Ryan Copeland Pens Waking Up Dead

      During quarantine in March, Ryan Copeland did what most of us did to pass the time. He spring cleaned his house, getting rid of old stuff as an excuse to be doing something productive. He gathered enough dust, collecting household scraps for a worthy haul to the dump on St. Helena. As he tossed the once revered waste into the appropriate bins, he spotted a familiar face smiling back at him. Cliffton Scott was a former employee at Copeland Funeral Home who worked for Ryan’s father, Curt Copeland, for two decades. They spoke and reconnected, and Ryan left with a headful of fond memories of Cliffton at the business his father ran successfully for 39 years.

     The reunion of the two jarred a childhood memory. Ryan was just a boy and thought it would be fun to jump into a newly dug grave pit. The roughly four-foot hole was a little too deep for Ryan to get out. He was stuck and afraid. And then, a shadow appeared and blocked the sun. It was Cliffton’s face. He would become young Ryan’s hero for a lifetime after the morbid rescue.

     Ryan visited his mom later that week in March, told the family about running into Cliffton, and also shared this memory. His eldest niece commented, “I’ve never heard that story.” Of the six grandchildren, only three have memories of the funeral home and their grandfather, Curt, before his passing in 2010. And the comment sparked an idea in Ryan’s creative brain. He was going to write a book and call it, Waking Up Dead, a collection of stories of him growing up the son of a funeral director and coroner.

     Well, at least he had the idea. Leigh Copeland, Ryan’s wife, was truly the person who encouraged him to tackle the project. She’d heard most of the stores before and thought they were captivating and ironically hilarious. She inspired him to put the pen to paper and begin writing. So he did. By June, he was finished, and by August, it was printed and released.

   Most of the stories are funny, coming from a light-hearted lens and perspective very few understand from a man who had a dream of becoming a SNL writer since the age of 10. But there are also stories of self-discovery, reflection, and relationships.

     “I was cutting the grass when I was 9, and I walked in on the groomer washing the hair of a deceased boy my age or maybe a couple years older than me. I thought funerals were for old people,” Ryan explains. “It was the first time I questioned death. I didn’t understand.”

     A good portion of the book also recognizes the dynamics of a father and son relationship destined to explore the potential of the elder transferring his business to his son and the subtleties of both men acknowledging their very different personalities.

     “He wanted me to take over the business. The lifestyle just wasn’t for me, and in the end, he was supportive of that,” grins Ryan.

     Leigh, Ryan’s wife of 17 years, has known him his entire life. They went to elementary, junior high, and high school together. They attended the same church. They finally separated as lifelong secular and religious classmates and attended different universities, Clemson and USC. And it was then, when they fell in love. Absence certainly made the heart grow fonder.

     Ryan was a Communications major and History minor at Clemson and studied Archiving and Preservation in graduate school. He later pursued a career in Sales and Marketing. But it wasn’t until 2011 when he realized his dream to study library science at his undergrad’s rival, the University of South Carolina. Leigh recognized his passion and suggested his career change due his fascination with books, research, and technology. Her mother was the librarian at Battery Creek High School for 25 years before her untimely death in 2001. Leigh saw similar qualities in her husband and mother. Ryan graduated with a degree in Library Science in 2015 and later became the librarian at Battery Creek when an opening became available.

     “I took a pay cut to go into the school system, but I was finally happy,” smiles Ryan.

     An added perk as faculty at Beaufort County School District is summers off, of course. Ryan is able to stay home with his two boys, Reames (5) and Lukas (12), during the lazy days of June, July, and August. And Beaufort in the summer is a young boy’s paradise. “We have a lot of adventures,” he laughs. “It’s a gender role reversal, since Leigh has a full-time job at TCL during normal working hours. She is the task-oriented parent, keeping the kids clothed and fed. I’m there for emotional support, putting the Band-Aids on with kisses.”

     They are a perfect fit, and Ryan insists, “She is my constant, as I am a bit restless.”

     So yes, Ryan penned the pages, but it was Leigh who convinced him to publish his memoir.

   “Writing and throwing a baseball are the only two things that come naturally to me. She is my biggest cheerleader, well, at the writing part,” he chuckles.

     “The power of words is so incredibly important. Did you know that Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin as an antibiotic in 1928 could not successfully describe it in medical journals because of his inability to write and explain the discovery? It was met with little enthusiasm, and it wasn’t until 1940 when two other scientists realized the potential and successfully transcribed its function in respected journals across the country. All because of writing,” Ryan explains.

     As an elementary student at Mossy Oaks, Ryan recalls his librarian, Ann Squires. “She read The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe from her rocking chair, dressed in her black dress, and made the book come alive with her storytelling.”

     Poignantly, as addressed on his Waking Up Dead Facebook page recently, his new book is for sale at Nevermore Books, a local Poe-themed bookstore.

     Squires recruited Ryan for the Academic Challenge (which he believes Leigh was in as well) and joined the Battle of the Books team. He read over 40 books and answered questions for the gifted and talented judges. Something clicked. His love affair with books and writing began.

     I know Ryan personally, and it comes to no surprise that his life’s creed is taken from the Book of Micah 6:8 in the Old Testament of the Bible:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly with your God.

     Ryan understands and lives with this humility every day. “All I can do is keep trying. I consistently want to seek out the best version of myself, day by day,” he says with a modest grin.

     “My dad was a Faithful man, and I am as well. We were different in that he was a reverent servant, and I question Faith. But isn’t that the greatest part about Faith? To question it?”

     And that’s Ryan. That’s Leigh, and their commitment to Faith will be the legacy of their family. They are simply good people, doing great things.

     It’s joyful to witness a full-circle familial act of self-preservation and honor of family. That’s what Ryan has done with this book. Although he did not take the reins of funeral director, he wrote about the influence of his dad’s support, his journey as a Copeland, and the dignity he maintained by choosing his own life’s passion. I’m glad you did my friend. Thank you for this important book to illustrate a part of Beaufort’s eclectic past. And sincerely, thanks for being one of the greatest guys I know in this town.