The Iowa Hawkeyes - Boys of Fall
By Mike Kielkopf
Kinnick-the novel answers one of the universal questions: “What if…?” With natural disasters, wars and myriad routine accidents snuffing out young lives every day all over the world, “What if?” is a question that transcends nationality and race, language and religion, gender and generation. It is a question that transcends everything. Kinnick- the novel, addresses that question from the perspective of one unique young man: Nile Kinnick.
Kinnick-the novel is inspired by the brief life of a real person and is built on historic events, well-known people and all our dreams. It is the story of a young man many believed possessed the rare combination of attributes to have become one of the great leaders of his generation. It’s a story of many events that really happened – and many that didn’t, but should have.
History tells us that Nile Kinnick was born in Adel, Iowa, on July 9, 1918, and that he was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 6, 1939. But history also tells us that Nile Kinnick died on June 2, 1943, a few weeks short of his 25th birthday when he ditched his fighter plane off the coast of Venezuela. In between, history records that Kinnick was far more than a handsome football hero who died in the service of his country. History clearly notes that Kinnick was a unique young man of intellectual curiosity and charismatic personality, of deep empathy and eloquence, of vast leadership potential that fate so tragically snuffed out. Indeed, history further tells us that six Heisman Trophy winners served in WW II, but that only Nile Kinnick was killed in action. This novel, therefore, is not only a story of the historical accomplishments and realities that were Nile Clarke Kinnick Jr., but of a future that should have been.
What if Kinnick had survived the ditching
of his plane? Millions have wondered that for more than 60 years. Now Kinnick-the novel provides the first definitive answers.
It is true that the U.S. military suffered 407,000 deaths in WW II. Nile Kinnick was but one of them. Yet Kinnick’s story is unique. Singling him out in this novel does not detract from all those other young men and women whose contributions to the world have also been lost forever. Rather, with Nile Kinnick as their representative, it is hoped this novel will remind us to honor all those who die too young, to remember all those who leave us to wonder, “What if…?”
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Review of KINNICK-the novel:
The Quad-City Times
News, Sports and More from the Quad-Cities region of Iowa and Illinois...
Former
Quad-Citian speculates on what Kinnick might have done
By Don Doxsie | Sunday,
August 06, 2006
- Novel takes Heisman winner to White House
- THROUGH
all the places that he and his family have lived, the idea stalked Mike
Kielkopf.
It haunted him, followed him as he trekked from
“It’s something I’ve thought about doing for 25 to 30 years,” said Kielkopf, an Ottumwa, Iowa, native who lived in the Quad-Cities from 1978 to 1994 when he was the editorial page editor of the Rock Island Argus, then an English teacher at North Scott High School and adjunct professor at Marycrest College before founding and coaching the Davenport Dodgers 18-and-under baseball program.
“I always thought, ‘This is a crazy idea. I don’t really have time. But when we were in Florida and I was teaching at Jacksonville University
So, he did it.
Kielkopf, who has traveled the world as a teacher and journalist, wrote a book about Nile Kinnick.
That hardly makes him unique, of course. Plenty of books have been written about the only University of Iowa
“I tried to project what Kinnick would have done, based on his own writings,” Kielkopf said.
You’ve no doubt heard people say that Kinnick had the combination of intellect and charisma to do anything he wanted with his life, possibly become governor, perhaps even run for president.
All of it happens in Kinnick--the Novel.
Kinnick at first is presumed dead in the crash, but then is found to have made his way to
He becomes an encyclopedia salesman back home in Iowa, opens a book store, becomes involved in Democratic politics (even though he really is a moderate Republican), joins the Peace Corps during the Kennedy administration, gets elected governor of Iowa, becomes a senator and springs a huge upset by beating Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election. Kinnick, who really did write of how appalled he was by conditions in the
Something tells me Kinnick worshipers all over Iowa
Kielkopf has written five other books that, along with Kinnick--the Novel, are available at barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com and most other online booksellers. The Kinnick book is also on the shelves at Iowa Book in Iowa City.
“It just feels good for me to have done it,” Kielkopf said. “It’s an idea I’ve
had for such a long time, and I believe the scenario I present is one that
could well have happened. To fill in the details the way the book does makes
Kinnick’s unfulfilled promise even more poignant – at least for me, and I hope
for readers as well.”
So, what’s next for Kielkopf? Another country. Another adventure. He and his
wife this week moved to Valencia, Venezuela, where they have taken teaching jobs at the American international school there.
“It’s ironic, I suppose, that as I was finishing the book, I was also preparing to move to Venezuela, not far from where Kinnick's plane went down. But as Nile’s grandmother often reminded him, ‘Do not look backwards very much. Forward is the watchword.’ "
Don Doxsie can be contacted at 
(563) 383-2280
or ddoxsie@qctimes.com.
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