It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to decide to write a sequel to arguably one of the most heralded novels in American literature. Especially when you’re not the original author.
Yet Montgomery County Community College English Senior Lecturer Donald Yost of Norristown has risen to the challenge with his newly published novel, “Henry: A Sequel to Stephen Crane’s ‘The Red Badge of Courage,’” which chronicles the life of the title character following the events of the 1894 classic war novel.
The 76-year-old said he had two reasons to take on the herculean effort.
“[Crane’s] book wasn’t finished,” he argued. “He didn’t finish his story. Secondly, his book is still unique. It’s about the Civil War. Many books about the Civil War are still talking about generals and battles, not about a coming of age. This is a coming-of-age book. My market is college students and Henry is 16 or 17 years old. I can’t find any other books about it than ‘The Red Badge of Courage.’”
In Yost’s story, Henry is wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he inherits a winery and becomes mayor of Chatfield Corner in Upstate New York. He learns to live with his war injury as he overcomes his demons from the war.
Yost, who has taught at MCCC for 12 years, does not teach ‘The Red Badge of Courage’ in his courses and said he will not assign ‘Henry’ either.
He feels it would be unprofessional for him to require his students to purchase his book. That said, he would appreciate it if they read it anyway and thinks they might get something out of it.
In writing the book, Yost said he felt uniquely suited to attempt to describe what Crane’s protagonist’s life would be like following the war, as he lived a life that was very similar. Yost was a combat infantryman and war correspondent with the U.S. Army’s America l Division, 11th Infantry Brigade in the Vietnam War in the area around MyLai from 1968-1969. He is a Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman’s Badge recipient.
His previous memoir, “Blessings: Transforming My Vietnam Experience” deals with the PTSD he experienced long after the war ended and how he’s healed from that experience.
When deciding to tackle a sequel to a novel he didn’t write originally, let alone a classic piece of American literature, and a perennial favorite among lists of greatest war novels of all time, Yost knew he could draw upon his own experience as a soldier to answer many of Crane’s unanswered questions.
Yost holds a bachelor’s degree in English Composition from Seton Hall University, and his master’s degree in English Literature and Publishing from Rosemont College. He is the founding president of Chapter #349 of the Vietnam Veterans of America veteran’s organization and has conducted support groups for Vietnam Veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“Henry: A Sequel to Stephen Crane’s “The Red Badge of Courage” is available in bookstores everywhere, or online in the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.
