JOHN DAY – Former Grant County resident Rod Retherford will be in town Friday and Saturday June 20-21, to sign copies of a book about his life.

The book, by John A. Kuri, is titled “Rod: He Beat Death at its Own Game, the Non-believers at Theirs and Won his Ultimate Victory” and was published by Seven Locks Press.

Retherford, who now lives in Culver, will sign books all day, both days at Chester’s Thriftway.

The story chronicles Retherford’s life from his youth as a bull-rider and aspiring football player to his role in the Washington State University Huskies’ victorious 1981 season.

Along the way, he overcame several traumatic events. He saw his older brother die in a freak rodeo accident, sank into – and overcame – drug and alcohol abuse. After winning a full ride to WSU to play football, he was critically injured in a shooting when a teammate, Junior Tupuola, accidentally discharged a gun while they were in a car. Told that he might be a paraplegic for life, he struggled to recover and rejoined the Cougars in time for their history-making season.

The book publisher quotes former Coach Jim Walden as saying that it was one of his most gratifying coaching experiences to watch Retherford come back to succeed in PAC-10 football “while conquering his own personal demons.”