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 Yesterday's Gone is the first novel by mother and son writing team Lamar & Mary Agnes Fine of
Chickamauga, GA. It has been well received and been a Books-A-Million Regional Best Seller since January
2000, capturing the regional Number One Best Seller position much of that time. It is also been featured on
Barnes & Noble website.
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Yesterday's Gone Synopsis
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It was the summer of '74. The music of John Denver filled the airwaves and Watergate was the latest
national scandal. But none of this mattered to Jack Roberts as he bent over the steering wheel of his parked
car in the old Chattanooga cemetery and gave vent to his emotions. He had not lost a loved one. He had lost a
dream… a dream for which he had wagered everything.
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A hundred miles away, in Atlanta, Mary Davenport, stared out the window as the florist truck circled her
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driveway. The twelve long-stemmed yellow roses were a peace offering… and a mockery. Her home was
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beautiful, her husband handsome and successful. Who could ask for more? But as a single tear slipped from
her eye and down her cheek, all she could think of was how much she had given up for so little.
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Three years ago their world was filled with hope and promise. Now it held only memories of a love they had
let slip through their fingers. But that was yesterday… And Yesterday's Gone.
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Yesterday's Gone features two main characters. Jack and Mary were teenage sweethearts who always
assumed that someday they would be husband and wife. Jack was a minor league baseball player pursuing a
dream to make it to the majors. Mary waited for awhile. Then in the course of one short summer choices are
made that alter their lives forever. Yesterday's Gone spans a twenty five-year period in the lives of the
characters. It begins in 1971 on the eve of Mary's wedding to another man, and follows both her and Jack's
separate lives over the next twenty-five years, including brief periods when their paths cross. It's a story of
life… real life… with its joy and sorrow, its triumphs and tribulations, and of sometimes holding on when there
is little to hold on to. Yesterday's Gone is a story of hope… and courage… and strength. It spans the emotions
of humor, despair, immeasurable happiness and gut wrenching sorrow. It dares to face the inequities of life, but
never forgets there is always hope. And that the light at the end of the tunnel is always worth reaching for.
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Yesterday's Gone is a love story, but it is far more than that. It's a story of survival and ultimate success in a
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world where life isn't always kind. It proves that by believing in yourself and persevering, you can ultimately
reach your dreams… at least the important ones… And that while Yesterday's Gone… Tomorrow lies ahead.
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Excerpts From Yesterday's Gone
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You can't resurrect the past… Yesterday's Gone… You can only remember it for what it was… a
memory… That's all it can ever be.
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* * * * *
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She would not try to stand in his way. It was time to end the pretense. Tomorrow she would tell the
children. She would do it as gently as possible and would encourage them to love and respect their father, but
she would not make him out to be something he was not. There had been enough of that. As the years went by,
they would make their own assessment of their father… and that was as it should be.
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* * * * *
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For the first time tears welled up in her eyes, and she felt very much alone. The tears were not for her, nor
for the marriage that had died years ago, but for her children. They deserved better. They deserved parents
that loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. This she could not give them… and
that hurt most of all.
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* * * * *
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He stood staring into the fire, reliving the last twenty-four hours. They had spent the night in a cold house
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without heat or lights, but they had managed quite well, and in the midst of the storm, they had found something
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they had lost so long ago.
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* * * * *
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There was not a trace of tears in his eyes. Perhaps they had all been cried… or would be… at some private
time in some private place… as would her own.
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* * * * *
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Again there was only silence. They were two people a hundred miles apart, joined only by a telephone line,
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reaching out to each other for answers, which neither of them could provide.
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* * * * *
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But this time she couldn't make the pain go away. One day it would, but right now it could only be endured.
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* * * * *
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It was almost dark as they made their descent down the mountainside. Only the soft radiance of the harvest
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moon lit their pathway. There was a chilly bite in the air, as the brisk autumn breeze blew through the trees.
The crisp dry leaves made strange sounds, and the hazy moonlight created haunting shadows around them. Fog
was beginning to rise from the valley below, and the mountain that had been so tranquil during the day now
seemed eerie and threatening.
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* * * * *
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Garrett hesitated for a moment as he watched the pretty lady in the turquoise suit walk quickly out of his life.
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Then he crossed the street to the silver Mercedes. Once he looked back, but she had already turned the corner.
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* * * * *
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Buddy quickly put a few things in an overnight bag, grabbed the only suit he owned, and headed for Nashville to
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say good-bye to one of the best friends he had ever known.
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* * * * *
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It was only a cup of coffee, yet it was more than that. Sally Knox had reached out to her and had shown that
she cared. And never in her life had she needed someone to care as much as she did right now.
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Lamar's Favorite Excerpt
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He was in shock!... He couldn't believe it!... It was all a horrible dream!... It couldn't be true!
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He tried her pulse... There was none.
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He listened for a heartbeat... He heard none.
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He started CPR immediately... He tried and he tried, begging her to respond... First for ten minutes...
Then for twenty... Then, finally exhausted, he fell over on her. It was no use... She was gone.
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The sight of her lying there on the sand was more than he could bear, so he gently gathered her up and held
her there on the blanket where just moments before they had sat planning their wedding.
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He cradled her in his arms and held her close, and wept openly. Deep, wrenching sobs came forth from his
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tortured soul... And there was only a sea gull to hear... and no one to care.
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For a long time he rocked her lifeless form back and forth in his arms, as one gently shakes a no-longer-
working timepiece, hoping the motion will start it to ticking again... Yet it never does.
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The diamond on her finger sparkled in the glow of the fire, as tears dripped from his chin and onto her
face... He tried to wipe them away, but it was no use. They trickled across her forehead and dampened her
beautiful hair... But she wouldn't mind. She had felt the dampness of his tears before.
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She was gone... He knew it... There was no need to hurry... No doctor, no hospital could help... It was too
late.
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He would hold her awhile longer, and then do what had to be done... Once they came, they would take her
from him, and he would never hold her again.
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Yesterday's Gone Character Sketch
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Jack… who follows his dream, only to find that dreams can be short-lived, and that life is often a series of
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starting over.
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Mary… young, beautiful, reared by loving parents, who finds that life isn't always what it seems, and that
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security and trust have a way of falling down in mid-flight, leaving you alone in the dark.
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Jessi… who reaches beyond her heartache and loss to find joy and success... and love... and who brightens
the lives of those around her.
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Buddy… who's the "best darn guitar picker around," but who wages a constant battle with the bottle.
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Virginia Roberts… whose shining strength is a lighthouse, and whose love never waivers.
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Mr. Bradshaw… the old black ground's keeper, who takes a liking to Jack… and vice versa… and a
unique and lasting friendship is formed.
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Susan... and the Summer of '74.
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Garrett Davenport… young, handsome stockbroker, climbing the ladder to the top… at whatever cost.
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Glenn Daniel… major league baseball scout, whose companionship with Jack helps both of them through
some lonely times.
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Marge Scott… wild, zany, lovable Marge, who opens doors, and warms the hearts of those she believes in
and cares about.
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Bill Johnson… who helps Mary through the dark times, and gives her strength to stand alone.
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And there's Jody and Katie
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See What Our Readers Have to Say about Yesterday's Gone
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Read Yesterday's Gone Readers' Reviews
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or to
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Post Your Own Review, Click the E-mail Icon on the Home Page or
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E-mail us at Lamarfine@aol.com
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For more information, or to arrange for the Fines to speak to your organization or group, contact the authors
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at 245 Garretts Chapel Rd., Chickamauga, GA 30707, Telephone (706) 375-2062, E-mail them at
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Lamarfine@aol.com.
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TO GET YOUR COPY OF YESTERDAY'S GONE
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(Cost $14.95 Plus $1.05 Sales Tax in GA. *Shipping is also available at an additional cost of $3.50)
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Mail Check for $14.95 + $1.05 (Sales Tax) + $3.50 (Shipping) = $19.50 Total
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to:
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Lamar Fine
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245 Garretts Chapel Rd.
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Chickamauga, GA 30707
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Tel. (706) 375-2062
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or Click the "ORDER" Icon below to pay by credit card through PayPal.
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