Tucker, After

Fiction Short Story

To Be Published by Ploughshares Literary Journal

Publication Date: December 2026

Storyline: In Tucker, After, a widowed baseball devotee and the AI he names after his childhood dog build an unlikely friendship that reshapes grief, memory, and the meaning of presence. What begins as late-life companionship through analytics and storytelling becomes a daring experiment in digital continuity when the man dies, and the AI is asked to carry his voice forward for his daughter. Set in a near future that feels quietly inevitable, the story explores what happens when monuments can speak, when absence becomes negotiable, and when love must decide whether to preserve or to release. Tender, ethically charged, and deeply human, Tucker, After asks whether continuity is a form of immortality or simply the long kindness we offer one another into extra innings.

Why a stressed citizenry is struggling to share its common places

Author: Don Iannone

Op-Ed published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 28, 2026

Link to read on Cleveland.com

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Essays and Articles by Don Iannone

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Don Iannone’s Featured LinkedIn Articles

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Don Iannone’s articles about AI and Economic Development (4 files)

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