Minister's book takes place in Cape bar

This story has been updated to correct the contact information.

A bar might seem an unlikely setting for a book written by a minister, but in his book, "Theology at the Water Street Lounge," J. Michael Heston makes it work.

Based on experiences Heston had as a customer at Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant & Lounge around the turn of the 21st century, the book -- with the subtitle "One Man's Love Affair With One Of The Last Great Good Places On Earth" -- follows the truth so much, most of the names have been unchanged.

Heston contacted all the people whose names are in the book to ask their permission while he was writing it. The only names changed are of the people he was unable to contact.

"Anyone whose name is mentioned is real," Heston told the Southeast Missourian.

There is one chapter in the book, the final one, that veers from reality.

"The Sermon," the name of the last chapter, was never delivered, because Heston moved from the area before he was able to present it.

The book's main characters are Heston, his friend Herbert Hall and bartender Dale Pruett.

"Dale Pruett was a unique person. He was kind of the glue that held the place together," Heston said of the mixologist. "He's been called 'the Yogi Berra of The Water Street Lounge.'"

The book captures a series of events that Heston called "bar-crawl scenes," when the discussion of a night was devoted to a particular topic.

"Once or twice there's a meditation, or something observed," he said.

One aspect that made the place special is that it was quiet enough for people to talk and get to know each other.

"There wasn't a jukebox, loud music or electronic games," Heston said.

Pruett is portrayed in the book as the age-old image of a barkeep who listens to the woes of customers and dispenses sage advice, succinct at times.

For instance, the book describes one occasion when a woman came in and sat down at the bar, lamenting the course of her life, and said she was considering taking all her money and blowing it on a trip, because at least, she said, she would have really lived.

After thinking about what to tell her, Pruett responds simply: "Maybe."

With that one word, he was able to get her to rethink the choice. A smile broke across her face, she got up, hugged him, and left the bar.

The book captures a slice of Americana many would remember nostalgically.

As with most things in life, the dynamic at The Water Street Lounge changed.

Pruett died in 2014, before the book was released, and Hall moved across the river into Illinois.

Heston lived in Cape about 30 years. He started a campus ministry at Southeast Missouri State University in the 1970s.

He later moved to St. Louis but returned to Cape in 1983. He served as minister of St. James A.M.E. church for 10 years and worked at the Cape City Civic Center for eight years.

The author now lives in West Plains, Missouri, where he is retired.

On Thursday, he will be at the location of the book's setting -- Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant and Lounge, 19 N. Water St. -- from 4 to 8 p.m., signing copies of the book.

The book will be available for purchase at bookstores in Cape Girardeau after the signing.

To order the book, contact Heston directly by mail at 605 Oak Park Blvd., West Plains, MO 65775, or by email at lifeguard.fccwp@gmail.com. The cost of the book is $20.