WMRA's April Books & Brews will feature Stephen Starring Grant, author of MAILMAN: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 7pm.
Our conversation will take place live at Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, and will be available to watch later on WMRA's Youtube Channel.
Signed copies of MAILMAN will be available at the event and online at Stone Soup Books - https://www.stonesoupbooks.net
WMRA's Books & Brews is made possible thanks to our series sponsor, Gaines Group Architects. The Gaines Group has offices in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
About the Book
An exuberant, hilarious, and profound memoir by a mailman in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, who found that working for the post office saved his life, taught him who he was, gave him purpose, and educated him deeply about a country he loves but had lost touch with.
Steve Grant was laid off in March of 2020. He was fifty and had cancer, so he needed health insurance, fast. Which is how he found himself a rural letter carrier in Appalachia, back in his old hometown.
Suddenly, he was the guy with the goods, delivering dog food and respirators and lube and heirloom tomato seeds and Lord of the Rings replica swords. He transported chicken feed to grandmothers living alone in the mountains and forded a creek with a refrigerator on his back. But while he carried the mail, he also carried a whole lot more than just the mail, including a family legacy of rage and the anxiety of having lost his identity along with his corporate job.
And yet, slowly, surrounded by a ragtag but devoted band of letter carriers, working this different kind of job, Grant found himself becoming a different kind of person. He became a lifeline for lonely people, providing fleeting moments of human contact and the assurance that our government still cares. He embraced the thrill of tackling new challenges, the pride of contributing to something greater than himself, the joy of camaraderie, and the purpose found in working hard for his family and doing a small, good thing for his community. He even kindled a newfound faith.
A brash and loving portrait of an all-American institution, MAILMAN offers a deeply felt portrait of both rural America and the dedicated (and eccentric) letter carriers who keep our lives running smoothly day to day. One hell of a raconteur, Steve Grant has written an irreverent, heartfelt, and often hilarious tribute to the simple heroism of daily service, the dignity and struggle of blue-collar work, the challenge and pleasure of coming home again after twenty-five years away, and the delight of going the extra mile for your neighbors, every day.
About the Author
Stephen Starring Grant is the author of MAILMAN: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home, a memoir that chronicles his year as a rural letter carrier after losing his marketing job during the pandemic.
Steve Grant has spent over twenty-five years as a marketing consultant and behavioral economist, working with Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Prudential, Jaguar Cars, and Burger King. He ran the Applied Behavioral Science Lab at Prudential and received a Gold Lion from Cannes for his brand strategy work. He served as an industry expert in financial security at the Aspen Institute and led the rebranding effort that transformed the Boy Scouts of America into Scouting America.
Born in New Orleans and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he is an Eagle Scout who returned to his hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia, where he lives with his family. He is an avid fly fisherman - and controversially believes that the New River may be the greatest Smallmouth Bass water on the planet.