Bend, OR, January 23, 2024 — John Frederick von Hurst, grandson of one of the greatest pool hustlers of the 20th century, has completed his new book, “Young Tennessee Brown”: a gripping and potent tribute to his grandfather, Fred Lloyd Whalen. Von Hurst looks back affectionately on the stories he was told throughout his childhood and lovingly brings those tales to life.

“This is a novel based on the life of my grandfather, Fred Lloyd Whalen,” writes author John Frederick von Hurst. “Except for the time spent in school and asleep, I spent the majority of my early life in his company and that of his son, my uncle Jack. They were my ‘rabbit hole,’ a place where few children growing up would ever see less participate in. It was a world of characters that were relatives, true and false friends, and life was an adventure. I learned the sense of family, what it was and wasn’t. My grandfather was a ‘hustler’ in every sense of the word. Some considered him a ‘con man,’ and in certain ways, he was. I never met a person that didn’t like him, and I knew even more who loved him. He was generous to all he knew and some whom he only met in the moment. I never really had a father. He knew it and more than made up for him. He was my best friend.”