Searching for Steve

<p class=ql-align-justify><strong style=color: rgba(32 31 30 1)>In 1968 Joel Harris and his wife adopted a six-day-old baby they named Stephen.</strong><span style=color: rgba(32 31 30 1)> Despite his parents' later divorce and his difficulty obtaining a college degree Steve grew into a bright young man who became an innovative teacher first teaching in troubled school systems then in Nicaragua where he drowned at thirty-one while trying to save a friend's dog. After Steve's death Joel went in search of his son's birth parents determined to learn more about </span>him but had limited success. The <span style=color: rgba(32 31 30 1)>more fruitful search he made was through Steve's diaries and teaching journals which bring him to life on the page. The result is a moving portrait of both Stephen and Joel and of the bonds parents and children make told in language that mirrors their loving heartbreaking relationship. </span></p><p><br></p>