BIG TIMBER — It took three years, but Jamie (Graham) Duprey has penned a second book.
This one, "The Green Clad Kicker," picks up in college right where her first book, "The Yellow Sports Bra: A true story of love, faith, and basketball," which was published in 2020, left off.
"When I started working on this book I was doing other jobs, and I hadn't thought through that time in my life yet, so I had to process a lot longer," Duprey said. "I would read my journals, then just think about things for a while and let things marinate, then find a space where I could write again. I just didn't have as much time, and I also hadn't thought through it as clearly as my high school, so I had to kind of decide as I went what to focus on, what to write about, and even just remembering everything was a lot."
During the time between the two books, both of Duprey's grandmothers passed away, leading her to dedicate the book to the two of them.
"It is special having this book dedicated to both of my grandmothers. They were very influential and I love sharing different stories. There's even letters from each of them in the book and one of my aunts that passed away. So that's really nice for family legacy and history to be able to reminisce those stories and talk about how important those people have been," Duprey said.
While the two books she's penned represent different periods in her life, she's found a common theme pretty much everywhere she's been.
"A thread of both of these books is definitely — of course small town Montana, and now that we live in South Dakota I see small town USA," Duprey said. "Such a fun thing for me is when people read about something and then they share, 'Oh, in 1974 our boys football team went to state,' or it brings up memories for people and that's the best part is getting to hear their stories. It might not even be about basketball or football, but it's something that we can connect on that deeper level and that's just one of the best parts."
