‘Shoeless Joe’ author created ‘city of dreams’ for Abingdon woman

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“Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.” That exchange between actors Kevin Costner and Ray Liotta in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” may have been more accurate than ever imagined.

Renowned novelist W.P. Kinsella passed away Friday and for an Abingdon woman, the Canadian author’s most famous work changed her life forever.
Mollie Prescott is a member of WGIL’s creative services team and has lived in Abingdon for 19 years, but prior to living in Knox County, she grew up in the small eastern Iowa city of Dyersville.

“We were always known for the Ertl Toy Company and being the toy capitol of the world,” Prescott says. “At that time, Ertl was kind of scaling back on their production. People were concerned what would happen to our town.”

Prescott says Kinsella saved her little hometown. He is the man who authored “Shoeless Joe”– a story which later made it’s way to Dyersville and became the setting for the film that was a hit at the box office.  

The movie brought stars like Costner for a year, but it has retained an iconic baseball field that has bolstered tourism with weddings, commercials and a vibrant economy for nearly 30 years.

“I often wonder if when he wrote the book he really realized what kind of large impact the book would have,” Prescott says. “When it came to life, it made such an impact, not only on Dyersville, but I think on people across the country.”

Prescott says the field became a “Mecca” for baseball fans and it still draws in loads of visitors to this day.

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