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Interview With Jim Jordan
QUESTION: Can you tell us what Something That Lasts is about?
ANSWER: Something That Lasts is about a family torn apart by a single bad choice – a moment of weakness in
the face of temptation. The choice results in scandal and tragedy, but the book is not about scandal or tragedy.
It’s about a broken family’s search for hope.
Q: Do they find hope?
A: Yes, they do. It’s not easy. They struggle mightily – with God and with each other. But each in his or her
own way comes back to faith, which is the key to hope.
Q: What is the message you’re trying to convey – what is the thing that lasts?
A: Faith is what lasts. There are times when faith is all that we have left. Fortunately, it
is also all that we ultimately need. That is what the family in Something That Lasts learned.
Q: A minister’s adultery is the focal point of your plot. Why did you choose that as the
primary plot catalyst?
A: To show that no one is immune to temptation, no matter what his position or stature –
and the higher a person rises in the estimation of others, the farther he can fall. In this
story, the fall was gut wrenching.
Q: That your characters struggle with their faith is obvious, but they also struggle in
their relationships with one another. What was it that made forgiveness so difficult for
this family?
A: The preacher’s “fall” was devastating and publicly humiliating. For the wife to forgive
was one thing, but the pain inflicted on their son – that was something else. For the son,
the hurt done to his mother triggered an instinct to defend her, to protect her. Before he
could forgive, he had to move beyond that primal instinct, which was extraordinarily difficult
to do.
Q: Baseball plays a background role in the book. What is the significance of baseball to
the book’s message?
A: First of all I want to point out, in case anyone was wondering, that there is baseball
in heaven. In Something That Lasts, the simple act of playing catch after school becomes a
bridge that connects three generations of fathers and sons. But baseball also serves as a
metaphor for faith. Sometimes a fielder has to take his eye off the ball and have faith that
when he looks back up, the ball will still be there.
Q: This book unabashedly addresses good and evil as unseen forces at work in the background
of our lives. What do you want the reader to take away from the book’s treatment of this
subject?
A: That evil and Satan are not abstract notions, but very real forces in conflict with God
for our lives. Faith is ultimately the shield we must rely on to combat these forces because,
in the final analysis, it’s the only thing that lasts.
Q: How did a lawyer end up writing a book like this?
A: I was a journalism major in college, and I always had a yen to write a book. Being a
lawyer who charges by the hour gave me the ability to focus on the project when I had the
time. Even so, to get the manuscript in final form took five years.
Q: You’re a preacher’s kid. Did any of your childhood experiences make it into the book?
A: Yes, a few are in there. But beyond specific experiences, my upbringing gave me the
credibility to weave a fictional story within the fabric of a church and its congregation.
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