Layer Upon Layer

Under the guise of a fictional sports narrative, Layer Upon Layer invites readers to explore important personal questions while sharing one woman’s journey to find her own answers. It shines a powerful light on the importance of mentorship and positive female role models for all.

Layer Upon Layer flips the romantic male savior trope on its head, highlighting the challenges women continue to face in today’s society. 

The book’s heroine, Sam, grows up in a family and community culture that seemingly seeks to destroy her love for basketball, and it is only through the influence of a mentor that she remains true to her personal goals. This inspires her to mentor others in hopes of passing the same gift of encouragement to others. Twenty years later, Sam is a college basketball coach mentoring a player through a personal crisis. It is during this experience that Sam realizes that she has been mentoring young women on their journey to self-acceptance while neglecting her own. 

David aims to share DeeDee’s book with as many readers as possible, building a legacy for DeeDee while also sharing a small piece of an amazing person with the world.

Written in the final years of her life, DeeDee was in the midst of her final edits when she received her diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor. Early in her treatment, DeeDee experienced rapid worsening of her disease and decided to forgo further treatment, instead choosing to enjoy the time she had left with her two loves: David and writing.

Layer Upon Layer is more than just a book; it is a testament to DeeDee’s unwavering dedication to bring to light complex issues without judgment or blame, sharing a narrative that allows readers to ask questions and dive deeper into their understanding about the persistent challenges women face today.

It is David’s hope that Layer Upon Layer and DeeDee’s astute observations are a catalyst for meaningful conversation around the conscious and unconscious biases that women currently face in our society—and that through this open discussion, readers develop a greater awareness by validating these challenges, adding water to the seas of change and fulfilling the greater purpose behind DeeDee’s writing and her lifelong dedication to empowering women.

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DeeDee’s Mission

DeeDee’s mission was clear and resolute: championing women through empowering narratives, shattering the constraints of gender stereotypes. As a Division 1 athlete and coach, DeeDee understood the challenges and injustices that women in sports often face. And despite the growing number of women participating in sports, it is still a frustrating truth that their involvement is still seen as a social activity, not celebrated for their competitiveness. 

DeeDee recognized that this inequality extended beyond sports, but she firmly believed that the magic of teams was universal, especially when crafting her narrative. She used this belief as the vehicle for her book, Layer Upon Layer, taking the inspirational approach of classics such as Rudy and Field of Dreams—but  where a man typically takes the lead, DeeDee made a woman the heroine of her narrative. By shining a light on the unique journey that a female heroine experiences, DeeDee unveils the challenges women face in sports and throughout our culture.

“I hope in reading Layer Upon Layer, you will find an inspirational story about a gifted female athlete who excelled in her sport and took what she learned to excel off the court as well. This was my wife’s story. It will look quite different than a male athlete’s story because it is all the more difficult and, I believe, more beautiful.” – David Horton

Read DeeDee’s Full Mission Statement







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DeeDee’s Mission Statement

You don't have to have played sports or even be a fan to be moved by the magic of teams, the special bonds that are formed, and the lifelong lessons that are learned from the experiences. The inspirational messages are often turned into popular television shows and movies. "Miracle", "Field of Dreams", "Any Given Sunday" and "Rudy" are just a few examples of competitive triumphs and tragedies turned into movies. Although I have enjoyed these movies, and many others as well, I'm also aware of something missing--females. If there are female characters in these stories, they are the secondary roles as mother, wife, girlfriend, or cheerleader. The females support the protagonist, the hero, to accomplish his goals, chase his dreams, and attain his successes.

There have been a few sports movies with females as the athletes, but it seems that the story is much more about either a romance that becomes more important to the female, or it's about the male coach in charge of the female team. A perfect example of one of these less-than-satisfying stories promoting gender stereotypes is the recent Disney movie, "Big Shot". John Stamos plays the unfortunate coach who gets the worst possible punishment as a final effort for him to stay in coaching---he is given the job of a middle school girls' basketball team. Coaching females is the lowest of the low positions because girls don't take competition seriously, because it's more about the social opportunities, and because it requires too much talking and too much emotion to try to connect to these females. Instead of portraying examples of girls empowered by sports, the story is really about females helping males become better people.

In spite of the growing numbers of girls involved in sports, the social messaging around it has not changed much. It is still seen as largely a social activity for female athletes rather than celebrating the competitive spirit The year-round commitment and sacrifices made for conditioning, weight lifting, and studying film are minimized if describing female athletes, while the same work is applauded and respected if describing male athletes. A great example of the glaring differences was shown with the recent NCAA discrepancies between the support for the men's and women's basketball teams competing in March Madness during the COVID bubble. Whether it's direct or indirect, girls growing up today still receive the message to not be too ambitious, not be too much of a standout on your team, not be too committed with time on the sport so things become out of balance with time for family and friends. Femininity and humility are supposed to be the top two priorities for female athletes. And, these messages are not just relics of the past. They continue today.

When I was coaching women's basketball at a small college, this overt sexism was shoved in my face by the men's coach and his assistant. Because the men's basketball coach was also the Athletic Director, it was essentially coming from my boss as well. One comment was a suggestion about how to bring more fans to our games-bikinis should be our team uniform. And, if I didn't laugh with them, play along like there was any validity to this proposal, then I was instantly turned into a man-hating bitch. Another incident happened related to our two teams traveling together on a charter bus for a road trip. The men's coach wanted our two teams to sit together and informed me that's how it had always been done. The message was no need for any discussion and certainly no need for any changes. I put my foot down, but quietly and without anger, a style reserved only for female coaches when confronting a disagreement. It is not only accepted but also expected for male coaches to loudly and aggressively state their positions or defend their decisions. Unfortunately, my lack of just silently going along triggered an uncomfortable reaction.

I explained how I wanted my team to sit together because all parts of a road trip can be used for team-building opportunities. I even went as far as blaming my own team, my gender, for why sitting together wasn't a good idea. I told him that my kids were more easily distracted by the opposite sex and would be more focused on their appearance and flirting than thinking about our games and getting to know teammates better. I swallowed the bitter pill by verbalizing the gender stereotype­women are the weak sex. His immediate response nauseated me even more than the pill. He said, "What are my guys supposed to do for entertainment on such a long bus ride?" He was both earnest and incredulous. I had many responses on the tip of my tongue, but limited it to, "My team is not here for your team's entertainment" This part of the conversation was all done in private, but he turned it into a public shaming as both teams boarded the bus.

He had chosen the front of the bus for his team and got them seated first As soon as my team entered the bus and started down the aisle, the men's coach made an announcement that it was my fault the two teams were sitting separately. There were loud jeers towards my players, and then I received more specific feedback from a few of the male players and one assistant coach. Their rhetorical question for me was, "Who do you think you are-Pat Summitt?!"

It probably goes without saying that I lost my job at that school after only one season. I was fired by the Athletic Director, who was also the men's coach who had made these and many other disparaging and inappropriate remarks. This is not a story from the 80's or 90's; this happened seven years ago. I share this as an example of how even though things are changing, we still have a long way to go.

Changing cultural norms is a slow process, but it's why we need more stories-television shows, movies, and books-that portray female athletes and female coaches as the main characters in their stories rather than relegated to the supporting cast. Lessons of resilience, leadership, teamwork, overcoming failures and setbacks as well as celebrating the competitive spirit, the big on-court victories, and the goals of college scholarships attained are inherent to female athletes' stories just as much as male athletes' stories. I know that social changes are slow to take hold. I hope that before I die, I get to see at least one heartfelt and inspirational movie about female athletes excelling in their sport, and then taking what they've learned to excel off the court in a career as well. I want to see a star female athlete as the hero in the story, not a cheerleader on the sidelines supporting someone else's big dreams. Picture a female "Hoosiers": a women's college basketball team coached by an incredible mentor like the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee.