Yet nobody thinks to ask the boy’s reclusive father, Joe Morton, if such a service is wanted, or welcome. Crippled by grief and not one to make waves, Joe goes along with the plans of the townsfolk until he can bear no more. Finally, on the Fourth of July, he tells them just how he feels.
But his sole act of independence brings unexpected and devastating consequences. The residents, and least of all Joe Morton, are wholly unprepared for what happens next: change and the outside world come to Cranston.
First runner-up for the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society’s Gold Medal, The Patriot Joe Morton illustrates the high cost of making assumptions.
