e writing these short essays, you鈥檝e got a limited word count to work with, and you have to really get in and get out quickly with your point.鈥�
Some of the essays have run as newspaper articles, while others are original to the book. Kluck said the essays are a collection of what he鈥檚 been thinking about and writing about over the past 10-15 years.
The title for the book comes from an essay about Kluck鈥檚 son Maxim, who was adopted from Ukraine when he was 3 years old.
鈥淲hen we got him, he was too weak to stand up on his own,鈥� Kluck said. 鈥淗e鈥檇 never been outside. We got to enjoy him and see the Lord build him up and give him strength. Last year, he ran in the Tennessee state cross-country championship as a sixth grader. I was just really overwhelmed by that moment.鈥�
Kluck wrote an essay about that experience that ran in the Jackson Sun. The cover of the book is a picture of Maxim running in a cross-country race.
Published by Gut Check Press, 鈥淎 Hard Thing on a Beautiful Day鈥� is available for purchase at .