Review: The Last Lead Holder by Richard Deatherage

Every life holds pain in some form, but the means by which we find joy and connection can give existence purpose. In The Last Lead Holder, author Richard Deatherage invites readers into his mind and memories, the trials and tribulations of his past, as well as his remarkable rise and fall. It is a memoir of family, of brutal perseverance, and of coming back from the edge only to find that life will always be worth living.

In some ways, the author experienced the epitome of American life. Being raised on different military bases as a brat since birth, he not only saw different parts of this sprawling country, but also spent his formative years in some of the most turbulent times in American history. The 1960s and 70s were both profound and painful, with war, social turmoil and interpersonal conflict acting as the permanent backdrop for existence, and so for this tumultuous story.

Deatherage finally settles into a slightly more stable, but no less challenging, life in California. His near-prodigious skill at drafting and being the visionary behind buildings all across that booming state make his life the stuff of dreams, but from every peak comes an eventual descent. The raw nature of his struggles bleeds out on these pages, and while Deatherage is an untrained writer, he wields the gift of creativity like a sword.

Much of this book consists of reflections of his youthful years and the rapid rise towards success, interspersed with the dark days of the 2009 recession, when life punched him in the gut and didn’t let up. The leaps forward and back in time create a more comprehensive image of the author, making it easier to see how the past can shape the present, and provide guidance for the future. Like Proust’s madeleine, the author is thrown back into this parade of memory at the sight of his family photos while remodeling his parents’ bathroom, a project that takes on an almost Sisyphean quality by the close of the book, in the fallout from his father’s failing health. Fixing a room may seem like a heavy-handed allegory for the repairs we make on ourselves, but Deatherage never comes across as preachy, only profound and brutally honest about his own recollections.

The core of this story is family, and while that beacon wavers at time, it never goes out completely, and ultimately brings him home to the people he cares for most. An entire life can never be contained in a single volume, but The Last Lead Holder is a tightly written memoir that will make readers laugh, cry, reminisce and dream of simpler times – although the times were never actually simple at all. Yet while nostalgia plays a big part of this story, the powerful themes are universal, and important for everyone to remember, regardless of their generation. The love that Deatherage holds for his father, despite the challenging and contentious roads they walked together (and apart) through life, is beautifully framed and laced with sincerity.

The story that unfolds in this memoir may not be immediately relatable on some of the day to day details, but the feelings readers are left with by the final page will be nothing less than profound. A painful and powerful story of American life, The Last Lead Holder is highly recommended.