Being with Henry

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Being with Henry features the unusual and moving friendship of
16-year-old Laker Wyatt and octogenarian Henry Olsen. While the former,
an only child, has been physically and emotionally abandoned by his
mother, the latter, a widower, is being smothered by a well-meaning but
controlling daughter.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, “Dreams and Lies,”
establishes the strong emotional relationship between Laker and his
single mother, Audrey. When Audrey remarries and the new “family”
moves from Minneapolis to Duluth, Laker finds himself increasingly in
conflict with his new stepfather, Rick—a conflict that culminates when
Laker physically attacks Rick for emotionally abusing the now-pregnant
Audrey. Ordered out of the house by Audrey, Laker boards the first
available bus, one to Bemidji, Minnesota.

Part 2, “Henry,” is the book’s longest section. After three weeks
on the streets, Laker encounters Henry Olsen, who offers work and
lodging. Initially, Henry’s actions are to spite his daughter, but,
over the year that Laker and Henry spend together, a strong emotional
bond forms between them. Part 3, “Heron Lake,” takes Henry, his teen
granddaughter Charlene, and Laker to a Manitoba lake summer cabin Henry
had shared with his wife. While there, Laker finds answers to his past
that lead to a new relationship with his mother, toddler half-brother,
and Rick, all now living in Winnipeg.

Brooks acknowledges that “two sections of Being with Henry appeared
in a slightly different form as part of the story ‘The Kindness of
Strangers’ from the collection Traveling on into the Light and Other
Stories.” A crossover book, Being with Henry has a place in adult
collections as well. Highly recommended.