9781451643688

In this remarkable dual memoir, film legend Martin Sheen and his accomplished actor/director son Emilio Estevez share the stories of their lives while charting a spiritual journey through the Spain of their ancestors.While much has been written over the years about this prominent entertainment family, neither Martin Sheen nor Emilio Estevez has told his story in book form before. In Along the Way, they break that silence together, offering a striking, often stirring, frequently funny story of two very different kinds of faithtold from two viewpoints that are as different as they are eloquent. Spanning more than fifty years of family history, this chronicle of a creative father and son is partially set against the background of Hollywood. But the heart of the story lies along the Camino de Santiagothe thousand-year-old pilgrimage path, also known as â€œThe Way,â€ across northern Spain, from which Sheenâ€™s father emigrated to the U.S. and to which Estevezâ€™s own son has returned to live. There, Estevez directed his father in the filming of The Way, a major film to be released in October, 2011, and which has already garnered praise at the Toronto Film Festival. Along the Way celebrates the authorsâ€™ profound bond with each other, offers candid insight into their lives and careers, and explores the differing paths of spirituality they have taken through a multigenerational saga that has come full circle beneath the Iberian sun. What emerges is a raw, strikingly intimate portrait of two seekers whom readers will come to know as strong men of many important roles, perhaps the greatest of which are as fathers and sons.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

PROLOGUE

We never get over our fathers, and we’re not required to.

—Old Irish saying

MARTIN

In the summer of 2010 I got a call from my oldest son, Emilio. He was calling from the editing room where he was working onThe Way,our film about a father-and-son pilgrimage, written and directed by Emilio, in which I play his father. We’d spent forty days filming in southwest France and northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago, the thousand-year-old, 500-mile route leading to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James the Apostle are believed to be interred.

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of Saint James, is a sacred path for Christians and, in recent years, walking its length has become a spiritual endeavor for people of all religions and backgrounds. The Camino ends in Galicia, a region of northern Spain to which four generations of Estevez men are tied. My father, Francisco, was born and raised there and my grandson, Emilio’s son Taylor, lives in Spain with his wife, Julia.

Working with Emilio onThe Waywas one of the most extraordinary and satisfying projects of my life, and I longed for another father-son adventure with him. And that day Emilio was calling with just such a project.

“Hey, listen,” Emilio said. “Would you be interested in writing a dual memoir?”

“A memoir? You mean a book?”

“Yeah. A father-son memoir. Whatta ya say?”

I was intrigued. To my knowledge no such memoir had ever been published, at least not in our profession. Married couples have written books together, but not a father and son. The possibility began to excite me and I bombarded him with questions.

“Hold on!” he said. “I just want to know if you’re interested.”