The Last Tour

Love, Laughter, and Tears: In Memory of Ron Eckerman

By: Carolyn Day

Narrated by: Carol Purdom

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a true story of retired music manager Ron Eckerman's last few years of life. Ron was haunted for several years by a recurring nightmare about the date of his death. After his wife left him on their anniversary, he felt that his life was over and he would die alone. He then found true love and happiness through a strange twist of fate with Carolyn, 18 years his junior. He put the fears of his dream behind him and began his new life with his new love. Only a year and a half later, he was suddenly diagnosed with AML, acute myeloid leukemia, a fast growing bone marrow cancer. He was given a poor prognosis and a short life expectancy, and was faced with the possibility of his nightmare becoming a reality.

Written by his wife and caregiver, this is a heartfelt testament of love and sacrifice, and what two people endure when they know they have limited time left together.

Ron Eckerman's career included touring with and managing popular music acts of the 70's including Fleetwood Mac, Humble Pie, Loggins and Messina, Foreigner, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and many others. He was Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour manager during 1976-77 and was a survivor of their plane crash in 1977. He was the author of Turn it Up! Love, Life, and Death, Southern Style, released in 2011 and re-released in his memory in 2014, in which he chronicled his time with the band and described the guilt that he felt for many years because of the deaths of four friends in the crash.

During the most important "tour" of his life - his one year battle with leukemia - he was very close to death several times and bounced back miraculously. The odds were stacked up against him, but he continued to be optimistic and refused to give up hope. Ron and Carolyn learned to find joy in the simple things in life and made the best of being confined to a hospital room for almost a full year. This isn't just a cancer story with a sad ending. It's a story of dreams, destiny, living every second to the fullest, and never giving up hope.

©2014 Carolyn Day (P)2015 Carolyn Day

Great story inspiring me to want to help others!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Last Tour?

Carolyn's birthday card from Ron that read "you are my bucket list," and he wanted to celebrate her birthday a week early because he knew he probably would be gone a few days later.

What does Carol Purdom bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The raw emotion and stress that you hear in the voice. You feel like the author is doing the narrating. She did a very good job at making you feel like you know the author.

Any additional comments?

If a listener is inspired to research about Lynyrd Skynyrd instead of helping someone with cancer they missed the point and need to read more than just the first chapter. This is a story about Ron Eckerman who was not a musician of the past. He managed rock bands in the 1970's, and that background is interesting but has very little to do with this story. It was sad that he felt guilty about the plane crash till his last days. But the author makes it a point several times to say that he was much more than a rock-n-roll manager and was also a college professor and did many other things in his 62 years. If someone thinks this book is going to be about music or a musician or the rock and roll life then they've picked up the wrong book. It is much more than that. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking yet inspirational love story.I highly recommend it.

Wonderful Narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend listening to this audio book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Carolyn Day? Why or why not?

The story was interesting, but the real highlight was the narration.

Which character – as performed by Carol Purdom – was your favorite?

Carol Purdom did a superb job! I really believed that I was listening to the author tell her story. While I would recommend any book narrated by her, I would especially recommend any first person story she records.

Touching heartfelt love story

This book keeps the readers attention. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to know the meaning of true love..this book is very in formative! I give it 5 stars

Incredible story,poorly done unrealistic narration

What made the experience of listening to The Last Tour the most enjoyable?

Listening to it made me want to do more research on Ron Eckerman and I listened to many interviews on Youtube with Ron speaking. I found that he is a distinguished, intelligent sounding man. The silliness of the narration makes him sound like he is a grade school drop out from the deep south. He did not sound that way. Other than that it was a beautiful story and it made me buy the paperback so I could really enjoy it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ron the subject of the story was my favorite character. He simply refused to die until he was damn good and ready. Wonderful story of how love keeps someone alive.

Would you be willing to try another one of Carol Purdom’s performances?

Not at all. The audiobook should not take much longer than it would take a person to read it out loud. She reads way too slow and pauses awkwardly in the middle of sentences.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I read it all in one sitting but could not listen to the whole audiobook

Any additional comments?

All in all, one of the most heartbreaking and heartwarming stories I've ever read. Skip the audio book and purchase the paperback.

Prepare to laugh, cry, and be in a zone.

Where does The Last Tour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

#1 - This is an incredible story. I read the book, too, several months ago, but when you hear the audio book it makes you focus on details you may have missed while reading.

What other book might you compare The Last Tour to and why?

I can't think of one that comes close to comparing. I am excited to see the movie when it comes out.

What does Carol Purdom bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did very well and it was very consistent. You can really feel the authors emotions and feelings. You feel like you know both the author and Ronnie by the end of the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

both laugh and cry, and made me feel like i was in a zone, very focused

Any additional comments?

I recommend it to anyone who has any feelings at all. It will bring out all your emotions and make you feel like you know the two main characters.

Mixed feelings about The Last Tour

What did you like best about The Last Tour? What did you like least?

I always enjoy finding out information about musicians from the past. I thought while it was great that Ron kept such a great outlook, the book could have been shortened.

Have you listened to any of Carol Purdom’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first. I thought she did a great job. Very easy to listen to, and I liked that you could tell when she was being a male or a female without her trying to put on a silly man deep voice :)

Did The Last Tour inspire you to do anything?

Just to dig into the background of Lynrd Skynard a bit more. Ron was inspiring in his attitude, and they were blessed to have found one another.