The Unionville Bear

About the Book

            Bear’s football playing days were over when he stole a handgun from his father’s gun case and took it to school.  He was a member of a dysfunctional family.  The family was always on the move to escape bad debts, etc.  Their last move was to the north side of Lake Lemon.  Bear’s father was a strike breaker and spent most of his time in other states.  His mother worked in a local bar and ran off with another man. As a result Bear was given the awesome responsibility of taking care of himself, his sister, and little brother, while his father was away from home for several days at a time.

            Bear wanted and desperately needed to be a part of the social life of the middle school students at Unionville School.  The school was approximately three miles from his home as the crow flies. The school bus route doubled the distance.  However, with the help of his mother, younger sister, and the “loan” of his friend’s canoe, he was able to practice football after school.

            Bear’s new found world came crashing down when he got into a fight at school and his father was contacted by the assistant principal.

About the Author

Roy W. Martin was born October 26, 1935, in South Central Indiana near Bloomington.  He was the second child and first son born to Roy D. and Bertha (Ratliff) Martin.  There were a total of eight children in the Martin household.  He graduated from Unionville High School in 1953, and then served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a radio/radar technician.  He holds a BS in Physical Education and an MS in Education from Indiana University.  He retired in 1997 after serving 36 years in the public schools of his native Monroe County as teacher, coach, and administrator.  He is a deacon and Sunday School teacher at the New Unionville Baptist Church, has been a member of Gideons International since 1971, and has served on the board of directors for B&B Water Corp. close to 40 years   He and wife Charlotte have three sons—David, Samuel, and John; nine grandchildren, and five step-grandchildren.

"Roy Martin's long stint as a middle school teacher and administrator shows in his realistic depiction of the students of Unionville, particularly Bear.  Under difficult circumstances--an abusive, uncaring father, a weak, absent mother, and younger siblings he must care for--Bear remains resilient and determined to succeed in school and football.  It is Bear's coming to terms with what life hands him that makes him a sympathetic character readers will care about."

           --Tony Perona, author of Angels Whisper and Second Advent