"Thunder in the Park" event kicks off with production of Unconditional Surrender: A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant Friday, June 13

“Thunder in the Park” returns to Waukon June 13-15, beginning with the presentation of Unconditional Surrender: A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant, a one man play written and performed by Waukon native Peter J. Grady. The play will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday, June 13 at the Waukon High School auditorium. Tickets are now available at the Waukon Chamber of Commerce office in the Visitors Center in downtown Waukon.
Unconditional Surrender:  A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant was inspired by the chance remark of an Iowa county attorney. Benton County Attorney David Thompson and Waukon native Pete Grady were discussing issues which had arisen in one of Thompson’s cases when Thompson looked at Grady and said, “You know, you look like Ulysses S. Grant.” The remark stuck with Grady. He was interested in the history of the Civil War, and had long been involved in community theatre productions. He wondered if any shows had been written featuring Ulysses S. Grant.
A search for such a show yielded only a single scene in "A Thurber Carnival," a 1960 comedy by James Thurber.  Thurber’s imagined scene, “If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox,” ended with the notoriously hard-drinking General Grant so intoxicated that he surrendered to General Lee. Thurber’s play helped contribute to Ulysses S. Grant’s reputation among school children and adults alike, which can be summed up as:  “He was a General, he was a drunk, he smoked cigars, and he was President of the United States.”
Unconditional Surrender: A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant introduces audiences to the man behind this caricature. In the play, the audience meets Ulysses S. Grant in the final year of his life, as he is dying of throat cancer (brought on, no doubt, by his habit of smoking twenty cigars a day). Grant is penniless. His investment firm has gone bankrupt, and as he had resigned from the military to serve as President, he has no military pension. Grant has been assured by Samuel L. Clemens (the author “Mark Twain”) that if Grant can complete his autobiography, the book will earn sufficient income to care for his family after his death.
Unconditional Surrender:  A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant is Grant’s life story, told by a man who knows he will soon die, but who must complete his story before his death. The one-hour show uses period music, photographs, cartoons, maps and drawings to explore Grant’s successes and failures in military and civilian life, and provides the audience with a new understanding of Ulysses S. Grant, whom author H.W. Brands has called “The Man Who Saved the Union.”
Pete Grady is a 1971 graduate of Waukon Senior High School. He was raised on a farm near Cherry Mound in Linton Township, the son of Ed and Margaret Grady. He currently lives in Marshalltown and has served as an Assistant Attorney General to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller since 1995.
Grady has been active in the Marshalltown Community Theatre as a board member, actor, and director.  He has appeared in such productions as "Working", "The 39 Steps", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "Almost", "Maine", "Foxfire", and others. He has directed "Doubt: A Parable", "The Bald Soprano", "Dracula: The Musical?", "The Little Theater’s Production of Hamlet", and assisted in direction of "The Laramie Project". In December of 2013, Grady directed "The Story Teller", a one-act play he and his wife, Jeannine, adapted for stage.
The couple's four children have all appeared on the Marshalltown Community Theatre stage. Kevin, Molly, Colleen and Theresa all contributed support for this production. In addition, Colleen and Theresa are heard in “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” which opens and closes the show, and Kevin photo-shopped the Grant photos.
For information about June 14 and 15 Thunder in the Park events and activities visit ”Allamakee County Thunder in the Park” on Facebook or call the Waukon Chamber of Commerce at 563-568-4110.