10 Things I Think I Think About Wayne Fowler

One of my favorite sports writers, Peter King, has a weekly column called Monday Morning QB (MMQB) on SportsIllustrated.com, and one of my favorite portions of the column is his “Ten Things I Think I Think” (which I love because it allows room to recant in case further information comes to light).

So hat tip to Mr. King (who loves Starbucks, the Sox, and Bill Belichik — how can I not love this man?); here are Ten Things I Think I Think About Wayne Fowler, one of the main characters from What Happened in Granite Creek.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t read What Happened in Granite Creek, do not proceed any further! You’ve been warned!

1. Deep down, Wayne’s a decent person. I know this was hard for some of my beta readers to swallow, and I know some readers of the novel will have a hard time accepting this. He does a horrible thing at the end of Part 1. Horrible, unacceptable, and wrong on every possible level. And yet. He loves his girls. He steps up to the proverbial plate and spends the better part of those six years after Koty disappears protecting Iris, getting sober, and becoming the father that I think Koty always knew he was capable of.
2. He’s not a homophobe, not deep down. He was for many years on the surface and because he listened to his brother Hank.
3. He doesn’t believe Koty died at the hands of a serial killer. His version of what happened: Iris shot Koty. Koty ran through the woods, in shock, toward Jamie’s house. She climbed to the road (Jamie’s road) only to somehow fall the 20 feet into the culvert below, where she succumbed to her injuries.
4. He was not surprised to learn Iris was gay.
5. He cares for Honey Wallace, but he does not love her, nor will he marry her.
6. He loved Koty throughout their stormy marriage. There were moments he didn’t like her and didn’t like being married. But he loved her, in his own way.
7. He carries enormous guilt about what he did to Koty on that last night to the point he contemplated suicide in moments but always stopped himself because of his girls.
8. He hates the fact Rosie works so closely with Jamie.
9. He’s a Taurus, born on May 15, 1975.
10. “Ring of Fire” is his favorite Johnny Cash song.

Do you have questions, comments, or observations about Wayne? Leave ’em in the comments.

And if you decide to tweet this post, be sure to include the hash tag #WHIGC.