Glenn Hileman is the author of the new novel A Yellow House in the Mountains: A Story of Love and Refinement. It is based on his parents' lives; they died in the 2020 East Troublesome Fire in Colorado. He is the CEO of Highmark School Development, and he lives in Bountiful, Utah.
Q: Why did you decide to write a novel based on the lives of your late parents?
A: In a word, inspiration. Six days following the fire, I was mowing the lawn in an attempt to channel my grief. While pushing the mower, I was humming a tune over and over again. I paused long enough to go inside, grab a guitar, and figure out the chord progression. I then returned to the yard. Within 30 minutes I had assembled lyrics and recorded the song that night.
No, I'm not a musician, but the song has brought peace to our family. After the memorial service I recorded stories told, some I'd heard for the first time. I later decided to weave this series of short stories into a novel.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: One of the great joys in writing the story was striving to understand the reason behind Lyle and Marylin’s choices.
For example, I knew my mom dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant at the age of 15. Shortly after learning of the pregnancy, my father enlisted in the Marine Reserves. I discovered that in 1952, the Korean War led to a draft with a six-year enlistment.
As an alternative, the U.S. government implemented a military reserve act. It required basic training of two months and then one weekend per month of duty. All reserves could be called up but until that occurred, they stayed in their communities.
After a shotgun wedding, my father left for training. While difficult, I imagine it was a far better alternative than a six-year commitment.
Q: What did you see as the right balance between history and fiction as you wrote the book?
A: I leaned on the historical stories as much as possible. This helped in creating the setting and timing of events. However, I needed to embellish a lot of the dialogue and guess at the motivation of many actions.
The process was fulfilling and brought me closer to my parents. It was also fun to get responses from my family, often confirming details and occasionally correcting specifics.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: It is a story of refinement. My father was a troubled teenager. Upon meeting my mother, he determined he would change and win her affection. Together, they were able to overcome adversity and I hope their story inspires others to realize their dreams.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I've been working on a screenplay and hope to convert the story into a film. I had a lot of help organizing the content and am now refining the story to better align with the key elements of the book.
I should also mention, I've spent three years working to restore my parents’ property. My website contains a video clip of the journey of recovery.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Surprisingly, the county wouldn't let us reconstruct the yellow house. They now have design standards and updated codes. We appealed their decision and lost. We chose to focus on what we could control and it turned out to be a blessing.
It took two years just to remove debris, replant fields, improve damaged roads, and most importantly, fulfill my mother's desire for a park and pavilion. That's another incredible story to explore as she gave us her marching orders on Oct. 4. Three weeks later, she was gone.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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