We met Jared in April of 2013 when he was passing through town on his way to NYC. I encountered Jared when he was panhandling on the ramp of Route 81 heading South. Jared was in town for two months and while he was here we would see him twice a week feeding and clothing him. Jared stood out in a crowd because he had a nice size tattoo and his face that would cause folks to judge him but we used it as an opportunity for conversation. I remember Jared telling me stories of his adventures traveling the country by hopping trains. Jared had such a free spirited loving personality and before he left town he had me write in a journal he was carrying with him to document the folks he met while traveling. I wish I remembered what I wrote in the book, all I remember was that it was encouraging and had a spiritual twist in it. I received a message from Jared’s Grandfather David letting me know that Jared had passed away in January of 2014. David asked me questions regarding our encounters with Jared and said that he would be writing a book about Jared’s travels. Well I’m excited to share that the book has been released and IMFK is mentioned in it as well. Here is a video clip of Dave sharing about Jared and the Book.

Leave Out the Tragic Parts by Dave Kindred is an extraordinary investigation of the death of his grandson, and a powerful memoir of addiction, grief, and the stories we choose to tell our families and ourselves. Jared Kindred left his home and family at the age of eighteen, choosing to wander across America on freight train cars and live on the street. Addicted to alcohol most of his short life, and withholding the truth from many who loved him, he never found a way to survive. Through this ordeal, Dave Kindred’s love for his grandson has never wavered. Leave Out the Tragic Parts is not merely a reflection on love and addiction and loss. It is a hard-won work of reportage, meticulously reconstructing the life Jared chose for himself–a life that rejected the comforts of civilization in favor of a chance to roam free. Kindred asks painful but important questions about the lies we tell to get along, and what binds families together or allows them to fracture. Jared’s story ended in tragedy, but the act of telling it is an act of healing and redemption. This is an important book on how to love your family, from a great writer who has lived its lessons.