Soldier survives fatherhood

An audiobook project in the making about a veteran, early space program developer and father.

This pic was taken in 1994 when I was 14 years old, about 1 month after my Dad left the hospital, we visited the Fire station of the EMT who saved his life.

I am Rodney Echols, for Black history month I decided to record my Dad’s personal anecdotes and adventures and write his story.

When I was 14 years old, my Dad has survived a heart attacks and a strokes which left him with a brain injury which affects his memory. Thirty years later my Dad is rapidly losing more of his memory due to age. I want to do something so that one day I will be able to share his inspirational adventure with my own 3 son’s.

📎 Story Summary

This black fatherhood story spans 3 generations in an inspiring account of a family's Civil Service career and battle with heart disease. My Dad’s 75 year history seems like an indy film. His journey explores middle class family life in 1950’s, the life of an HBCU (Historic Black College or University) alumni in the 1960’s, courageously serving his country in the Vietnam war in the 1970’s, and a unique technology career working on the U.S.’s space missions in the 1980's. In the midst of his life's achievements the 1990’s brought on his ultimate battle genetic heart disease. My this father's story is a rare modern day inspiration of family and a valuable snapshot of fatherhood in middle class black America.

This is a recent pic of us today.

Trust me you will fall in love with his story too if you like familiar stories from your millennial childhood, stories about veteran life and you are curious about technology pre Silicon Valley when the space program ruled cutting edge in the 1980’s.

This is a build in public audio book!

Here is how it works, Each week I interview my Dad to capture note and his personal experiences, some of which I never even knew about. I then take my notes and record them as an audio file. Buy this story and you get early access to the story as it is being written and you can pre-order the audiobook.

All fans and supporters get to hear this story and be a part of the creation process.