The New York Times–bestselling author “knocks it out of the park,” exploring the history of the 2016 World Series champions, the Chicago Cubs (Vanity Fair).
When Rich Cohen was eight years old, his father took him to see a Cubs game. On the way out of the park, his father asked him to make a promise. “Promise me you will never be a Cubs fan. The Cubs do not win,” he explained, “and because of that, a Cubs fan will have a diminished life determined by low expectations. That team will screw up your life.”
Cohen became not just a Cubs fan but one of the biggest Cubs fans in the world. In this book, he captures the story of the team, its players and crazy days. Billy Sunday and Ernie Banks, Three Finger Brown and Ryne Sandberg, Bill Buckner, the Bartman Ball, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo—the early dominance followed by a 107-year trek across the wilderness. It’s all here, in The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse—not just what happened, but what it felt like and what it meant.
Featuring extensive interviews with players, owners, and coaches, this mix of memoir, reporting, history, and baseball theology—forty years in the making—has never been written because it never could be. Only with the 2016 World Series can the true arc of the story finally be understood.
“A marvelous distillation of all things Cubs, the history, the jinx, the glorious redemption of 2016, complete with a rainstorm sent by the Lord God Almighty. You’ll rip through it faster than a plastic cup of Old Style . . . ” —Chicago Sun-Times
“Plenty enough illumination to wow casual baseball fans and engage even the hardest-core Cubs fan . . . that long-awaited World Series win was undoubtedly a gift, and Cohen did with it what the best writers do: He turned it into something lasting.”―Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune
“The best sports book of 2017.”―J. Kemper Campbell, Lincoln Journal Star
“[There] is already a succession of books on the Chicago Cubs’ historic 2016 World Series championship . . . but [Cohen’s] might be the best, since it’s both a deeply satisfying historical account of that colorful franchise and a compelling, all-too-painful personal narrative of one longtime, besotted Cubs fan.” ―Booklist, starred review
“[Cohen] rehearses in swift, entertaining fashion the genesis of the team and its glory years (there were many early on) and long decades of mediocrity . . . His many personal stories, strung like holiday lights throughout the narrative, illuminate a fan’s frangible heart that annually repaired itself.”―Kirkus
Rich Cohen is the New York Times-bestselling author of Tough Jews, Monsters, Sweet and Low, The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones, The Chicago Cubs, and The Last Pirate of New York, and, with Jerry Weintraub, When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead. He is the cocreator of the HBO series Vinyl, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a writer at large for Air Mail. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications. Cohen has won the Great Lakes Book Award, the Chicago Public Library’s 21st Century Award, and the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. He lives in Connecticut.
“A welcomed addition to the growing literature on the care of disabled Civil War veterans . . . cleverly conceived, ably crafted and eloquently written.” —R.B. Rosenburg, author of Living Monuments
In the wake of America’s Civil War, homeless, disabled, and destitute veterans began appearing on the sidewalks of southern cities and towns. In 1902 Kentucky’s Confederate veterans organized and built the Kentucky Confederate Home, a luxurious refuge in Pewee Valley for their unfortunate comrades. Until it closed in 1934, the Home was a respectable—if not always idyllic—place where disabled and impoverished veterans could spend their last days in comfort and free from want.
In My Old Confederate Home, Rusty Williams frames the lively history of the Kentucky Confederate Home with the stories of those who built, supported, and managed it: a daring cavalryman-turned-bank-robber, a senile ship captain, a prosperous former madam, and a small-town clergyman whose concern for the veterans cost him his pastorate. Each chapter is peppered with the poignant stories of men who spent their final years as voluntary wards of an institution that required residents to live in a manner which reinforced the mythology of a noble Johnny Reb and a tragic Lost Cause. Based on thorough research utilizing a range of valuable resources, including the Kentucky Confederate Home’s operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, and family stories, My Old Confederate Home reveals the final, untold chapter of Kentucky’s Civil War history.
“Teems with humanity. Williams has a storyteller’s gist for making historical characters come alive . . . It offers a new angle on the South’s Lost Cause.” —Charles Reagan Wilson, author of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
Won the Douglas Southall Freeman Award in 2011.
“My Old Confederate Home is a good story well told.”Gaines M. Foster, author of Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of the New South, 1865-1913
“Williams’s book is a welcomed addition to the growing literature on the care of disabled Civil War veterans and the Confederate soldiers’ home movement. He narrates a compelling, true story, cleverly conceived, ably crafted and eloquently written.”―R. B. Rosenburg, author of Living Monuments: Confederate Soldiers’ Homes in the New South
“Teems with humanity. Williams has a storyteller’s gist for making historical characters come alive. This well-researched account of the establishment of a Confederate veterans’ home in a state, Kentucky, that did not even support the Confederacy is a dramatic story of a diverse range of people who responded to the needs of Civil War veterans. It offers a new angle on the South’s Lost Cause.”―Charles Reagan Wilson, author of Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920
“[My Old Confederate Home tells] of the nuances and “byway” stories involving the war – the personal stories, the oddities, the forgotten. . . . about a forgotten and overlooked aspect of the War Between the States.”Old Virginia Blog
“This well-written book is highly recommended to Civil War enthusiasts.” -Daily Oklahoman
“Based on the Kentucky Confederate Home’s operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, family stories, and other valuable resources, My Old Confederate Home reveals an unwritten chapter of Kentucky’s Civil War history.” ―Joseph-Beth Newsletter
“Williams provides the history of this home and what happened during its existence. This well-written book is highly recommended to Civil War enthusiasts.” ―Benet Exton, The Oklahoman
“Rusty Williams’ definitive account of the Kentucky Confederate Home was written from extant original sources and documents . . . and is intended for both general readers and scholars.” ―Marion B. Lucas, Bowling Green Daily News
“Williams rekindles the significance of respecting veterans and honoring their contribution to history. He also emphasizes the importance of average Americans supporting veterans despite the political tensions and economic hardships that follow war. As the story of the Kentucky Confederate Home shows, caring for veterans is the first step to repairing an injured nation.” ―civilwar.com
“Rusty Williams’ My Old Confederate Home demonstrates how the Kentucky Confederate Home in Pewee Valley was forged and maintained through a mutually beneficial partnership between government and private organizations. By profiling a shining example of how societies can and should honor and care for veterans in need, it highlights important lessons for present and future generations.” ―cwba.com
“Freelance writer Rusty Williams has written the first history of the Kentucky Confederate Home, which operated in Pewee Valley, near Jefferson County, for thirty-two years during the early 1900s. . . .This book will provide some very worthwhile insight on the experiences the Confederate veteran might have had while living there.” ―Kentucky Ancestors
“Williams tells how Kentucky tried to provide some support for its needy Confederate veterans long after the cannons were quiet but while many of the older Rebel soldiers were still alive during the emotional “Lost Cause” era. This entertaining narrative utilizes the individual stories of many of the home’s benefactors, managers and residents.” ―Berkeley Scott, Kentucky Monthly
“Provide readers with an excellent account of efforts made by ex-Confederate who were business and political leaders in the state to provide a place for their comrades who had fallen on hard times.” ―Post and Courier
“This book is a real jewel for your Confederate Library, just as the Confederate home in Kentucky was the jewel of all the places that were set up across the southern veterans.” ―Lone Star Book Review
“Williams provides an excellent summarization about Confederate veterans’ organizations in Kentucky after the war.” ―Bits and Pieces
“This book is a real jewel for your Confederate library, just as the Confederate home in Kentucky was the jewel of all places that were set up across the south for southern veterans.” ―The Lone Star Book Review
“This interesting tale of late-19th-century Kentucky politics, the workings of Civil War veterans’ organizations, and the careers of institutionalized Civil War veterans is sure to hold your attention.” ―Civil War News
“William’s book teems with human interest stories that undergird an institutional history. My Old Confederate Home will find broad appeal among scholarly and popular audiences who have an interest in thepost-Civil War lives of Kentucky’s Confederate veterans, social welfare, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the mythology of the Lost Cause…Williams makes great strides in unraveling the Lost Cause mythology that encased the Kentucky Confederate Home, it’s inhabitants, and its supporters…Williams story and its lively characters illuminate Kentucky’s responses to its needy veterans and how these efforts ensured a proper place for the states’ citizen-soldiers.” ―H-Net Reviews
“…a fascinating read. . . . No library on Kentucky Civil War history will be complete without this book.”―The Journal of America’s Military Past
“Using detailed records of the home, Mr. Williams is able to cover the entire period of operation from inception to the death of the final Veteran. . . . an interesting and moving read.” ―DCV Today
“All readers…will appreciate Williams’s descriptive writing and colorful storytelling which brings his many subjects, and the time period in which they lived, to life.”―Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
“Williams reveals the final, untold chapter of Kentucky’s Civil War history.”―Appalachian News-Express
“Williams should be commended for his energetic and very readable history of one of the South’s most successful postwar efforts to provide solace and assistance to Confederate veterans as they ambled toward the grave.”―Journal of Southern History
“A useful introduction into the grassroots formation, organization, and management of Confederate homes. Throug his meticulous research and a cast of lively characters, Williams has indeed created a respectable place for Civil War veterans.”―West Virginia History
“This work is a captivating narrative and a fine addition to several burgeoning sub-fields in southern history, including the Lost Cause, social welfare, women’s history, and progressive reform.”―Louisiana History
In the wake of America’s Civil War, hundreds of thousands of Confederate veterans trudged back to their homes in the South, where the nation whose ideals they had fought for no longer existed. Lingering war wounds, missing limbs, or the horrors of brutal warfare left some unable to care for themselves. Homeless, disabled, and destitute veterans began appearing on the sidewalks of southern cities and towns, unwanted and unsupported by the government.
Driven by compassion for their less fortunate comrades, in 1902 Kentucky’s Confederate veterans organized and built the Kentucky Confederate Home, a luxurious refuge that sheltered almost a thousand needful men who had worn the gray decades before. For three decades the Home was a respectable — if not always idyllic — place where invalid, decrepit, and impoverished veterans could spend their last days in comfort and security. Part military encampment and part rest home, the Home became a tourist destination and a living museum where twentieth-century schoolchildren could meet the men who marched at Shiloh or defended Atlanta.
In My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans, Rusty Williams frames the lively history of the Kentucky Confederate Home through the stories of those who built, managed, and inhabited it: a daring cavalryman-turned-bank robber, a small-town clergyman whose concern for the veterans cost him his pastorate, a senile ship captain, a wealthy benefactress with a scandalous secret, and more.
Based on the Kentucky Confederate Home’s operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, family stories, and other valuable resources, My Old Confederate Home reveals an unwritten chapter of Kentucky’s Civil War history. Each chapter is peppered with the poignant stories of men who spent their final years as voluntary wards of an institution that required residents to live in a manner which reinforced the mythology of a noble Johnny Reb and a tragic Lost Cause.
In the wake of America’s Civil War, hundreds of thousands of Confederate veterans trudged back to their homes in the South, where the nation whose ideals they had fought for no longer existed. Lingering war wounds, missing limbs, or the horrors of brutal warfare left some unable to care for themselves. Homeless, disabled, and destitute veterans began appearing on the sidewalks of southern cities and towns, unwanted and unsupported by the government.
Driven by compassion for their less fortunate comrades, in 1902 Kentucky’s Confederate veterans organized and built the Kentucky Confederate Home, a luxurious refuge that sheltered almost a thousand needful men who had worn the gray decades before. For three decades the Home was a respectable — if not always idyllic — place where invalid, decrepit, and impoverished veterans could spend their last days in comfort and security. Part military encampment and part rest home, the Home became a tourist destination and a living museum where twentieth-century schoolchildren could meet the men who marched at Shiloh or defended Atlanta.
In My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans, Rusty Williams frames the lively history of the Kentucky Confederate Home through the stories of those who built, managed, and inhabited it: a daring cavalryman-turned-bank robber, a small-town clergyman whose concern for the veterans cost him his pastorate, a senile ship captain, a wealthy benefactress with a scandalous secret, and more.
Based on the Kentucky Confederate Home’s operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, family stories, and other valuable resources, My Old Confederate Home reveals an unwritten chapter of Kentucky’s Civil War history. Each chapter is peppered with the poignant stories of men who spent their final years as voluntary wards of an institution that required residents to live in a manner which reinforced the mythology of a noble Johnny Reb and a tragic Lost Cause.
Rusty Williams, a freelance writer and historian, has written for the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, San Antonio Express-News and the Associated Press. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
For retirees buying bigger homes, the pull is easy to understand: room for a homesteading lifestyle, space for homesteading hobbies, and a place that makes welcoming family visits feel natural instead of cramped. The tension is that the same extra square footage and land that promise freedom can also raise hard questions about retirement housing needs like money, maintenance, and mobility. Many retirees want a home that supports growing food, keeping a few animals, or just having a workshop, without turning every day into a to-do list. With the right approach, that bigger-home dream can stay practical.
This process helps you go from “We want land and space” to a short list of homes you can truly afford, maintain, and enjoy. It matters because in retirement, the wrong square footage or acreage can quietly turn into a monthly budget strain or a daily workload.
Once you’ve made a smart offer on a home that fits your homesteading goals, it’s worth thinking about what happens if that “just for fun” project starts bringing in real money. When a homesteading hobby becomes a business, the big shift is treating it like a real venture: you do a bit of simple planning, get clearer on day-to-day operations (making, packaging, tracking orders), and think about basic marketing so people can actually find what you sell. If you want to strengthen those muscles, earning a business management degree can build your skills in leadership, operations, and project management, here’s a neat breakdown of what that can cover. And because online degree programs exist, it can be easier to keep your business moving while you stay on top of your coursework.
When I look at homes through a homesteading lens, I’m not hunting for “perfect.” I’m trying to avoid the kind of perfection that makes daily life harder, especially when grandkids pile in or a hobby starts acting like a small business.
Q: How can I tell if a homestead-friendly home is actually affordable long-term?
A: I look past the mortgage and price out the “quiet costs” like heating, driveway care, well or septic service, and insurance. Ask for 12 months of utility bills and a list of recent repairs, then build a simple monthly buffer for surprises. If cash flow is tight, consider whether downsizing the land or outbuildings gives you the lifestyle without the stress.
Q: What upkeep tends to surprise retirees on bigger properties?
A: Mowing, tree work, drainage issues, and long private roads can become regular line items. Before you buy, get quotes for the tasks you will not do yourself and confirm local contractors will service the address. A smaller, well-laid-out parcel can feel “bigger” than acreage you can’t comfortably manage.
Q: How do I avoid zoning headaches for animals, gardens, or a small home business?
A: Call the county or town planning office and ask what the property is zoned for, plus any limits on livestock, accessory buildings, and on-site sales. Request the rules in writing and verify what permits are required for sheds, fencing, or a farm stand. When in doubt, write your “must have” uses down and confirm each one before you offer.
Q: Can a reverse mortgage help me buy in retirement?
A: Sometimes, but it is specific to age and eligibility, and it is not a fit for every budget. A reverse mortgage loan is available to qualifying buyers who are 62 or older. Talk with a trusted lender and a HUD-approved counselor so you understand fees, responsibilities, and what happens long-term.
Q: How should I plan to use extra rooms so they don’t just collect clutter?
A: Give each room a “job” and a backup job, like guest space that converts to crafting or a grandkid playroom that becomes an office. Choose durable flooring, add closed storage, and keep one wall flexible for shelving or a fold-down table. If a room can’t earn its keep in two roles, you may not need it.
Retirement can feel like a tug-of-war between wanting more space and worrying about cost, upkeep, and whether the land will actually work. The steadier path is treating the search as a values-first match: pick a place that supports the life wanted, projects, comfort, and connection, without pretending every day will be effortless. Done well, the benefits of homesteading homes show up in family-centered living, homesteading home satisfaction, and a quieter kind of retirement lifestyle optimism that grows with time. Buy the home that supports your days, not the one that only looks good on paper.
