Joyce A. Miller – Joe Harris, The Moon
Curious and energetic, Joyce A. Miller added “novelist” to her impressive list of accomplishments with the publication of Joe Harris, The Moon. In this historical fiction debut, she honors her granduncle, whose life passion was baseball.
Born May 20, 1891, in the coal mining community of Coulter, Pennsylvania, Joseph (Joe) Harris joined men and other boys to work for the mining company. Joe had just finished eighth grade when he began taking care of donkeys at the job site. His large family, including his mother, father, and eight of his siblings, lived together and needed Joe’s wages to help with the living expenses that barely covered enough to buy food. As planned, Joe never returned to school. It was a meager life for Joe Harris, but his love of baseball gave him dreams and a goal of playing professionally. In chapter one of Joe Harris, the Moon, the storyteller described the importance of the pastime:
Baseball was one bright light in a dreary existence for all the miners and their children.
Joe Harris began to realize his dream when the local steel mill team offered him the position of right fielder. After one game, though, it was apparent that 17-year-old Joe was not ready. Never losing hope, Joe’s determination motivated him to practice as much as possible. The payoff finally happened in 1913 when the Bay City Beavers offered him a contract.
Joyce A. Miller continues Joe Harris’s baseball story, progressing as he played for team after team. Joe Harris, The Moon includes play-by-play and stats for baseball enthusiasts, intertwined with details of his personal life for the reader who loves a heartwarming story. Throughout, there were ups and downs and a military tour in World War I that halted his tenure in the major leagues. Joe, however, was able to return and eventually made it to the 1927 World Series, batting for the Pittsburgh Pirates against Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees.
For readers of Joe Harris, The Moon, Joe Harris may spark memories of Joe Rantz in The Boys in the Boat and Louie Zamperini in Unbroken. All were stellar athletes, patriots, and devoted to family and friends. As the grandniece of Joe Harris, Joyce A. Miller preserved family history and American history, too.
How Joe Harris became The Moon – Excerpts:
At a game one June afternoon, the announcer said, “Look at that Harris hit! He hits just like the cannon that shot the spaceship to the Moon in that old movie ‘A Trip to the Moon!’”
…The next time Joe came up to bat, the announcer said, “Here comes Joe Harris, the Moon, up to bat! Let’s see if he hits one to the moon again today!”
The moniker stuck. When Joe got up to bat, delighting his fans, the stadium chanted, “Moon! Moon! Moon!”
Joyce A. Miller gives credit to her cousin, Bob Harris, for much of the research for Joe Harris, The Moon. Bob, the family historian, is a huge baseball fan. Joyce often imagined her granduncle Joe which motivated her to create and write his story. Adding more research to her cousin’s makes the book a win-win. Family members of Joe Harris have another keepsake, and readers can enjoy the storytelling of Joyce A. Miller.
Is Joyce A. Miller in her third act? She worked as a mechanical designer at a nuclear physics laboratory for over thirty years before she retired to write full time. Read the About section of her website, and you’ll see that this tireless author has had many acts and is destined for more.
Joyce began her career as the only woman draftsman at a company in Pittsburgh. At her next job, she used knowledge from her college language courses to translate German drawings into English. At her last place of employment – the nuclear physics lab – she befriended French colleagues and began traveling with them to unique areas of France. Joyce is also an artist, jazz and tap dancer, and dog trainer who has done canine freestyle. Practicing yoga and having an occasional swim at the beach adds to the colorfulness of Joyce A. Miller’s life.
Joyce would love to hear from you. Write to her via her website contact page and sign up for her newsletter on the home page while you’re there!
Joyce, I love your lively postcard! So cool that you showcase your whimsical art talent and a tap dance stamp along with recommended things to do in Richmond, Virginia. The \”Richmond by Night\” skyline is beautiful. Thank you for sending it for my collection. 🙂
~Anita~
