Colorado person retains his friend’s memory alive in e-book about travels and golfing | Way of living

It started out as an not likely friendship. It became a friendship so profound that their tales — about great jokes and travels and golfing — needed to be documented.

At the very least that is how Luke Reese felt.

When his pal of approximately 25 many years died of Lou Gehrig’s sickness in August 2019, Reese resolved to publish about him and their adventures.

“There demands to be a e book about him,” Reese thought. “He’s that superior. He’s that amusing. All people beloved this man so a lot.”

Even though quarantining in his Chicago apartment this 12 months, Reese adopted by on that believed. The founder of a personal equity business, he also made a decision he could get the job done from any where. So he moved to Colorado, which he generally imagined of as a “dream position.”

His debut book, “One For the Memory Banks,” came out this yr. The memoir, which touches on their friendship and travels, begins with how the mates achieved.

They were separated by practically 20 a long time and distinctive nations.

It was 1994 when Reese, who was in his 30s, satisfied Allan Bond, a Scottish person with excellent enthusiasm and talent for the game of golfing. Even though they have been each working for Wilson Sporting Products, Reese lived in Germany and Bond lived in London.

When they met in individual, Reese asked Bond — or “Bondy,” as anyone understood him — how he could boost his golfing grip. The response was a joke about how negative it seemed.

Reese didn’t choose the riff individually. “You could just explain to this man is flat out funny,” he explained of the trade.

A 7 days later, Reese received a duplicate of a espresso desk book in the mail. It was about legendary golf courses. Bondy promised they’d perform some of those people destinations if Reese learned how to play far better.

“From there, a friendship was set for daily life,” Reese reported.

Within just months, they ended up jointly on a golfing program. Above the future two decades, they visited the ideal and most gorgeous programs in the globe together.

Alongside the way, Reese uncovered how to enjoy. They have been continuously likely again and forth amongst friends and rivals. And they figured out about life from just about every other.

“At the commencing, I was awful,” Reese, who played tennis in higher education, mentioned of his golfing expertise. “But I fell in appreciate with golfing.”

And he bought a lot improved, now describing himself as a low-handicap participant.

But, no, his e book is not just about golfing.

It is a tribute to Bondy, the guy he suggests is a blend of Winston Churchill, Sean Connery and Arnold Palmer. It’s about their “zen like” time with each other on these majestic programs, like Royal County Down Golfing Club in Ireland.

The mix of friendship and activity has led to rave testimonials.

Here’s a single from Jason Adel, CEO of Golf Magazine. “The tales, the men and women, the friendships, the levels of competition, and, of course, the emotion,” he wrote. “‘One for the Memory Banks’ has everything that would make golfing the biggest sport on earth.”

The ebook was incorporated in a vacation present guideline place out by Katie Couric.

Thanks to assistance from Reese’s daughter, Madeline, who edited the guide, it was done in April. He sent the manuscript to his mate Brian Lewis, a longtime publisher of golfing- similar books.

Lewis states he was reluctant to read or publish a friend’s do the job. But immediately after looking through Reese’s e book for 10 minutes, he saw a thing exclusive.

“When you read anything that is as excellent as anything you’ve browse in the last 10 or 20 a long time, it is really hard not to get excited about it,” Lewis explained.

For Reese, who now lives in Boulder, the ebook is a testament to his mate. He suggests it is like “Tuesdays with Bondy,” a reference to Mitch Albom’s beloved e-book, “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Crafting it, he suggests, aided him heal from the traumatic loss of his good friend.

“It’s a friendship story,” Reese reported. “It’s about two close friends who had the most pure fun you could have.”