Former coach takes stock of his life so far

Kent Stock, who has hit plenty of career home runs, is rounding the bases with another venture.

The man who led the storied Norway, Iowa, baseball team to its 20th state championship in its final season, later chronicled on the silver screen, has now put his life story into words.

“Heading for Home: My Journey from Little League to Hollywood!” tells Stock's tale from his childhood in Ankeny and dreams of playing big league baseball, through a zigzagging career path of teaching, coaching, public speaking and banking. He's now relationship manager at Community Savings Bank branches in Robins and Cedar Rapids, working with current and potential customers as well as doing public relations and commercials. He says his new job uses a lot of the same team-building and motivational skills he honed working 23 years in education.

In many ways, he's had a charmed life of being in the right place at the right time. But the highs have not come without the lows, says Stock, 48, who lives in Marion with his wife, Laurie, and daughters Kendrie, who turns 11 on Friday, and Kylee, 9.

• What: “Heading for Home: My Journey from Little League to Hollywood!”
• Author: Kent Stock of Marion
• Co-publishers: Kent Stock and Arrow Publishing Inc.
• Pages: 170, paperback
• Available: About $15, through www.kentstock.com,
• Book signing: 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 7, Marion Hy-Vee, 3600 Business Highway 151, Marion
• Information:

• What: “Heading for Home: My Journey from Little League to Hollywood!”
• Author: Kent Stock of Marion
• Co-publishers: Kent Stock and Arrow Publishing Inc.
• Pages: 170, paperback
• Available: About $15, through www.kentstock.com, www.amazon.com; Cedar Rapids metro area bookstores: Lemstone Parable Christian Store, Family Christian Store; Hy-Vee Food Stores: Marion, Edgewood Road NE, Collins Road NE; Hy-Vee Drugstore on Boyson Road NE; Beaverdale Books in Des Moines
• Book signing: 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 7, Marion Hy-Vee, 3600 Business Highway 151, Marion
• Information: www.kentstock.com

He speaks candidly in the book about his lowest point, which came after revered neighbor Gene Scheffers died of cancer in 1982 at age 51.

“He was my buddy, my ally, my confident,” Stock writes.

That profound loss came as Stock realized his dream of playing

professional baseball was slipping away.

After playing ball at Waldorf College, no Division I schools were interested in him. He transferred to Luther College in Decorah, partied, skipped classes and let his grades slip that first semester until he was ineligible to play ball in the spring. He says a deep, soul-searching talk with his parents over Christmas break and “a good kick in the behind” from his college adviser helped him get back on track.

He's been there ever since.

Sean Astin, who played Stock in “The Final Season,” planted the book idea.

“He said people will see the movie and want to know more about me,” Stock says. After the movie was released in 2007, Stock was asked to speak at various club meetings, which led him to the lecture circuit. Sure enough, people started asking if he had written a book.

“I heard that so many times, I decided to write one - if nothing else, so my daughters would know more about me,” he says.

He turned to freelance writer Ken Fuson of Des Moines, who had followed the Norway team's final season for the Des Moines Register in 1991. Fuson signed on as Stock's ghost writer. The ball started rolling in October 2008.

Stock handed over a legal pad full of stories he'd jotted down about his parents, grandparents and other people who had made a big impact on his life. Then the interviews started, with Stock, his wife and his parents, who still live in the house in which he grew up.

Stock and Fuson “spent hours and hours” talking on tape. That was the easy part.

“I knew the story,” Stock says. “When Ken asked the questions, I had all the answers. For the first time in my life, I had all the answers.”

Fuson also sent him lists of questions and e-mailed chapters for him to review. Stock would work on the project three or four nights a week after the kids were in bed.

Then began the hard part. Editing and proofreading.

“I don't care how many people read it, you'd always find another mistake,” Stock says. Finally, “my wife and I sat in Java Creek for four or five hours, until I got up and said, ‘I'm done with this. I can't read it again.'?”

And even though he says the whole process was cathartic, holding a mirror to your life isn't easy.

“Another hard part is bringing back some emotional stories,” he says. “I'd talk to Ken with the tape recorder going and it would bring tears to my eyes, talking about Grandpa Lee or Dad.”

Now the book is done, co-published by Arrow Publications, which Stock just happened to discover had an office right behind his bank's branch in Robins.

“By co-publishing, I incur all the costs and they're the vehicle to get it printed and do some distribution,” he says.

It wasn't an inexpensive project. Five thousand copies have been printed, and more will follow if those sell out. While he's reluctant to say how much it cost, he says other self-publishing authors can expect to spend between $30,000 and $40,000 “to get it done right.” Major costs came with using a ghost writer; lawyers to check for libel and title copyrights; editing; and cover art.

“The printing of the book is small compared to the other fees,” he says.

Three other aspects have no price tag.

“Faith, family and friends were very important through the whole process.”

Talking about his memoir begs one final question.

To borrow the tag line from “The Final Season”: How does Kent Stock want to be remembered?

“Number one: a great husband. Number two: a great father. Number three: a friend to all. With faith around all that.”