“Is this heaven?” …. No, it’s Iowa.” Remembering The Field of Dreams

James Earl Jones

Most baseball fans know of the movie, “The Field of Dreams.” But for those of us from Iowa, it’s more than just a movie. It’s home, it’s reality, and it lights a fire within us when we think of all the history that was made on that very spot of ground. It’s hard to believe that it was made about 35 years ago.  Parts of the movie were shot in Dubuque and other parts were shot out on the East Coast, but the majority of it was filmed in Dyersville, IA.  Where is Dyersville you ask???  Well it’s about midway between Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque, IL and Runde Ford of Manchester, IA. –about 10 minutes north of US Hwy 20.

The field lies on the Lansing family farm.   The corn is still growing, the house still stands in the same place it did 100 years ago. The movie was released in 1989, starring the ‘Tin Cup’ himself, Kevin Costner. Based on the book, Shoeless Joe, written by W.P. Kinsella, a University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop graduate, Iowa seemed like the only logical setting for the film.

People have visited the Field of Dreams from all over the world and it has become a national landmark. When the movie was originally released, it was a real sleeper — one of those modest-budget films that was probably hoping to break even.  Well, it sure took America by storm and raked in profits by the millions. 

No one can pinpoint exactly what drew people to it, probably because there was something different for everyone.  Some liked the fantasy of it and the creative nature of the story.  Some saw it as a piece of Americana that emphasized how dreams can become reality in the heartland of America.   Still there were others that liked Costner, himself.   I know that the scene where Kevin Costner’s character askes his father “Do you wanna have a catch?” actually brought tears to the eyes of many grown men as Kevin and (a very young) Ray Liotta played catch in the twilight. 

Kevin Costner actually came back to the Field of Dreams during the summer of 2014 to visit the location and play a concert with his band — who knew he sang and played a mean guitar?  If you get the chance to go visit and become a part of history, I highly recommend you make the trip. It’s well worth it!

Kevin Costner on stage at the Field of Dreams

On a final note:  I remember working a landscaping job the summer after the movie was filmed and I was working with a guy named Doug (I don’t recall Doug’s last name, but I remember he was dating Sue Krapfl at the time.  So Doug, if you’re reading this, this is your story and to this day it’s still hard to believe.), but he was from Dubuque and was going to college at Iowa State University.  Anyway he drove this old red Ford full-size truck – it wasn’t exactly a beauty contest winner, but it was definitely great quality transportation for a college student.  One day we were talking during lunch break and I found out that the previous summer he worked on the set of the Field of Dreams movie.  His job was to drive around the movie staff and actors so he drove Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster wherever they needed to go.  He got to chat with all of them and said they were all cool guys — James Earl Jones was the coolest of the three. 

To this day, I imagine Doug would say it was the best job he’s ever had.   After filming had wrapped up, he helped with cleaning up the location and on his last day of work, his boss asked him if he wanted to buy a red truck that was used as a cargo vehicle on the set.  Doug responded by saying he didn’t think that he could could afford the truck because he was paying for school.  His boss said that he could have it for a dollar because technically he had to “sell” the truck.  He gave the guy a dollar and the title was signed over.   OK … someone sells a perfectly good truck to a college student for $1 …  I guess one of Doug’s dreams came true at the Field of Dreams. 

If no one every offers to sell you a truck for $1 in your lifetime, then visit the Field of Trucks at the Runde PreDriven Dealership near Dubuque, IA.  At the very least, you’ll surely get a good deal on one of their trucks.