The Casket-maker’s Son

This chapter looks at a conversation with Ross McIntire, the casket-maker's son, during lunch at an upscale sandwich shop in Naperville, Illinois. By all rights, the village on the banks of the DuPage River should be perfect digs for an aspiring young actor and playwright like Ross McIntire. Yet he talked about how he does not belong there, even after the successful debut of his one-act play about small-town life, Blight, at North Central College where he has recently completed a theater major. Home for the casket-maker's son is Galva, Illinois, an hour and a half west. Up until his recent graduation, Ross wore the cap of college student. While the casket-maker's son appreciates his four years living in Naperville as a college student, the place is alien to him in many ways.