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Swingman: What a Difference a Decade Makes
by Marshall Allen and Alex Allred
ISBN: 978-1-935444-40-4
A simple bike ride changed their lives!
It was a bike ride that forever changed Captain Marshall Allen's life. Seven years later, a very similar bike ride would do the same for magazine editor Alexandra Allred. While many believed it was destiny that Alex would take a bike route that would lead her to tell Marshall's extraordinary story, it soon became clear that Marshall was also meant to help Alex.
Marshall was a pioneer in the fire department, becoming the first black fire fighter in Salt Lake County. Alex was a pioneer in the sports world, becoming the first U.S. women's bobsled champion. But where Marshall was from very humble beginnings, once abused in the foster care system, Alex was
the daughter of a U.S. Diplomat. They were worlds apart. Neither had any idea how much trouble was brewing ...
This is the story of an unlikely friendship between a quadriplegic fire fighter and a former national athlete turned writer and how they changed local and national policies, took on the good 'ol boy network and the "Big Boys" at the US Capitol. Walking on Faith: What a Difference A Decade Makes
is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud book that chronicles the last ten years of their lives, their faith (or once lack thereof) and their own personal fires.
Alexandra writes:
"When my father returned from Vietnam in 1968, he lost his faith and, subsequently, my sister and I were reared without the influence of any religion. I was the daughter of a US Diplomat, lived/traveled around the world and with what I saw, felt okay with the notion that there is no God. Not with what I saw, not with what I experienced. I was raised to stand on my own, not rely upon help from something I could not see.
"We were chased by KBG (during the Brezhnev's communist reign): Masaii warriors (after my father took pictures of them, following the instruction to NOT take pictures of them as they believe a photo steals their soul), and manhandled in the streets of Tunisia. We helped Russian Jews who had previously been persecuted by their own government and my father later was assigned to observe the activities of the PLO and Yasaar Arafat in the late 80s. He was taken hostage by the Kuwaiti government and was known to walk the streets in Baghdad as mortars fell while the rest of us chewed our nails to a nub. But even as a kid, here's what I knew. You live, you die. You make the most of your world and have a blast--i.e. the reason I taunted and terrorized the poor KGB and Islamic agents assigned to follow me.
"As an adult, that adventuresome spirit stayed with me and I made the US women's bobsled team, was named as the first US.. woman to make the national team and won Nationals while over four months pregnant. I was named Athlete of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee, went on to write for "Sports Illustrated" (thus, playing one season as a professional woman football player (breaking bones) and writing the book, Atta Girl!), and test drove a Gravity Car for Volvo.
"Life was good and I had no questions. You live. You die. You have a blast while among the walking. Then, on October 8th, 2007, everything changed. I went to bed knowing this: the Bible is a well written book of lovely tales. Jesus, while presumably a real person, was just a man who may have possibly been delusional. God and religion is an ideal.
"In a series of incredible events, I was led to an African-American man in a wheelchair."
In a most unorthodox book format, Alexandra Allred and Marshall Allen carefully weave four storylines that cover a decade. Each chapter begins with the outrageously funny annual holiday Allred letter, which include such subjects as diving into a dumpster to find a lost retainer, exploding Labrador retriever puppies and suicidal raccoons. The story of Marshall's entrance into the world of fire fighting also reveals a tumultuous, violent childhood and young adulthood while Alex stands up in a small, conservative, company town when she believes the local air quality is causing much of the illness. And Alex is left to ponder how many coincidences equal something more. While Marshall never once lost his faith, even after being paralyzed in a freak bicycle accident, becoming a quadriplegic, Alex had never entertained the idea of a higher being...until she met Marshall.
Once standing at an impressive 6'4" and 320 pounds, Marshall Allen was not only solid muscle but his reputation within the Fort Worth Fire Department far exceeded him. He was a legend in the station house. Then, in one moment everything changed and Alex had to ask, "Why did he suddenly decide to learn how to use voice activated computers or stop eating red meat just before his accident? Why did I, a former national athlete, suddenly decide to go on an early 28-mile bike ride without eating, only to run out of fuel near the Starbucks in a neighboring town and stop, only to place my bike in the path of Marshall so that he would come talk to me? Had I not, what were the chances that I would meet Marshall and his dog, Caesar? Almost instantly, I began to ask why I met Marshall."
Before these questions could be answered, Alex would go on to meet three more quadriplegics and wonder out loud, "Why am I meeting all these people? Is something going to happen?" A friend helpful suggested that she pray about it and Alex balked.
"Pray? I don't know how to pray! What if while I'm praying and my mind wanders, as it is apt to do, and I get a thought in my head like, 'I wonder if He is really there?' will He become offended and leave? Or, what if He was listening to someone else pray and then comes in right in the middle of me thinking a perverted thought? Not that I'm given to perverse thoughts but, you know, sometimes your mind goes weird for a second before you can get back under control. What if God tuned in at that very second I was wondering if George Clooney is wearing a thong? The only reason I had such a thought is because Gina was joking about George wearing a thong but now I'm the one with this picture in my head just as God tunes in. That would just be my luck! So I'm a little dodgy on the praying thing because you open yourself up to some serious, eternal scrutiny and THAT, my friends, is a little more than I'm prepared for."
If you believe in miracles, if you believe you can fight city hall, if you believe in overcoming insurmountable obstacles, this is the book for you! Prepare to be inspired by the indomitable spirit of both Captain Marshall Allen and his friend Alexandra Allred.
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