I've got the original issue Tinley book from the 90's or whenver it was. Back around the time Dave Scott put his out & Mark Allen. All original issue print. Some of those books had some good stories. If there was a Molina book I didn't see it and didn't really recall hearing of one at that time.

Based on the B&N summary, this is a novel about a Vietnam vet and his father who is a WWII vet, both of whom have PTSD. Ummm, I don't see how Tinley thinks he is qualified to write a novel about war veterans since AFAIK he has never even been in the service, let alone in a war zone as a soldier. I suppose it is possible for a non-veteran to write such a book but it doesn't seem quite right to me. I think you have to have "been there" to write about this sort of thing.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

That's what research is for.

Or it's a different person with the same name

I think it’s the same person.

The author note on B&N says, “Scott Tinley, a seventh generation Southern Californian, has been a university instructor and freelance writer for nearly twenty years. He has published five volumes of non-fiction, a collection of short fiction, and numerous texts in literary journals and mainstream publications.”

Scott Tinley’s Wikipedia page says, “ Tinley is a writer and teacher. His latest book, Things to be Survived: Tales of Resolution and Resurrection is a collection of thematically-connected stories about characters that faced typical and atypical tragedies but somehow find what goodness exists in the most unlikely of places. His previous book, Racing the Sunset, a journey through athlete retirement and the larger issues of life transition and change, is the result of one of the most thorough research projects ever attempted on retiring athletes.

Tinley taught English and "Sport and Society" at San Diego State University, and currently teaches "Sports, Games, and Culture" at San Diego State University.”

I agree that Tinley doesn’t need to be a vet to write about vets. A good writer writes about what they know, so presumably Tinley would write about his experiences (maybe he has family members who are vets with PTSD) and/or he would research it. I’m interested in the book.

ST announced the book on his Facebook page today. It sounds like a good read.
Tinley says” Seventeen years in the making, my first novel (In the Wake of Our Past) is now available. Not for the feint of heart (over 600 pages), it's a text that requires commitment and a desire to explore the human condition through what we lose...and what we find”

---

Team Zoot So Cal

Did he really say “feint of heart”? Isn’t the phrase “faint of heart”? Uh oh.

Edit to add: my flagging interest rebounds. Surely he had numerous people proof read his 600 page book, unlike his 20 word (or so) fb post.

My friends and I had a picture taken with Tinley at the Triathlon at Pacific Grove in ~1996 or 1997 (we won national club championship that year). (And when I say “we”, I mean my teammates did. My finish did not get us any points, other than informal style points.) Tinley was SUPER nice.

Oh my god, not a typo on Facebook😜

---

Team Zoot So Cal

Thanks for the notice. Congrats to Tinley on publishing a novel! I'm envisioning a Tinley challenge on ST - Who will finish the novel first and post a review? Will someone do this before the current100/100 challenge is completed? :) I'm not entering the challenge. I've purchased nearly all of Tinley's sports related books (Racing the Sunset is highly recommended), but I'm mainly a non-fiction reader. If I see some great reviews here, maybe I'll buy it.

On the reverse side of that coin, Jim Fixx was not much of a runner when he wrote the bestseller "The Complete Book of Running". He was just a writer with a wide range of publications until he finally had a hit. After the book came out, he was treated as a celebrity and most people thought he was a class runner. I don't remember who wrote it, but one world class runner noted that Jim Fixx could not outrun a 12 year old in flip flops.

Read Tinleys book back around 2000. There's pretty funny story in there about him doing his last Kona.

And how about one of the main characters, Johnny Cobb!! Wonder where he got that from..(-;

And it is just silly to think someone cannot write about something they did not personally experience, we would have very few books if that were the case. What a writer needs is an understanding and curiosity about a subject, and then the will to research it. No doubt he has lots of friends as I do, who went to Vietnam and came home with the issues being discussed in the book. And from his and my generation, hard to throw a rock and not hit either our fathers, or neighbor dads that were not in WWII, so lots of subjects would have been around. Probably what sparked this topic in his mind, and gave him lots of resource material to go down that path..

And he seems to be a pretty good researcher, I remember when he did that pro sport retirement book, some really great interviews with some very well known athletes. And keep in mind, this a novel too...

Yep. Guess his editor was unavailable at the time of the post

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Interesting note about Jim Fixx; I had always *assumed* that he was a pretty good runner. I guess you just never know. :)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Finished the book today. Much of it set in Panama City Beach, where IM Florida is held.
With the Black Lives Matter movement going on, In the Wake of Our Past was quite relevant.
Those of us that grew up during the Vietnam War can relate to the stories of those that returned damaged.
Tinley did a great job! Another big win!

---

Team Zoot So Cal

First of all, no.

Second of all, have you read any of Tinley's books or know anything about Scott Tinley?

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Yes, I bought and still have his 1986 book on tri training and I have followed his career over the years since then. I stand by my original statement.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Read the book, you’ll be surprised at his insights.

---

Team Zoot So Cal

Based on the B&N summary, this is a novel about a Vietnam vet and his father who is a WWII vet, both of whom have PTSD. Ummm, I don't see how Tinley thinks he is qualified to write a novel about war veterans since AFAIK he has never even been in the service, let alone in a war zone as a soldier. I suppose it is possible for a non-veteran to write such a book but it doesn't seem quite right to me. I think you have to have "been there" to write about this sort of thing.


That could be said about anyone writing about any historical event (I'm reading a biography on George Washington that won a Pulitzer and he never met the man), any sporting event if you didn't take part in it etc. The writers can paint a good picture from interviewing those who have been there and doing research.

If you write about your experience, it is limited to what you saw and heard but if you write about a number of different people experiencing the same thing, you would likely get a better overall picture.

i hear you. as soon as i found out that JK rowling was neither a boy nor a wizard, i boycotted the harry potter novels.

---

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

So, given everything you know about Tinley and about the concept of research and journalism and science you stand by the statement that because one hasn't done something one cannot write a book about it?

How about Krakauer, have you read him? Capote?

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”