Class of ’75 Alum comes back to campus to reminisce on the memories made with his “brothers”
Emilie Cain - Editor in Chief
This past Saturday the Wind Ensemble put on their first concert of the year in Dahl Chapel. Their program featured three guest artists and a senior feature.
On October 5th, Joe Svoboda returned to Monmouth College to discuss his newly released book Brothers, Bears, and Beers. In his memoir, Svoboda shares memories he made with his buddies in Woodstock and fraternity brothers from Monmouth College. The book helped Svoboda and his brothers reconnect over their shared adventures.
“I wanted to capture a time in my life that was special due to the friendships and adventures made,” said Svoboda. “When I started putting words on paper, it triggered additional memories that became the final outline for the book. All brothers involved in the stories contributed to the final product.”
Although the brothers enjoyed coming together to publish Brothers, Bears, and Beers, it was not an easy task for Svoboda. “Writing requires discipline, and I didn’t have that. I wrote for maybe a week and stopped, but I kept thinking about the story. Thinking about how I would outline it,” said Svoboda. “When COVID came, you had all this free time because you couldn’t do anything, so I picked it back up. I then punched the story out in about three months. It took about two years of arduous editing, which was painful for me. Probably the worst part about it.”
Through the treacherous writing process, Svoboda came out on top and published the book that was a long time coming. Svoboda and his fraternity brothers encourage everyone to give this story a read.
“All proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons' research. I don’t make a dime from it. Buy the book and enjoy it. It is one that women can buy for their boyfriend's father and fathers for sons. It's humorous, it is fun,” said Svoboda. “It's what people call a bathroom book. You can read a chapter, put it down, and pick it up a week later. No matter what happens in the book, it is all true.”
Several chapters of the book explore his relationship with Ray Gillen, from the Monmouth community, and fraternity brothers, especially Bill Murschel. Near the end of the reception Svoboda pulled Gillen and Murschel up with him, where they shared stories with the audience and gave some words of advice.
“Don’t ever short-sell people that come into your life. I would have never ever thought that I would be with Ray Gillen, a farmer in Monmouth Illinois, when I was growing up in suburban Chicago,” said Murschel. “Joe and I played tennis together at Woodstock High School, so we came down here together. But then we come down here and meet people. The faculty members had an incredible impact on our lives. My advice is when you think about and hear these stories, think about what if Joe had never met these people. His life would have been completely different. Sometimes people come into your life that will make an incredible difference, so watch for those people.”
Svoboda and his friends ended the weekend enjoying various homecoming activities. Brothers, Bears, and Beers can be found at mainstream bookstores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kindle.
The concert opened with Until the Scars by John Mackey, conducted by guest conductor Dr. Travis K. Huga. Huga is currently on the faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi as the Associate Director of Bands and director of the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band. This piece is an adaptation of the first movement of a symphony based on Homer’s The Odyssey. The composer writes, “After ten years of bloody siege, the Trojan War was won because of Odysseus’ gambit … Odysseus gave the Greeks victory, and they left the alien shores for home. But Odysseus’ journey would take as long as the war itself … In this section of the story, Odysseus, having filled his ship with the spoils of war, leaves for home, but he carried another, more dangerous, cargo: Pride. This movement opens with his triumphal march and continues as he and his crew maraud through every port of call on their way home.”
Dr. Justin Swearinger conducted the pieces that followed. ASIMO by Roger Zare is a fun and quirky piece meant to mimic a robot, much like the Honda robot from 2000 the piece was named after. Following ASIMO was The Water is Wide by Kevin Krumenauer, a tribute to the late David Maslanka, and October by Eric Whitacre. The final piece before intermission was Concertino by Cécile Chaminade. This beautiful piece featured excellent flute work by senior Larissa Pothoven.
After intermission, the audience was treated to On White & Crimson, a piece by alum Sean Klink ‘18, commissioned by Dr. Swearinger. In his explanation of his creation of the piece, Klink explains how he was influenced by the concept of a river. “I have a distinct memory from my freshman year at Monmouth of a faculty member trying to explain that beneath campus flows an underground river which shaped its hills and influenced the placement of many of its buildings … This was long before I had heard this quote by Philip Glass: ‘My experience with music is that it’s like an underground river, it’s always there. And like an underground river, you don’t know where it comes from, and you don’t know where it’s going. The only difference is whether you are listening or not.’, so when I first came across this quote, it really struck me.”
On White & Crimson includes some things you wouldn’t expect, such as using fishing wire to play the strings on the piano and the brass section using small, smooth stones to make noise. The stones specifically are meant to make the river idea come across more literally. The piece also included a bagpipe prelude by Klink’s friend and fellow alum, Jaron Park.
The concert closed with Gandalf – The Wizard by Johan de Meij, the first movement of his first symphony, The Lord of the Rings, based on the trilogy of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien.