In the summer of 1991, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of their high school graduation, a committee of students plans a reunion in their rural Washington State lumber mill town. As part of the committee, retired English teacher, Ms. Lily Favor collects stories of the students and the town for the class booklet, which she plans to distribute at the reunion party.
“Everything Goes Past Like a River” is a group of stories modeled after Sherwood Anderson’s classic “Winesburg Ohio“, with Ms. Favor, the narrator, and Waylon Jones, the town doctor as the common threads that bind the stories together. Among the many characters, we meet the reclusive nerd, Thomas, whose life changed after winning the state bowling championship; the beautiful Ruth from the local Indian tribe, who shares a complicated relationship with Waylon Jones and her husband Big Chuck; fetal alcohol twins Dimitri (Flip) Endicott and his siter Jennifer; the gifted class president, Melvin, who suffers physical and emotional scars from the Viet Nam War.
The final chapter at the reunion party updates the lives of the surviving protagonists and completes the various tales, which offer a microcosm of American life during a turbulent time of change.
