In 2003, when I was interviewing for the stories that would be contained within Buffalo Soul Lifters, I arrived at the Kelly household on a cold and icy winter's day to speak to Jim and Jill about the miracle known as Hunter Kelly.
The Kelly house has a "u-shaped" drive and all but one spot was taken, as Hunter had a whole team of caregivers. I was driving my wife's mini-van and I had to attempt a parallel park to get into the space. Now, I consider myself the king of the parallel park and I pride myself on being able to drop a vehicle into the tightest of spaces on a dime.
I got halfway into the maneuver and was at the point where you cut the wheel back when I realized I was on a solid sheet of ice and was stuck. I gently rocked the van back and forth, trying to get a tire hold on the ice - no luck. Now, I was stuck half in and half out of the parking space. Suddenly I realized I was going to have to go ring the bell and ask Hall-of-Fame QB Jim Kelly to throw on his coat, grab some kitty litter and help push me free.
I quickly decided that was no way to start an interview.
So, I threw the van in reverse and gunned it. Miraculously, I caught enough of a hold to get free. I drove all the way back out to the road and parked on the side of the street and hoofed it back in.
Jim and Jill couldn't have been kinder and the interview went amazingly well. Meeting Hunter was a transcendent moment and I am forever honored that the Kellys entrusted me to tell his story to the world.
As a postscript I'd like to add that I always tape-recorded each subject and then wrote the story later while reviewing the tape. I got home from the Kelly interview and decided to write the chapter right away. Thank God I did because when I pushed the "play" button the tape was blank.
In meeting Jim and Jill, I had nervously hit the wrong button on the tape recorder and taped nothing but white noise. I quickly wrote the story from memory and sent it to the Kellys for their approval. They loved it and I let out a huge sigh of relief.