His “Field of Dreams”
W.P. Kinsella died the other day at the age of 81, and it’s worth noting because while you may not know who he is, you’ve almost surely seen the results of what he did.
Kinsella wrote the novel that was adapted for the iconic movie “Field of Dreams.” He started writing “Shoeless Joe” while he was enrolled in the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Of course, Iowa would become the setting for Kinsella’s 1982 novel.
Kinsella’s book is about the ghost of Chicago White Sox outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was banned from baseball for his part in the 1919 World Series betting scandal. In the book. a voice tells an Iowa farmer to build a baseball field — which magically brings back long-dead ballplayers.
That book was brilliantly brought to life in 1989 in the movie “Field of Dreams.” It starred Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones, and it was filmed mostly in Dyersville, Iowa — where the ball field used in the movie still stands.
In fact, it not only still stands — I’ve been on it. Yes, a few years ago — during one of my annual visits to Iowa — I drove to Dyersville to see that field. I’ve sat in the stands — the same ones Jones and Costner sat in. I’ve stood on the pitchers’ mound — squatted behind home plate — and run the bases. And, oh, yes, I’ve also walked into and out of the cornfields, where, in the movie, the ghostly players came from.
I did all that because “Field of Dreams” affected me deeply the first time I saw it and continues to affect me every time I see it. The movie deals with the tortured relationship Costner’s character had with his dad when he was growing up. The gut-churning climax in the film comes when Costner’s character discovers that his dad — who has been dead for years — is one of the players who has been emerging from the cornfield to play ball.
Costner’s dad — played by Ray Liotta — asks Costner — “Is this heaven?” Costner answers — “It’s Iowa.” After a bit more conversation, Costner asks his dad — as Costner is choking up — “Hey, Dad — You wanna have a catch?” Liotta answers: “I’d like that. Very much.”
Bear in mind — Costner’s character didn’t play catch with his dad when he was growing up — their relationship was too bad.
So let me tell you that when I first saw that movie in a theater in Berkeley back in ’89 — I cried. Just sobbed. Because at that moment in that movie, I was Kevin Costner and my dad was Ray Liotta. You see, I also had a lousy relationship with my dad when I was growing up — and I never — ever — played baseball with him.
And let me assure you of something else. Almost every other guy I know who grew up in the ’50s — all of them — had similar relationships with their dads. Lots of dads back then had not been taught by their own fathers about how to communicate well — how to be caring, supportive dads.
And virtually all of my male friends cried when they saw that same scene.
And no matter how many times I see “Field of Dreams,” I choke up at that point in the movie.
There aren’t many films that have ever made me cry — much less make me shed tears every time I see them. “Field of Dreams” does that to me. I wish I had written to Mr. Kinsella years ago, telling him about the impact his story has had on me.
I would have said, “Thank you, Mr. Kinsella — for bringing part of my own story to life — for bringing out feelings I had suppressed for years — and for writing a story that will live, yes, forever.”
I sure wish I’d told him that.