Series Created by
Michael Angeli & Charles P. Ries
SYNOPSIS
Set on a mink farm in central Wisconsin during the 1960’s. It is the height of the domestic mink fur trade in the U.S., Can Boys Fly is a hilarious, loving, and illuminating journey of a citizen philosopher named Chuck Diedrich. The second youngest of seven children born to Carl and Helen Diedrich, he is their only child who does not attend the seminary or convent after 8th grade. There are only two career paths in the Diedrich family: become a nun or priest, or become a mink farmer. The choice was obvious to Chuck’s six siblings. Not so for Chuck.
Can Boys Fly chronicles Chuck’s fumbling his way to enlightenment with the guidance of a delightful collection of mentors, angels, therapists, girlfriends, fashion models, gurus, jazz artists, priests, nuns, farm hands, and local yokels who all play a role in guiding a remarkable soul on his worldwide journey of becoming.
Based on the memoir,
The fathers we find
Five-time Pushcart Prize nominee Ries turns from poetry (Girl Friend Other Mysteries of Love) to prose in this memoir of life in rural Wisconsin, sensitively capturing “the mysterious pieces of a boy on the verge of becoming.” Ries combines his gift for language with an insight into the relationships at the core of the book: “the parents we are given, and the parents we find.” He deals mostly with his father, a devout Catholic whose world was built on the “routines and rituals” of religion and running a successful mink farm, and whose “silent, stoic” personality Ries unsuccessfully tries to emulate. The memoir gives a detailed look at the “earthy way” of growing up raising and killing minks (“Death during pelting season was quick and painless”). But overall the focus is on the connection he lacks with his father but finds with other men, including his brothers and Marvin, the hired man on the farm, “who found his God in living, with the same passion that my father found in church.” Marvin is the exemplar of “the fathers we are given. Men who appear in our lives and magically see our nature and potential.”
sheboygan, wisconsin:
the malibu of the midwest
Nestled along the picturesque shores of Lake Michigan, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, often hailed as the “Malibu of the Midwest” and the “Bratwurst Capital of the World,” sets the stage for the hilarious, loving, and illuminating journey of Chuck Diedrich and his family mink farm during the height of the mink fur trade.
BLACKGLAMA:
GREAT LAKES MINK ASSOCIATION
Chuck’s father, Carl Diedrich, raised the finest and most sought-after mink in the world.
95% of his ranch dark mink (black in color) were graded Blackglama. GLAMA stands for: Great Lakes Mink Association. It was an acronym that became a fashion metaphor.
Blackglama mink are of such high quality that less than 2% of the world’s ranch dark mink may earn the Blackglama label. One might think of them as the 100 Pt. Bordeaux or the perfect diamond.
While many consumers associate Blackglama with the beauty of the garments bearing that label, Blackglama refers to the mink and not the designer or manufacturer.
The Minktronics
Charles P. Ries & The Minktronics become the Greek Chorus of Can Boys Fly. The Wisconsin Art Band (formed in 2016) creates thematic music to the poetry of Ries, and Ries writes lyrics to the music of the Mink Collective.
Just as Can Boys Fly is based on The Fathers We Find, it is also rooted in the songs, lyrics, and laments of The Minktronics. Ries is both the lyricist and the voice of the band. Ron Baake is both drummer and producer of all Minktronics music. Together Baake and Ries – with the Mink Collective – add layers of storytelling and meaning to Can Boys Fly.
Charles Ries
Vocals & Lyrics
Ron Baake
Producer, Drums, Indian Flute, Keys
The Mink collective
Rick DeMaio
Bass Guitar
Ryan Crosby
Lead Guitar
Mark Truesdell
Organ, Guitar, Harmonica
Kevin Rautmann
Bass Guitar
Michael DeBoer
Guitar
Jesse Tapola
Guitar
Anthony Deutsch
Piano
Erika Crosby
Singer
The Creators
Michael Angeli
Writer, Producer, and Journalist
Angeli is an American writer and television producer, best known for his award-nominated work on television series including Monk and the remake of Battlestar Galactica, a show for which he was also a co-executive producer. Angeli was co-executive producer on Black Sails, a pirate adventure drama that premiered on the Starz Network in January 2014.
As a journalist, he wrote for Esquire, The New York Times, and several other publications. During his time as contributing editor & writer for Esquire, he employed his outstanding writing skills and interviewed high-profile celebrities including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Joaquin Phoenix, River Phoenix, Michael J. Fox and more.
Angeli is currently in pre-production on The Confessions of Al McGuire, a biopic with Anthony Hemingway.
Charles P. Ries
Writer, Poet, and Vocals for the Minktronics
Can Boys Fly is based on a memoir written by Charles P. Ries titled, The Fathers We Find, and an unpublished novel based on memory titled, A Life By Invitation.
Ries is also an award-winning poet. He is both the lyricist and voice for the art band, Charles P. Ries & The Minktronics.
After college Ries lived in London and North Africa where he studied the mystical teachings of Islam called Sufism. In 1989 he worked with the Dalai Lama on a program that brought American religious leaders and psychotherapists together for a weeklong dialogue. It was during this same week that the Dalai Lama was awarded his Nobel Peace Prize. Ries has done extensive work with men’s groups and worked with a Jungian Psychotherapist for over five years during which time he recorded five hundred dreams and learned to find the meanings in small things.
