Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

The Full "Old Breed" Story

A few years ago, I recommended a great book called With the Old Breed. It's the true story of the Pacific campaign during WWII told by a Marine who lived it. It's also one of the books used for HBO's series, The Pacific. Every American should read this book to understand the sacrifice endured to defend our freedom.

From the book, "All who survived will long remember the horror they would rather forget. But they suffered and they did their duty so a sheltered homeland can enjoy the peace that was purchased at such a high cost. We owe those Marines a profound debt of gratitude."

This podcast episode is a conversation with the author's son. If you've read the book or watched The Pacific, you'll really enjoy this episode. If you enjoy WWII history, it's also a great listen.

Good Listens

These are a few songs I've been enjoying recently.

Gary by Stephen Wilson Jr. - I love his songwriting, and this one really makes me think to find the meaning.

Where Rainbows Never Die by The Steeldrivers - This one is super catchy. I always find myself singing along.

Lone Ole Cowboy by Dylan Gossett - I love songs that tell a story. Dylan Gossett has a lot of good tracks, but this is my favorite.

The Soldier and the Oak by Elliott Park - This is another one that tells a story. I would be pretty surprised if you've heard it.

The Tender Bar

If you haven't read JR Moehringer's memoir, The Tender Bar, you're missing out.

Moehringer ghost wrote Andre Agassi's book, Open, and Phil Knight's book, Shoe Dog, two of my favorite books, and his writing is mesmerizing. He writes the best character descriptions I've ever read.

The Tender Bar is a coming of age story that reads like a novel. It charts the course of Moehringer's life from an eight year old boy to a man well into his thirties. What struck me was how, at every point, the story feels like it's being told from the main character's age, not from an adult looking back on his life. 

It's packed with subtle bits of wisdom - "One old bourbon drinker told me that a man's life is all a matter of mountains and caves - mountains we must climb, caves where we hide when we can't face our mountains."

It's also packed with hilarious and relatable moments from growing up - "They taught me to say the word 'fuck,' gave me this word as if it were a pocketknife or a good suit of clothes, something every boy should have. They showed me the many ways 'fuck' could release anger, scare off enemies, rally allies, make people laugh in spite of themselves. They taught me to pronounce it forcefully, gutterally, even gracefully, to get my money's worth from the word. Why inquire meekly what's going on, they said, when you can demand, 'What the fuck?' They demonstrated the many verbal recipes in which 'fuck' was the main ingredient. A burger at Gilgo, for instance, was twice as tasty when it was a 'Gilgo fucking burger.'" 

If you get around to reading it, let me know what you think.

Workout of the Week

This is a fun workout that smokes your grip and tests your ability to hold on to the bar.

“Catch Me if You Can”

5 rounds for time:

• 1k bike erg or 400m run

• 10 toes to bar

• 10 clean and jerk (95)

Aim to complete this in less than 20 minutes. My best time is 19:02.

Quote of the Week

"The prize goes to he who does not lose his head or open his mouth too soon." - Rich Cohen

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Talk soon,

Joe