“The Pleasure Was Mine,” the acclaimed novel by local author and UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program Director Tommy Hays, will be broadcast across the country as part of nationally-syndicated radio program “Radio Reader” beginning Wednesday,
May 24.

“Radio Reader” is a half-hour broadcast heard daily on over 100 public radio stations nationwide. Some 12 books are chosen every year to be read in their entirety by award-winning broadcaster Dick Estell.

Although no stations in North Carolina carry “Radio Reader,” it can be heard in adjoining states. For a list of stations, click on www.dickestell.com. Some stations broadcast the program on their Web sites. A list of these stations can be found at www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=908.

Tommy Hays

“The Pleasure Was Mine” is the story of three men-- Prate Marshbanks, his grown son Newell and his grandson Jackson, as they come to terms with the fading of Irene, the heart and center of the family. Set in Greenville, S.C., and Western North Carolina, the book is narrated by Prate, a prickly house painter who retires to care for Irene, his beloved wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s. As Prate adjusts to these life changes, Newell, a recently widowed artist, needs to spend the summer at Penland School of Crafts. He leaves Jackson, his reticent, bookish nine-year-old son, with Prate for the summer. Prate finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to finally get to know his moody grandson, who insists on going with Prate to the nursing home every day and maintaining the very strong connection with his grandmother.

Kirkus Reviews gave “The Pleasure Was Mine” a starred review, calling it “an intimate, loving portrait of a dreaded disease’s devastating effects.” The book is “colloquial in tone, braced by its narrator’s stoic, plainspoken candor. Hays’ latest outing feels timely and true.” The novel was most recently nominated for the 2006 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award, which recognizes great books of southern origin.