Chapter 1 – Tuesday April 28, 1970
An ambulance rushes to Antoine Trombley’s home in southeast Akron. Antoine was found dead by his half-sister Marie (née Trombley) McLaughlin.
Main Characters –
Chubby – ambulance driver
Wilbur Noakes – ambulance orderly
Antoine Pierre Trombley – corpse
Marie (née Trombley) McLaughlin – Antoine’s half-sister
Chapter 2 – Neolithic to 1900
A brief history of the Trombley family:
The Trombley family descends from Calvinist French Protestants that fought religious wars against French Catholics in the 16th century. They won the right to practice their religion in 1598, only to have it revoked by Louis XIV in 1688. Most left France over the next 20 years
The Trombleys made their way to the New World between 1700 and 1725; they moved to the Huguenot settlement in New Rochelle across Long Island sound from Manhattan. Over the next two centuries, the Huguenots moved north to New York state and Canada and south to New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. In 1909 Pierre Trombley moved his family to Akron to participate in the building boom.
Main Characters –
Neolithic hunter-gathers – the first humans in the Loire Valley
Indo-European invaders – next major group to enter what would become France
The Romans – occupied France for almost 600 years
Clovis I – Frankish King, first royal Christian convert in France
Martin Luther – author of Ninety-Five Theses which ignited the Protestant Reformation
John Calvin – founder of Reform churches throughout Europe
The Huguenots – members of the French Reform Church
Henry IV – King of France, granted the Huguenots religious freedom in the Edict of Nance
Louis XIV – King of France, revoked the Edict of Nance
Pierre Trombley – husband/father
Chapter 3 – Wednesday September 17, 1918
Antoine comes home from school to find his mother, Marguerite Trombley, ill with influenza. She dies later that day.
Main Characters –
Marguerite Trombley – wife/mother
Pierre Trombley – husband/father
Antoine Trombley – son
James (Jimmy) Trombley – son
Joey Balducci – grocery store cashier
Gramps Balducci – Joey’s grandfather
Dr. Earl McLaughlin – arrives to treat Marguerite and pronounces her dead.
Chapter 4 - Tuesday April 28, 1970
Nelson McLaughlin attends a meeting of the Goodyear Aerospace Technologies Group in his capacity as Manager of NASA O-ring product group. They discuss the Apollo 13 disaster; Goodyear manufactured many different components in all stages of the Apollo spacecraft.
Later Nelson and his longtime friend and mentor, Bud Bainey, meet at The Olive Tree Restaurant for a drink. They discuss an opportunity for Nelson to purchase an O-ring distributorship in Muncie, Indiana.
Main Characters –
Nelson (Nels, Nails) McLaughlin – The adult Nelson and Marie Trombley’s husband
Ed Berenger – Project Engineer
Phil Kowalski – Project Chemist
William Sanderson – The Aerospace Technologies Group administrator
Bud Bainey – Nelson’s friend and mentor
Nick Koufos – Nelson’s high school friend and owner of The Olive Tree Restaurant
Chapter 5 – Devonian geologic era to 1900
A brief history of the McLaughlin family:
This chapter covers the geologic history of Scotland and history of the various peoples who occupied parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland from pre-history to the mid-19th century.
In 1844 Thomas McLaughlin, a scion of the Protestant Irish landowning class, was in school at Glasgow University when the great potato famine hit Ireland. No longer able to support him at university, his father sent Thomas to America with introductions to prominent families in Philadelphia. He eventually graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the Union Army in 1861 and spent the Civil War surveying the Ohio River.
After the war he moved to Columbus, Ohio, to open his own engineering firm. His grandson, Earl, went to Ohio State University and Ohio Medical University. Earl moved to Akron to open his own practice.
Main characters –
Romans, Irish Gaels, Vikings, Britons, Angles, Vikings and English – groups that invaded Scotland and were assimilated or repulsed.
Catholic and Protestant Missionaries
The Scottish Parliament – made Scotland a Protestant country in 1560
Mary Queen of Scots – attempted to return England and Scotland to Catholicism.
King James I – Son of Mary Queen of Scots; King of England and Scotland; raised a Protestant and estranged from his mother. He confiscated Northern Ireland, sent colonists, primarily Scots, to own, manage, and work the land. Among them were the McLaughlins.
Ian McLaughlin – a wealthy solicitor in Belfast, Ireland
Thomas McLaughlin – Ian’s son, the first McLaughlin to emigrate to America
Dr. Earl McLaughlin – Thomas’s grandson, a doctor who moved to Akron
Chapter 6 – Thursday 17, April 1919
A day at Earl and Laura McLaughlin’s home. Earl treats patients, ruminates over the newspaper, has dinner with the family, and plays with the children. Agnes tells Genie her story of coming to America. Earl and Laura enjoy a connubial encounter.
Main characters –
Dr. Earl McLaughlin – husband/father
Laura (née Wainwright) McLaughlin – wife/mother
Genene (Genie) McLaughlin – daughter
Nelson McLaughlin – son
Lester (Les) McLaughlin – son
Wilson (Wil) McLaughlin – son
Agnes Dunne – Irish housekeeper
Chapter 7 – Monday June 9, 1919
Pierre takes a trip to Syracuse, NY and returns with a new wife, Sarah Reseguier. Antoine, still guilty and angry about his mother’s death, rejects Sarah. Antoine acts up over several weeks, then Sarah shares with Antoine the experience of losing of her first husband in World War I. They bond, and Antoine begins to heal.
Main characters –
Sarah (née Reseguier) Trombley – Pierre’s second wife
Pierre Trombley
Antoine Trombley
Chapter 8 – Tuesday, October 18, 1921
Sarah gives birth to a daughter, Marie. Pierre, Antoine and Jimmy go to visit her in the hospital. Marie speaks to Antoine alone; she asks permission to use his mother’s name, Marguerite, as Marie’s middle name. He is touched and gives his permission.
Main Characters –
Marie Marguerite Trombley – daughter of Pierre and Sarah
Pierre Trombley
Sarah Trombley
Antoine Trombley
Jimmy Trombley
Chapter 9 – Monday January 9 and Sunday January 29, 1922
Antoine goes to talk to his paster, Dr Roberts. Antoine tells him that he has lost his faith and has misgivings about participating in Marie’s baptism. Dr. Roberts assures him that most young people go through this trial, that all thinking people suffer from doubt, and convinces him that he should stand up with his parents in spite of it.
Dr. Roberts baptizes Marie with the assistance of Pierre, Sarah, Antoine and the congregation.
Main Characters –
Dr. Theodore Roberts, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church
Mrs. Fairchild, influential member of the congregation
Antoine Trombley
Pierre Trombley
Sarah Trombley
Marie Trombley
First Presbyterian Church congregation
Chapter 10 – Wednesday October 24, 1922
Antoine and his friend, Dick Gilmore, are in an automobile accident, and Dick runs away. Officer Morrison arrests Antoine for drunk driving and takes him to jail. Dr. Earl McLaughlin goes to the jail to treat Antoine’s injuries and determines that Antoine is not drunk but has a concussion. The police refuse to release Antoine.
The doctor and Pierre go to the Gilmore residence to speak with Dick to find out what happened. It turns out Dick was driving, and Antoine is released the next day.
Main Characters –
Officer Clarence “Lance” Morrison – the arresting officer
Antoine Trombley
Dr. Earl McLaughlin
Pierre Trombley
Richard Gilmore, Sr. – Dick’s father
Annette Gilmore – Dick’s mother
Richard “Dick” Gilmore – Antoine’s friend and co-owner of the car in the accident.
Chapter 11 – Wednesday April 29 and Friday May 1, 1970
Denny finds a note that Alison posted asking for a ride to East Lansing, Michigan. Denny approaches Alison after a class and tells her he’s going to Michigan for a family reunion. He offers her a ride most of the way and she accepts. On the trip they have some small adventures and a lot of fun together.
Main Characters –
Alaine Dennard (Denny) McLaughlin – Nelson and Marie’s son; a student at Ohio University
Alison Macy Kernan – Denny’s acquaintance; a student at Ohio University
Pete Landon – Alison’s boyfriend; a student at Michigan State University
Bobby Brennan – Denny’s roommate
Chapter 12 – Friday June 22, 1924
Antoine looks for a job as an auto mechanic. Max Cartwright suggests he try the Bainey Rubber Company instead. Bill Bainey hires him as the lab janitor with side duties as the night lab assistant. There is also the possibility of advancement to a full-time lab assistant at some future date.
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Max Cartwright – owner of Cartwright Repairs
Bill Bainey – owner of The Bainey Rubber Company
Old man Bainey – Bill’s grandfather
Chapter 13 – Tuesday October 2, 1924
Antoine helps Thomas Bogdanovic in the lab and they have a varied conversation including an offer to help Antoine learn more about chemistry.
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Tomislav (Thomas) Bogdanovic – junior chemist
Chapter 14 – Wednesday April 29, 1970
Marie and Nelson are at home and discuss the O-ring distributorship opportunity. Ronnie arrives at home from school.
Main Characters –
Nelson McLaughlin
Marie (née Trombley) McLaughlin
Rhona (Ron, Ronnie) Gray McLaughlin, Nelson and Marie’s daughter, scholarship volley ball player at Bowling Green University.
Chapter 15 – Thursday May 28, 1925
Antoine drives to the Indianapolis 500 with Thomas Bogdanovic, Randel McCullers, Ralph Doyle, and Al Burris. They leave on the Thursday evening before the race. Taking turns at the wheel of Thomas’s car, they drive through the night, arrive at the Raceway the next morning and watch the time trials.
That evening Thomas takes Antoine to a speakeasy to see the famous African American jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton. Thomas gets drunk and Antoine keeps him from being arrested for public intoxication.
The next day they see an exciting race in which Pete DePaolo wins. He is the first driver with an average speed over 100 miles an hour.
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Thomas Bogdanovic
Randel McCullers – Junior Chemist at Bainey Rubber
Ralph Doyle – lab assistant at Bainey Rubber
Al Burris – lab assistant at Bainey Rubber
Chapter 16 – Tuesday April 24, 1928
Financial circumstances force Bill Bainey to sell his company to Goodyear. All employees have been promised roughly equivalent jobs at Goodyear, except Antoine, where there is no such position as Laboratory Janitor. Antoine has been offered a job in the plant.
A few weeks later Thomas approaches Antoine to offer assistance in his transition to the plant. That help comes in the form of support and advice from Thomas’s extended family, which has substantial presence in the Akron rubber factories. Antoine accepts and Thomas invites him to spend a Sunday with his family.
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Bill Bainey
Sarah Trombley
Marie Trombley
Jimmy Trombley
Thomas Bogdanovic
Chapter 17 – Neolithic to 1900
A brief history of the Bogdanovic family:
The Bogdanovic family comes to Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1885 and moves to Akron after the turn of the century.
Novena Mladenovic takes the name, papers, and place of Mila Djokovic when the real Mila decides to back out of an arranged marriage. Novena, posing as Mila, sails to America and marries Goran Bogdanovic in 1898.
Main Characters –
The Persians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Slavs and Ottoman Turks – all invaded and occupied the Balkan Peninsula at various times throughout its history.
Borislav Bogdanovic - father
Tanya Bogdanovic – mother
Ilarion Bogdanovic – son
Nicolina Bogdanovic – daughter
Gavrilo Bogdanovic - son
Goran Bogdanovic – son
Mila Djokovic – prospective wife of Goran Bogdanovic
Novena Mladenovic – takes Mila’s place in arranged marriage to Goran
Chapter 18 – Sunday July 15, 1928
Antione goes to church with the Bogdanovic Family and attends their family dinner at the three houses owned by Mila and her brothers-in-law. He sits with Ilarion, Gav, Pavle, Thomas and the Ljubičić brothers to discuss how they will help and protect him in the Goodyear plant.
He also has a private talk with Mila, in which she asks him personal questions.
After the meal, he offers to help with the dishwashing, meets some resistance, but insists. Mila arranges it, and this puts him in closer, highly chaperoned, contact with the younger female member of the family.
He meets Lada in the upstairs hall outside the bathroom. She teases him, and then invites him to meet her the following week at Kay’s Luncheonette.
When he gets home after the dinner, he finds a pamphlet titled A Discussion of ‘Capital’ by Karl Marx in his suit coat pocket.
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Mila Bogdanovic/ Novena Mladenovic – mother of Thomas, Pavle and Lada
Ilarion Bogdanovic – Mila’s brother-in-law
Gavrilo (Gav) Bogdanovic - Mila’s brother-in-law
Pavle Bogdanovic – Mila’s elder son
Tomaslav (Thomas) Bogdanovic - Mila’s younger son
Lada Bogdanovic – Mila’s daughter
Josif Ljubičić – Goodyear plant 2 worker
Kuzman Ljubičić – Goodyear plant 2 worker
Ranko (Frankie) Dragovic – Serbian gangster and would-be suitor of Lada Bogdanovic
Chapter 19 - Friday May 1, 1970
The Executive Council of the Kent State chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (the SDS) meets to plan a protest in response to the Nixon decision to bomb Cambodia.
Stephen Bogdanovic warns the other members of the Council that there is a plan to burn down the ROTC building on campus and suggests that they stay clear and be someplace where they will have witnesses. The others assume that this is a Weathermen (a violent offshoot of the SDS) operation.
Main Characters –
Brody Taylor – President
Stephen Bogdanovic – Vice President
Allen Wong – Treasurer
Nathan Goldstein – Operations
Mustafa Jones – Liaison to the Black Students Organization
Chapter 20 – Wednesday July 18, 1928
Antione meets Lada at a Kay’s Luncheonette and they have a chat over lunch. One thing they talk about is the Karl Marx pamphlet Antoine found in his pocket after the dinner with the Bogdanovic family.
Antoine sees Thomas later at work and shows him the pamphlet; Thomas is not surprised and offers to return it to its owner. He also delivers a message from “a family member” that Antoine should expected to be contacted by “somebody from a union organization.”
Main Characters –
Antoine Trombley
Lada Bogdanovic
Thomas Bogdanovic
Chapter 21 - Tuesday March 12, 1929
Tuesday: Antoine works in the Goodyear factory. It also describes the outfit he developed to protect himself from the toxic environment in the plant.
On his walk from the streetcar stop to the house, a gang of men waylay him, warn him off Lada and give him an expert beating.
Wednesday: Antoine tells Lada he can’t meet with her anymore. She says she will talk to Frankie Dragovic; she pleads with Antoine not to be hasty.
Friday: Lance Morrison approaches Antoine in the public library and invites him to discuss a proposition in Lance’s car. Morrison offers Antoine incentives to run for a position on the Goodyear Industrial Assembly, the company “union”. Once elected, Antoine would become a spy for labor union interests. Antoine says he’ll think about it.
Main Characters -
Antoine Trombley
Joey DeLuca – factory worker
Liam Conley – Irish thug; works for Frankie Dragovic
Lada Bogdanovic
Clarence “Lance” Morrison – private investigator, works for labor union interests. He was previously a policeman and arrested Antoine for “drunk” driving. Neither recognizes the other.