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Local business owner publishes first novel

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Jeff Mitchell, the owner of the Kibbey building and Van Gogh’s in downtown Marshalltown, recently published his first novel, Stone City. A book signing event will be held at Tannin on Wed., Nov. 17, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

People who know Jeff Mitchell well are still a bit befuddled by his pivot toward the world of literature — his partner Barb Hagstrand chief among them — as he had spent most of his life reading technical manuals when he taught welding at Kirkwood Community College.

But after one Sunday afternoon walk along the Cedar River about 15 years ago, Mitchell, who co-owns the Kibbey building, Van Gogh’s event center and Gallery Garden in downtown Marshalltown and splits time between here and his native Cedar Rapids, had the idea for an entire story that became his first novel, “Stone City,” fleshed out in his head. The next step was learning how to write it.

“I’ve always heard of the muse, and I actually experienced it,” he said. “It was just amazing. I was just, like, shellshocked, and I knew I had to tell the story.”

From there, Mitchell enrolled in creative writing classes and writer’s groups while undertaking edits and re-edits, and as of late October, “Stone City” has officially been published through Page Publishing, a Pennsylvania-based outfit. Set in 1969, it tells the story of Jaymes Fitzgerald, a 20-something free-spirit in the vein of Dennis Hopper or Peter Fonda, and Ashley Morgan, a 38-year-old mother of three, who meet in Cedar Rapids and embark on a motorcycle odyssey across eastern Iowa. The title alludes to the tiny community in Jones County immortalized in a Grant Wood painting, and both Wood and the Woodstock Music Festival are key touchstones of the plot.

Mitchell first worked on the novel for six to seven years before he was named the dean at Kirkwood, and the demands of the position greatly limited his creative output. He put it down for seven years, but once he retired in 2017, he knew it was time to give it another go.

“I’m a light sleeper. I write in the middle of the night from three in the morning to six in the morning every night on it, and I came to a point about 18 months ago (where) I thought ‘I need to reach out and get some professional help,'” he said.

He ended up connecting with a professional editor based in New York City who trimmed the manuscript by about 70 pages, and she pushed him to flesh out characters, tie up loose ends and make the entire story more believable. Eight months later, he found himself before a five-member committee at Page Publishing, and he got five thumbs up. The editing still wasn’t complete, but after nine more read-throughs, it was time to put “Stone City” out into the world.

Iowa history is present throughout the novel as the main characters trek from Stone City — Mitchell’s grandmother, he notes, knew Wood personally — to the Bily Clock Museum and the Antonin Dvorak exhibit in Spillville. In another scene, they get to hear then-up and coming Iowa City musicians Dave Moore, Bo Ramsey and Greg Brown play together at The Mill, a beloved local joint that closed in 2020 after 58 years in business.

While most literary, film and television portrayals of late ’60s America focus on places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago, Mitchell chose Iowa as the setting for a simple reason: he loves the state and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. He also drew on his own experiences as a teenager in the Cedar Rapids area and memories of friends shipping off to Vietnam.

“Even though it’s historical fiction… It’s their everyday conversations on the deck of the general store, and they get into quite a disagreement over political things, the Vietnam War, things of that nature,” he said. “There’s even religion in here. It really hits all the major elements, but I think it’s unusual because it’s not just talking about history, per se. You actually get to live it with the two characters.”

Some of the details worked their way into the plot by luck or circumstance. For example, “Easy Rider,” one of Mitchell’s favorite films and an influence on “Stone City,” just happened to premiere in Cedar Rapids during the same week that Jaymes and Ashley are in town in the novel, and he added a scene that shows them walking by a theater placard advertising the hippie classic.

Now that “Stone City” is widely available in hardcover and e-book formats, Mitchell is taking a moment to catch his breath, but he’s excited to promote his long-gestating creation. He plans to hold a book signing from 4 p.m. to 7p.m. on Wednesday at Tannin.

“I’m willing to do anything. This is all new to me. It’s kind of exciting,” he said.

Subjecting himself to the criticism that comes with putting a work of fiction out to a wide audience has been a bit nerve-wracking for Mitchell, but the best feedback he has received so far came from an avid reader who offered a concise but meaningful review. She couldn’t tell it was his first novel.

“I just hope it makes a difference in someone’s life. I never wrote it for fame. I never wrote it for money. I never wrote it for any of those reasons,” Mitchell said. “Every draft that I wrote, I got braver and braver to say what I really wanted to say, not what I thought people wanted me to say.”

Mary Curley, the owner of Tannin, said she’s been reading the book every day for the last week or so, but if work hadn’t tied her down, she would’ve finished it even faster.

“It’s a grabber. From the first page, it had me,” she said. “It’s very captivating, and my first comment to him was ‘Where are you getting these words? I haven’t heard some of them before, but with the context you put it in, I know exactly what you’re saying.’ It’s intriguing, and I’m anxious to get to the end.”

Looking forward, Mitchell hasn’t closed the door on another book — it won’t be a sequel to “Stone City” if it does happen — but until then, he’s patiently waiting for the muse to visit him again with a story worth telling.

——

Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

maharry@timesrepublican.com

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