Tonka Bay resident Tim Duff is a bit of a Renaissance man. After a career as a wholesaler for investment products, he’s been winding down his day job and pursuing other passions. “I primarily do my writing,” he says (he also works closely with the Minnesota DFL and the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra).
Duff’s first novel, The Find, will be published this spring by Waterside Productions out of southern California. “The idea came to me in a dream in 2010,” remembers Duff. “I wrote down as much of the dream as I could remember.”
But the dream—and the novel—are based (somewhat loosely) on the fascinating true story of Duff’s family. His grandfather worked in the mines of Minnesota’s Iron Range during the years before World War II. When he and a friend discovered veins of precious metals that had gone unnoticed by U.S. Steel, the owner of the mines, they quietly bought the land above those veins and set off a chain of events that would envelop the family for decades to come: keeping secrets, solving mysteries, and holding off the curious noses of government and industry.
Duff has woven his family’s true story with other elements from his imagination to create a compelling look at Minnesota history, the complexities of mining and land ownership, and the bonds of family. He says with a smile, “If I had to define the novel with one sentence, it would be, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth—but not the mineral rights.’”
To learn more about The Find and where you can purchase a copy when it’s published this spring, stay tuned to the Waterside Productions website.
