{"id":79829,"date":"2025-10-14T12:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/79829\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:06:07","slug":"new-book-just-raise-your-left-hand-highlights-two-tahoe-locals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/79829\/","title":{"rendered":"New book \u2018Just Raise Your Left Hand\u2019 highlights two Tahoe locals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new book,\u00a0Just Raise Your Left Hand<\/a>, shines a light on two Tahoe locals whose real-life stories helped inspire its characters.<\/p>\n

Written by longtime coach and educator John Kerrigan, the book traces the story of Joe, a teacher and coach whose path reflects Kerrigan\u2019s own experiences of change, renewal and finding purpose again.<\/p>\n

Told through a collection of short stories, the book introduces readers to the many people Joe encounters along his teaching and coaching career. Among them, two stand out as Tahoe locals.<\/p>\n

In story No. 9, readers meet Troy, a character based on Roy Tuscany, Tahoe local and founder of the High Fives Foundation<\/a>. Troy, a former member of Joe\u2019s cross-country ski team in the late 1990s, faces a life-changing accident that forces him to rebuild his life.<\/p>\n

According to the author, Troy embodied a lesson he often shared with his athletes \u2014 the ability to break down every goal into small, achievable steps \u2014 a mindset he realized could extend far beyond sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust take it one day at a time,\u201d Kerrigan would tell his athletes. \u201cBreak it down into small steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching Troy apply that same philosophy in his recovery, both Kerrigan and his fictional counterpart, Joe, feel a deep sense of pride and admiration.<\/p>\n

Another standout figure in the book is Sophia Sanchez, a skyrunner from Kings Beach who once competed on Coach Joe\u2019s team. Initially underestimated, Sanchez went on to break the record at the prestigious Broken Arrow Skyrace in Palisades Tahoe.<\/p>\n

Later, during an international competition in Spain, her performance was so impressive that the Spanish national team began considering her for recruitment \u2014 a proud moment reflected both in Joe\u2019s story and in Kerrigan\u2019s real life.<\/p>\n

Through these stories, Kerrigan seeks to capture the resilience, drive and community that define the world of coaching and teaching.<\/p>\n

His book can be found on BookBaby<\/a> or Amazon<\/a>, and a signed copy can be requested to Kerrigan at hurunning13@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new book,\u00a0Just Raise Your Left Hand, shines a light on two Tahoe locals whose real-life stories helped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[288,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-79829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}