Bill Burk has always enjoyed telling and writing stories, and area residents can get a taste of those talents on Saturday at the Bemus Point Library.
Burk, the former athletic director at Jamestown Community College, will be promoting his first book, entitled “The Jehuu Caulcrick Story: The Bullet Doesn’t Pick and Choose,” at 1 p.m.
The journey for Caulcrick, the former Clymer Central School and Michigan State University football star, has been told in various mediums for years, but Burk’s nearly 400-page book captures it in fascinating and, often, raw detail.
Born in war-torn Liberia in 1983, Caulcrick was brought to Findley Lake where he was introduced to American football, led the Pirates to the brink of New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, and was ultimately routed to East Lansing, Michigan and the Big Ten Conference.
By the time his career with the Spartans was complete, he had rushed for nearly 2,400 yards and 39 touchdowns, including a school-record 21 his senior year, placing him among the best running backs in school history. Undrafted, Caulcrick played for four National Football League teams, including the Buffalo Bills.
Photo courtesy of Bill Burk
From the left are Jehuu Caulcrick and Bill Burk.
But taking the field on Sundays is really the backstory of Burk’s incredibly researched book.
“I was drawn to his story, of the carnage he witnessed, of the world he survived, of the needle he threaded to arrive in the United States,” Burk said last year. “The puzzle of his life (hiding in the African bush from soldiers wielding AK-47s as a child refugee, to riding in a private jet as a contracted player in the NFL) is an impossible story of luck, perseverance and faith.”
So Burk, whose son, Ben, played quarterback for Caulcrick in 2015 when the latter was the head coach at Southwestern Central School, sought to uncover the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee’s memories of Africa, about his experiences as an elite athlete and about his family.
“Jehuu’s story hits a niche of a very successful college football player and lesser-level professional athlete with a remarkable past, upbringing and history,” Burk said last year. “The backstory is the story, and it’s a doozy.”
Readers appear to agree.
In a 2023 review on Amazon.com, one reader offered the following:
“Incredible story of perseverance by an amazing individual and his family. The author masterfully weaves the largely untold story of Liberian civil war suffering with an indomitable spirit who survived and thrived against all odds.”
A Saturday trip to the Bemus Point Library, located at 13 Main St. in the village, would be well worth your time.