On the morning of September 20, 2020, author Ethan Bryan sat down in the rear of Mudhouse Coffee in downtown Springfield, Missouri. Bryan sipped a mocha. The smell of sizzling sausage and bell peppers drifted out of the kitchen, just a few feet away. Normally, Bryan would be writing, but today was different. He’d recently completed “A Year of Playing Catch,” his book about the importance of play in our lives. The making of the book took him across 10 states as he found a new stranger to play catch with every day. Although the act was simple, the stories shared in the process led to lessons about changing one’s life and making an impact in the community. With the book finished, Bryan intended to collect reviews for his publicist. So, he typed his own name into a search engine. The top result caused Bryan to draw breath.
“It was an obituary,” he said, “for Ethan Bryan.”
