The tale of a summer tragedy
‘Spud’ draws on drowning of Marseilles teen
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| The drowning of Patricia Orvis’ cousin, Daniel Hogg, was reported in the Morris Daily Herald on July 3, 1995. Orvis’ fictional story “Spud” is about a town coping with a similar tragedy. |
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JOLIET – The lives of Seneca native Patricia Orvis and her family were forever altered the summer of the heat wave of 1995.
The extreme heat had affected the entire region, with hundreds of deaths recorded in Chicago; where body bags piled up in stacks outside the coroner’s office – residents who succumbed from the intense and long-term heat wave of the season.
The temperatures were no cooler in rural areas. Orvis, then in eighth grade, remembers the blast of heat riding her bike.
But it was a local tragedy that she recalls the most. A Marseilles cousin, Danny Hogg, drowned in the Illinois River that summer.
He and his friends used to scramble up the bridge over the river and jump off into the water, she said, for some adventure and to cool off a little. They did it all the time.
It was something everyone knew about and didn’t try to thwart, even though the river is deep and powerful. The kids would jump off and swim back to shore, then climb back up the bridge and do it all over again. And again, and again.
One day, though, after her cousin took the plunge into the river, he came up screaming. He had some kind of cramp, his friends said, and was flailing around in the water. Kids swam out to help him, but
Orvis said they later told her Danny was in a panic and kept fighting them off. They would grab him, and he would push them away.
He eventually sunk below the surface and drowned.
Crews had to drag the river to recover his body.
It was big news in the small community.
Danny was only 16.
“He was a sweet country boy,” Orvis said. “He liked country music, jeans, and playing the guitar.”
She was devastated, as was the rest of the community. Her brother, John, was particularly affected. He and his cousin Danny were best friends, together constantly.
“They would do everything together,” Orvis said, “and he was like a brother to me.”
The unfortunate accident stayed with Orvis, and two years ago, she decided to write a book loosely based on the events of that summer.
“Spud” was released this summer. Targeted to young adults, it is 145 pages and is published by Writelife, LLC.
“It is not a re-telling of the story,” Orvis said, “but it is inspired by the event.”
Orvis graduated from Seneca High School in 2000 and from the University of St. Francis four years later with a degree in elementary education. She’s been living in Joliet and teaching seventh grade at Timber Ridge Middle School in Plainfield since.
A couple of years ago, she decided to begin writing the book. She’s always loved writing and had it in the back of her mind to tell the story of the trauma her family and community went through after her cousin’s death.
Once she started, the process went quickly. She wrote the whole book over her summer break, working early in the morning when she had the time.
More difficult, she said, was getting it published. That was pretty daunting, but she ended up with a publisher with whom she is pleased. She and the publisher will split the profits 50-50.
The book details the drowning of a fictitious character – Jackson Cooper – who is much like her cousin and suffers the same fate early in the book. The remainder of the story tells of the effect his death has on those who knew and loved him.
“The book is not a deep, dark, horrid tale,” Orvis said. “There is humor and sarcasm... and it is also a tale of laughter, love, crushes, and summer shenanigans.”
“Spud” is available at many retailers, such as Target, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com.
Orvis will also appear at a book signing at The Book Mouse in Ottawa on Sept. 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will speak at a Kappa Delta Pi induction ceremony at the University of St. Francis on Oct. 13.
