SOYBEANS
Book 1 of the Driftless Rivers Trilogy
Author: Lester Leavitt
Publication: 2025 (Independently published)
ISBN: 9798274894098
Setting: Primary timeline 2027 with flashbacks to 2004, 1979-1980, and other periods
Genre: Speculative Fiction / Political Thriller / LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction
Series Position: Foundation novel establishing the Driftless Rivers universe
Core Premise
Soybeans explores the intersection of agricultural consolidation, authoritarian governance, LGBTQ+ rights under fascism, and technological resistance in near-future America (2027). The novel interweaves multiple timelines and perspectives to show how corporate control of agriculture, digital surveillance, and political persecution create an interconnected crisis requiring grassroots resistance and international solidarity.
Major Timelines
Primary Timeline: March-May 2027
The "present day" of the novel. AgriCore Solutions (backed by Senator Tisdale's donor network) is consolidating control over American agriculture through the Farm Bill of 2026. Hugh Lubbert and Eugene Thomas face persecution as gay men under the Tisdale administration. Bill Kowalski confronts losing his family farm to corporate control.
Hugh's Discovery Timeline: May 2004
Hugh Lubbert, married Mormon father of four, writes a novel and realizes his protagonist—and therefore himself—is gay. This timeline shows his coming out process, divorce from Brenda, and the beginning of his authentic life.
Mission Timeline: 1979-1980
Young Hugh serves as Mormon missionary in Uruguay, meeting Benito at Estancia Tierra Púrpura near Aguaverde. Their friendship becomes the foundation of a fifty-year love story complicated by Hugh's inability to accept his sexuality.
Resolution Timeline: Spring 2028
Post-resistance timeline showing the aftermath of the resistance network's success. Hugh, Eugene, and Beni reunite in Uruguay at Estancia Tierra Púrpura. Bill Kowalski farms with liberation software. The Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola (Agricultural Free Trade Zone) is established at the Uruguay-Brazil border.
Principal Characters
Hugh Lubbert
Role: Protagonist, narrator of most chapters
Arc: Mormon missionary (1979) → closeted married man (2004) → divorced gay man → persecuted resistance member (2027) → refugee/expatriate in Uruguay (2028)
Key Relationships: Married to Brenda (1981-2004), partner to Eugene Thomas (2007-present), lifelong connection to Benito
Occupation: Writer, former educator
Character Essence: Hugh embodies the cost of denying authenticity and the courage required to reclaim it late in life. His fifty-year journey from Mormon missionary to political refugee traces themes of faith, sexuality, resistance, and finding home.
Eugene Thomas
Role: Hugh's partner, resistance strategist
Arc: Corporate professional → activist → resistance network coordinator → Uruguayan immigrant
Key Relationships: Partner to Hugh (2007-present), ally/friend to Bill Kowalski, colleague in resistance network
Skills: Strategic thinking, network coordination, technology adaptation
Character Essence: Eugene represents pragmatic resistance—someone who understands systems well enough to subvert them. His relationship with Hugh grounds the novel's emotional core while his strategic mind drives much of the resistance plotting.
Benito (Beni)
Role: Hugh's first love, Uruguayan connection
Arc: Young Uruguayan man (1979) → lifelong friend/unrequited love → reunion with Hugh (2028)
Key Relationships: Loved Hugh for 50 years, connected to Esperanza (granddaughter of Doña Silva), local community leader in Aguaverde
Location: Aguaverde, Uruguay / Estancia Tierra Púrpura
Character Essence: Benito represents patient love and the cost of waiting. His fifty-year devotion to Hugh—despite Hugh's marriage and denial—embodies themes of authentic love transcending time, distance, and circumstance.
Bill Kowalski
Role: Fifth-generation Illinois farmer, resistance member
Arc: Traditional farmer → target of agricultural consolidation → digital resistance pioneer → liberation farmer
Key Relationships: Son of Ruth Kowalski, connected to Hugh and Eugene through resistance network
Location: Rich Coulee, Driftless Area, NW Illinois (400-acre family farm)
Character Essence: Bill represents traditional American agriculture facing corporate consolidation. His journey from conventional farmer to resistance tech adopter shows how authoritarianism threatens rural communities and how technology can enable grassroots resistance.
Ruth Kowalski
Role: Bill's 87-year-old mother, moral compass, information conduit
Skills: Forwards leaked documents, suspicious of power structures, maintains family legacy
Character Essence: Ruth embodies generational memory and skepticism of authority. At 87, she recognizes patterns of consolidation and control that younger characters might miss. Her role forwarding leaked documents makes her crucial to the resistance network's information infrastructure.
David Lubbert
Role: Hugh's eldest son, returned Mormon missionary
Arc: Faithful Mormon → questioning young adult → resistance participant → Cascades Institute director
Key Relationships: Son of Hugh and Brenda, brother to Matthew, Christine, Rebecca
Character Essence: David represents the next generation wrestling with inherited beliefs and chosen values. His journey from Mormon missionary to resistance institute director parallels his father's journey toward authenticity.
Esperanza
Role: Uruguayan government official, Doña Silva's granddaughter
Arc: Local connection → ministry official → trade zone architect
Key Relationships: Granddaughter of Doña Silva (deceased), connected to Beni, works with Uruguayan government on refugee resettlement and agricultural trade
Character Essence: Esperanza represents institutional power used for good—someone working within government structures to create refuge and economic alternatives for those fleeing American authoritarianism.
Senator Tisdale
Role: Primary antagonist (off-page presence)
Power Base: Senator whose campaign was funded by shadowy donor (connected to AgriCore Solutions)
Agenda: Agricultural consolidation, anti-LGBTQ persecution, digital surveillance, authoritarian governance
Character Essence: Tisdale represents how democratic institutions can be captured by corporate interests and weaponized against vulnerable populations. Though rarely appearing directly, his administration's policies drive all primary conflicts.
Major Locations
Rich Coulee, Driftless Area, NW Illinois
Significance: Bill Kowalski's 400-acre family farm, five generations of agricultural legacy
Description: Rolling terrain characteristic of the Driftless Area (region that escaped glaciation), traditional Midwest farming country now threatened by corporate consolidation
Symbolic Role: Represents traditional American agriculture and rural communities facing existential threat from AgriCore's technological and economic control systems
Aguaverde, Uruguay
Significance: Small town where Hugh met Benito in 1979, site of Estancia Tierra Púrpura
Description: Rural Uruguayan community near Brazilian border, named for nearby Pozo Aguaverde (spring-fed pool with purple verbena)
Key Features: General store, bar, cooperative lands, Doña Silva's former house, Estancia Tierra Púrpura
Symbolic Role: Represents refuge, authentic love, and international solidarity. The town and estancia become Hugh's true home after fifty years.
Estancia Tierra Púrpura (Purple Earth Ranch)
Significance: Historic property near Aguaverde where Hugh and Beni first met, eventual home for Hugh, Eugene, and Beni
Description: Ranch property with purple verbena-covered fields, spring-fed pool (Pozo Aguaverde), modest house
History: Owned by Doña Silva (now deceased), inherited by granddaughter Esperanza, maintained by Beni
Symbolic Role: Literal and metaphorical home—the place where Hugh and Beni's love began, where it was denied, and where it finally becomes possible. The purple verbena serves as recurring imagery for enduring love.
Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola (Agricultural Free Trade Zone)
Significance: Uruguay-Brazil border trade zone created to facilitate agricultural exports from American farmers fleeing AgriCore control
Description: Economic zone allowing American farmers using liberation software to export grain outside AgriCore's monopoly
Political Context: Negotiated by Esperanza and other Uruguayan officials, represents international response to American agricultural fascism
Symbolic Role: Transforms borders from barriers into bridges, creates economic alternatives to corporate control
Cascades Institute
Significance: Organization founded/directed by David Lubbert (Hugh's son)
Function: Research and advocacy organization (specific mission not fully detailed in Book 1)
Symbolic Role: Represents next-generation resistance and the continuation of work beyond individual actors
Key Organizations & Power Structures
AgriCore Solutions
Type: Agricultural technology corporation
Control Mechanisms:
Proprietary tractor software requiring dealer authorization for service
GPS systems and soil sensors transmitting real-time data to AgriCore servers
Seed licensing agreements requiring specific fertilizers from approved vendors
Grain elevator consolidation into "efficiency centers"
Financial partnerships with Sterling Financial
Management partnerships forcing "compliance" on struggling farms
Political Connections: Bankrolled by same shadowy donor who funded Senator Tisdale's campaign
Strategy: Create technological dependency, then use that dependency to convert family farmers into sharecroppers on their own land
Farm Bill of 2026
Official Purpose: Modernize American agriculture through "smart farming" technology
Official Incentives: Subsidized equipment, low-interest loans, tax incentives
Actual Purpose (per leaked documents): Create mandatory technological dependency allowing corporate control of all agricultural production
Implementation: Once farmers accept subsidized technology, they become locked into AgriCore's ecosystem—tractors serviceable only by authorized dealers, seeds requiring specific fertilizers, yields and debts transmitted to corporate servers
The Resistance Network
Participants: Hugh Lubbert, Eugene Thomas, Bill Kowalski, Ruth Kowalski (information), David Lubbert (institutional), others unnamed
Strategies:
Liberation software (open-source alternatives to proprietary agricultural technology)
Information sharing through Ruth's leaked documents network
International trade alternatives (Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola)
Digital organization and coordination
Institutional support (Cascades Institute)
Philosophy: Technology can serve either oppression or liberation—the same digital tools used for control can be repurposed for resistance
Meridian Genetics
Type: Seed corporation
Control Method: Licensing agreements requiring farmers to purchase seeds annually, contracts resembling mortgages
Market Position: Acquired Bill's previous seed supplier, creating monopoly conditions
Sterling Financial
Type: Banking corporation
Control Method: Acquired traditional local banks (like the one Bill's grandfather used for 50 years)
Political Connections: Allegedly shares board members with AgriCore Solutions
Strategic Role: Financial infrastructure supporting agricultural consolidation
Major Themes
Authenticity vs. Legacy
The novel's dedication establishes this as the central theme: "when legacy and authenticity could not coexist, chose authenticity." Hugh's fifty-year journey from denying his sexuality to preserve Mormon legacy, through coming out and divorce, to finding home in Uruguay exemplifies this choice. Bill faces similar choices between preserving family farming legacy through capitulation to AgriCore or choosing authentic resistance.
Corporate Consolidation as Fascism
AgriCore's strategy mirrors historical patterns of authoritarian control: create dependency through seemingly beneficial technology, then leverage that dependency to extract compliance and wealth. The Farm Bill of 2026 shows how democratic institutions can be captured by corporate interests to implement authoritarian outcomes through ostensibly voluntary programs.
Technology as Liberation or Oppression
The same digital technologies AgriCore uses for control (GPS tracking, yield monitoring, automated systems) become tools of resistance when open-sourced and community-controlled. Liberation software represents technological sovereignty—communities controlling their own tools rather than being controlled by proprietary systems.
Borders as Barriers or Bridges
The Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola transforms the Uruguay-Brazil border from a barrier separating nations into a bridge creating economic alternatives. This parallels Hugh's journey—the barriers between him and Beni (geography, marriage, denial) eventually become bridges to authentic life and love.
Queer Love Across Time
Hugh and Beni's fifty-year story explores how homophobia and religious repression create temporal barriers to love. Their reunion in 2028 shows that authentic love can survive denial and distance, that home can be found even after decades of exile from self.
Information as Resistance Infrastructure
Ruth Kowalski forwarding leaked documents, the resistance network's digital coordination, and the strategic use of information all demonstrate how authoritarian power depends on information control and how resistance requires creating alternative information infrastructures.
International Solidarity
Uruguay's refugee resettlement programs and the Agricultural Free Trade Zone represent international responses to American authoritarianism. The novel suggests that resistance to fascism requires transnational cooperation—that national borders cannot contain either oppression or the resistance to it.
Chosen Family
The dedication's reference to "chosen family that will guide you through the darkest days" is embodied throughout—Hugh finding Eugene after divorcing Brenda, the resistance network creating community among the persecuted, Hugh/Eugene/Beni forming their own family structure in Uruguay.
Major Plot Threads
Agricultural Resistance Arc
Catalyst: Bill's John Deere tractor displays "Service Authorization Required" despite being mechanically sound, revealing AgriCore's control strategy
Development: Bill learns about Farm Bill of 2026 implementation, Ruth forwards leaked documents revealing true agenda, Bill connects with resistance network
Stakes: Five generations of Kowalski farming legacy versus corporate sharecropping
Resolution: Bill farms with liberation software, exports through Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola, plants oak tree symbolizing continued legacy
Thematic Function: Shows how authoritarian control operates through technological dependency and how grassroots resistance can create alternatives
Hugh's Coming Out Arc (2004 Timeline)
Catalyst: Writing protagonist Daniel's swimming hole scene, Hugh realizes "your character is gay"—and therefore so is he
Development: Hugh comes out to Brenda, divorces, navigates Mormon community rejection, eventually meets Eugene (2007), marries in Connecticut (2009)
Stakes: Twenty-three year marriage, four children, Mormon community belonging, professional identity versus authentic self
Thematic Function: Establishes personal cost of choosing authenticity, shows how religious institutions enforce heteronormativity, demonstrates possibility of building authentic life even after decades of denial
Hugh and Beni's Love Story (1979-2028)
Origin: Hugh meets Beni at Estancia Tierra Púrpura during missionary service (1979-1980), connection forms at Pozo Aguaverde
Complication: Hugh cannot accept his sexuality, returns to US, marries Brenda, lives in denial for decades while Beni waits in Uruguay
Development: After coming out, Hugh eventually partners with Eugene but never fully reconnects with Beni until 2028
Resolution: Hugh, Eugene, and Beni form household at Estancia Tierra Púrpura; Beni's fifty-year wait ends; polyamorous/chosen family structure
Symbolic Elements: Purple verbena (Tierra Púrpura), Pozo Aguaverde spring, swimming together
Thematic Function: Demonstrates cost of internalized homophobia, shows love surviving across impossible distances, embodies chosen family and non-traditional relationship structures
Political Persecution Arc (2027)
Context: Tisdale administration targeting LGBTQ+ Americans
Stakes: Hugh and Eugene face persecution as gay married couple
Development: Involvement in resistance network, eventual need to flee United States
Resolution: Refugee status in Uruguay, safety at Estancia Tierra Púrpura
Thematic Function: Shows how authoritarian governments target vulnerable populations, demonstrates need for international refuge networks
Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola (Trade Zone Creation)
Origin: Esperanza and Uruguayan ministry officials negotiate border trade zone with Brazil
Purpose: Allow American farmers using liberation software to export grain outside AgriCore monopoly
Implementation: Rapid development (South American governments "move quickly" per Esperanza)
Impact: Creates economic alternative to AgriCore control, facilitates Bill Kowalski's continued farming
Symbolic Function: Borders as bridges, international solidarity, economic resistance to corporate fascism
Generational Continuity Arc
Participants: David Lubbert (Hugh's son) directs Cascades Institute, represents next generation
Development: David's journey from Mormon missionary to resistance institution leader parallels Hugh's journey toward authenticity
Thematic Function: Shows resistance continuing beyond individual actors, explores how children navigate parents' choices, demonstrates that choosing authenticity creates possibilities for next generations
Key Symbols & Imagery
Purple Verbena (Estancia Tierra Púrpura)
Literal: Flowering plant covering fields around Pozo Aguaverde
Symbolic: Enduring love, beauty that persists, the land itself as witness to Hugh and Beni's fifty-year story
Textual Function: Recurring image across timelines, closes for night and reopens with sun (cycles of waiting and reunion)
Pozo Aguaverde (Spring-Fed Pool)
Literal: Natural spring with cold, clear water near Estancia Tierra Púrpura
Symbolic: Baptism/rebirth, cleansing, authentic self, timeless constancy ("spring-fed and constant")
Textual Function: Site of intimate moments between Hugh and Beni across decades, represents returning to authentic origin
The Oak Tree
Context: Ruth Kowalski tends oak tree, Bill plants oak tree at end
Symbolic: Generational continuity, deep roots, legacy that outlasts individual lives
Textual Function: Connects Ruth's maintenance of family memory to Bill's commitment to continuing that legacy through resistance rather than capitulation
Proprietary Tractor Software
Literal: John Deere's "Service Authorization Required" message despite mechanical soundness
Symbolic: How technology creates artificial scarcity and dependency, corporate control displacing mechanical knowledge, systems designed to extract rather than serve
Textual Function: Opening image establishing novel's central conflict between corporate technological control and community autonomy
Liberation Software
Literal: Open-source alternatives to proprietary agricultural technology
Symbolic: Community control of technology, digital commons, resistance through building alternatives
Textual Function: Demonstrates that technology serves whoever controls it—same tools can enable either oppression or liberation
Leaked Documents
Literal: Ruth forwards leaked memos revealing AgriCore's true agenda behind Farm Bill
Symbolic: Information as resistance infrastructure, necessity of transparency for democratic accountability
Textual Function: Shows how authoritarian power depends on information asymmetry and how resistance requires alternative information networks
Swimming/Water
Contexts: Swimming hole scene in Hugh's novel, Pozo Aguaverde throughout, final scene of Hugh/Eugene/Beni swimming together
Symbolic: Intimacy, vulnerability, cleansing, baptism/rebirth, authentic self without armor
Textual Function: Water scenes consistently mark moments of truth and authentic connection across all timelines
Doña Silva's House
Literal: Empty house in Aguaverde that Beni maintains
Symbolic: Legacy as community service rather than individual glory, buildings that serve rather than monuments that glorify
Thematic Quote: "This is what legacy looks like. Not monuments or statues, but buildings that serve communities."
Narrative Structure
Timeline Technique
The novel employs non-linear narrative, interweaving four primary timelines:
2027 (Primary): Agricultural resistance and political persecution
2004: Hugh's coming out process
1979-1980: Mission experience with Beni
2028 (Resolution): Reunion in Uruguay
Function: This structure allows themes to resonate across time periods, showing how Hugh's denial in 1980 creates consequences in 2004, which create possibilities in 2027, which enable resolution in 2028. The non-linear approach emphasizes that these are not separate stories but one continuous arc across fifty years.
Chapter Headers
Each chapter begins with location and date (e.g., "Rich Coulee, Driftless Area, NW Illinois — March 2027" or "Glen Hill, Dallas suburbs, Texas — Early May 2004"), grounding readers in specific time-space coordinates while jumping between narratives.
Point of View
Primarily first-person from Hugh's perspective, with occasional shifts to other characters (Bill's chapters, for example). This centers Hugh's consciousness while allowing access to parallel resistance threads.
World-Building Elements for Franchise Use
Established Technology
Proprietary agricultural technology (GPS, soil sensors, automated planters) with dealer-only service authorization
Real-time data transmission to corporate servers (yields, profits, debts)
Liberation software (open-source alternatives)
Digital resistance network infrastructure
Licensing agreements for seeds requiring annual purchase and specific fertilizers
Established Political Context
Tisdale administration (2026-2028 minimum)
Farm Bill of 2026 implementing AgriCore control systems
LGBTQ+ persecution under Tisdale
Corporate consolidation of grain elevators, banks, seed suppliers
Shadow donor network connecting AgriCore to Tisdale campaign
Uruguay as refugee destination with resettlement programs
Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola (Uruguay-Brazil Agricultural Free Trade Zone)
Established Organizations
AgriCore Solutions: Agricultural tech/consolidation corporation
Meridian Genetics: Seed monopoly with licensing contracts
Sterling Financial: Banking consolidator with AgriCore board connections
The Resistance Network: Decentralized digital organization opposing AgriCore
Cascades Institute: David Lubbert's research/advocacy organization
Uruguayan Ministry (refugee/trade division): Esperanza's institutional base
Established Geography
Driftless Area, NW Illinois: Un-glaciated region with rolling terrain, traditional farming country, site of Rich Coulee
Aguaverde, Uruguay: Small town near Brazilian border, site of Estancia Tierra Púrpura and Pozo Aguaverde
Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola: Uruguay-Brazil border zone for agricultural trade
Rich Coulee: Specific location of Kowalski farm (400 acres, five generations)
Character Status at Book 1 End (Available for Books 2-3)
Hugh Lubbert: Living at Estancia Tierra Púrpura with Eugene and Beni
Eugene Thomas: Same, partnership with Hugh intact
Benito: Same, fifty-year love finally realized
Bill Kowalski: Farming with liberation software, exporting through trade zone, tending oak tree
Ruth Kowalski: Still alive at 87+, still forwarding leaked documents
David Lubbert: Directing Cascades Institute, continuing resistance work
Esperanza: Uruguayan ministry official coordinating refugee resettlement and trade
Senator Tisdale: Still in power (status for Books 2-3 unknown)
AgriCore Solutions: Still operational but facing resistance network alternatives
Thematic Statements (Author's Core Arguments)
On Authenticity: Choosing authenticity over legacy is both costly and necessary; the price of denial is always higher than the price of truth
On Technology: Digital tools serve whoever controls them—same technologies can enable either oppression or liberation depending on governance structures
On Fascism: Corporate consolidation and authoritarian government are not separate phenomena but interconnected strategies for controlling populations through dependency
On Love: Authentic love can survive impossible circumstances; home is not geography but safety to be oneself with people who want you to stay
On Resistance: Effective resistance requires building alternatives (liberation software, trade zones, information networks) not just opposing existing power
On Legacy: True legacy is not preserving individual or family glory but creating structures that serve communities across generations
On Borders: Political boundaries can function as barriers or bridges depending on how communities choose to use them
On Time: Waiting fifty years does not diminish love's validity; authentic connection transcends temporal separation
Key Quotes for Reference
On Choosing Authenticity:
"This book is dedicated to the courageous men and women who, when legacy and authenticity could not coexist, chose authenticity."
On Corporate Control:
"Once in the system, you'd belong to it. Tractors serviceable only by authorized dealers. Seeds requiring specific fertilizers from approved vendors. Monitoring systems transmitting yields, profits, and debts to servers controlled by AgriCore Solutions."
On Realization:
"'Your character is gay,' he whispered aloud. The words hung in the air. Once spoken, they couldn't be taken back. And if his character was gay—a character based on his own experiences, his own feelings, his own desperate attempts to understand himself—then what did that make him?"
On Home:
"Home isn't where you're born. It's where you're safe enough to be yourself. Where the people you love want you to stay. Where the work you do has meaning."
On Legacy:
"This is what legacy looks like. Not monuments or statues, but buildings that serve communities. Not individual glory, but collective care."
On Love Across Time:
"She used to say that love was the only thing worth building your life around. Everything else—money, property, reputation—that was all temporary. But love, if you tended it carefully, could last forever."
On Ending/Beginning:
"Hugh Lubbert and Eugene Thomas had found their ending. Which was, of course, just another kind of beginning."
Unresolved Threads (Potential for Books 2-3)
Tisdale administration's ultimate fate
Full scope and impact of resistance network
Long-term viability of Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola
AgriCore Solutions' response to liberation software movement
David Lubbert's Cascades Institute specific projects and impact
Matthew, Christine, and Rebecca Lubbert's stories (Hugh's other children)
Brenda's life after divorce from Hugh
Ruth Kowalski's eventual passing and Bill's inheritance of resistance work
Broader national/international response to American authoritarianism
Specific mechanisms of Hugh and Eugene's persecution and flight to Uruguay
Full details of the resistance network's digital infrastructure
Other farmers' decisions regarding Farm Bill participation vs. resistance
⚠️ CRITICAL WORLDBUILDING NOTE FOR FRANCHISE CONTRIBUTORS
Established Canon Endpoints:
Hugh, Eugene, and Beni are together at Estancia Tierra Púrpura by Spring 2028
Bill Kowalski continues farming with liberation software
Zona de Libre Comercio Agrícola is operational by 2028
Resistance network successfully creates agricultural alternatives to AgriCore
David Lubbert leads Cascades Institute
Flexible Elements for Books 2-3:
Timing and details of Hugh/Eugene's flight to Uruguay
Specific resistance network operations and participants
AgriCore's counter-strategies and responses
Political developments beyond Tisdale administration
International responses beyond Uruguay-Brazil trade zone
Technology development beyond liberation software mentioned
Other character arcs (Matthew, Christine, Rebecca, Brenda, etc.)
Author Context (Relevant to Franchise)
Lester Leavitt's Background:
Doctoral research (2011-2015) on how technology and social media change governing narratives and displace institutionalized practices
Peer-reviewed publication: "Information Communication Technology and the Street-Level Bureaucrat: Tools for Social Equity and Progressive Activism"
Born in Canada, lived in Texas (2002), South Florida (2004), married husband in Connecticut (2009), now in Driftless Area of NW Illinois
Divorced from wife after coming out as gay (parallel to Hugh's arc)
Former educator (US History, Spanish), fluent in English and Spanish
Author of memoir Forbidden Friends: A History of Colonialism in the New World (2025) examining power structures through narrative analysis
Retired December 2025, completed Books 1-3 of Driftless Rivers Trilogy
Implications for Franchise: The trilogy is informed by scholarly understanding of how digital narratives and technology serve power structures, personal experience navigating LGBTQ+ identity within conservative religious contexts, and deep knowledge of both Midwest American and Uruguayan settings. Contributing authors should maintain this grounding in political reality, technological infrastructure, and authentic LGBTQ+ experience.
Reading Order & Series Position
Soybeans (Book 1) establishes the Driftless Rivers universe's foundational conflicts, characters, and themes. It functions as origin story for:
Agricultural resistance to corporate consolidation
Hugh/Eugene/Beni relationship across fifty years
Resistance network infrastructure
International solidarity responses to American authoritarianism
Technology as liberation/oppression dialectic
Books 2 (Aceguá) and 3 (Allegory Protocol) presumably develop these threads further. Contributing authors should treat Soybeans as canonical foundation establishing world rules, character baselines, and thematic commitments.
For Claude's Reference
When Lester provides this URL, I should be able to:
Recall all major characters (Hugh, Eugene, Beni, Bill, Ruth, David, Esperanza, Tisdale) and their arcs
Reference specific locations (Rich Coulee, Aguaverde, Estancia Tierra Púrpura, Pozo Aguaverde, Zona de Libre Comercio)
Understand organizational structures (AgriCore, resistance network, Cascades Institute, etc.)
Apply established timeline (2027 primary, 2004 flashback, 1979-80 mission, 2028 resolution)
Recognize thematic commitments (authenticity vs legacy, technology as liberation/oppression, corporate fascism, queer love across time)
Maintain continuity with established canon when discussing Books 2-3
Reference specific symbols (purple verbena, oak trees, water/swimming, liberation software)
Understand world-building rules for franchise contributors
This document serves as comprehensive reference for all Driftless Rivers franchise worldbuilding derived from Book 1.