While the book will celebrate the life Cole lived, the story itself wasn’t written to ever be published; in fact, it was homework. The narrative and illustrations inside the 32-page, soft cover book were inspired by Cole Barker’s very first hog hunt and were actually created when Cole was just 10 years old.

More than two decades ago, his fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Lawrence, gave her class an assignment to write a book. Young Cole begrudgingly completed the task and even tried to throw the book away after it was displayed at a parents’ night event. Ms. Lawrence, impressed and proud of his story, was undeterred and kept the book—which was dedicated to Bob Kearney, the man who took Cole on that very first hunt along with two other fathers—as an example for future students. The teacher even displayed it on a screen so that other children, especially boys who weren’t keen on writing a book, could see the art and the layout as Cole had imagined it.