Ed Bethune’s Memoir Appears to Be a Good Read

Unconventional Valentine

Ed Bethune is not a name that your Whispers team had heard in a while. Then one of our colleagues related how the now-retired politico had captivated her nonfiction writing class at UALR last week with tales from his 2011 memoir, "Jackhammered."

Bethune, a former FBI agent, former Republican congressman from Arkansas and former D.C. lobbyist, made what initially seemed like the unusual suggestion of buying a copy of "Jackhammered" as a Valentine’s Day gift or getting it from Amazon on Tuesday, when a download will be free.

But then we started reading others’ accounts of Bethune’s memoir, and it sounds like a darn fascinating read. The book explains its somewhat odd title (a good editor would have talked him out of that) and goes into detail about a harrowing 1990 adventure that led to Bethune and his wife, Lana, being rescued from the surging seas of the North Atlantic after the couple were forced to abandon their 31-foot sailboat.

Being plucked from doom led Bethune, now living in Little Rock, down the path of introspection and into an examination of what the book’s Facebook page calls his "complicated childhood" and his certainly interesting adult career.

We’re not necessarily saying that presenting a copy of "Jackhammered" to your sweetie on Valentine’s Day instead of, say, a dozen roses or dinner in a fancy restaurant is going to earn you love points, but we’ve heard of way worse presents.