Bookmania in Waynesville
On August 1 I will join forty other regional authors for booksignings and presentations. Barbara Bates Smith and I will present dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River, with accompaniment. …
Ketoctin Church Homecoming
On June 7, I returned to a historic Baptist church in the community in northern Virginia where I spent much of my childhood to give the homecoming sermon. The congregation …
Guns, Germs, Steel, and God
PBS has recently aired a documentary on Jared Diamond’s book and thesis that “guns, germs, and steel” are the driving forces of history as we know it. In his episode …
East Asheville Performance
Barbara Bates Smith and I presented our dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River at the East Asheville Community Center on Sunday, May 17. We were joined by Geri Littlejohn, …
Trail of Tears: The PBS Documentary
I have found the first episodes of PBS’s series “We Shall Remain” on the American Experience to be visually as well as historically very well done. Their most recent airing, …
Upcoming Performances
I am pleased that Barbara Bates Smith and I have been invited to present our dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, on …
On War and the Soul
When I wrote up my reflections on military trauma after the JustPeace Conference, I had not yet read Edward Tick’s book, War and the Soul: Healing our Nation’s Veterans from …
Military Trauma, Ethics, and Conflict Transformation
“Trauma Healing: Preparing Churches to Receive Returning Military Personnel” was the focus of the JustPeace Gathering I attended on April 1-2 in Nashville, TN. JustPeace is the Mediation and Conflict …
Comments on Red Clay, Blood River
I have received extensive comments from Jane Young, a published author in North Carolina, about Red Clay, Blood River. I have excerpted her reflections here. Thanks so much for giving …
On Time, Memory, and Reconciliation
Several things have converged in the last few days to make me think about time, memory, and reconciliation. But it’s not an easy topic! St. Augustine had it right: “If …
On Markets and Families
American Conservatism is indeed at a crossroads without a map. In a recent article, Yuval Levin (“The Republicans’ Road Back,’ Newsweek, March 16, 2009, p. 33) states “conservatives have sought …
Reconciliation with Earth: Some Questions and Probings
Red Clay, Blood River raises the question of what it means to find reconciliation with the Earth. Or is it “reconciliation with Earth”? Perhaps the latter, for we always want …
Review by Wisteria Leigh
The Historical Novels Review Online (a service of the Historical Novel Society) has just published a review by Wisteria Leigh. Here are a few excerpts from her review. “The theme …
The OIKOS Word on Ecology
Environmental concerns reach back to my earliest years, when I spent my summers on a family farm in northern Virginia and even formed a “Nature Club” when I was about …
Woodworking and Spirituality
While woodworking has always been part of my life, it became a central activity only ten years ago. Teaching writing, raising a family, and engaging in community activities left little …
Review by JC Walkup
In addition to her story about the novel, JC Walkup simultaneously wrote a review in The Guide, published by The Mountaineer (Waynesville, NC) on February 25, 2009, p. 5, printed …