Writer of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry and Master Photographer
James H. Jones was a born as a free man in Wake County in 1831. His father died when he was an infant, and Jones learned brick masonry and plastering. In the 1850s, he started hiring himself out as a servant and waiter. When Union troops threatened Richmond in the summer of 1862, Varina Howell…
The Civil War ended this month 156 years ago. The final days wound down in North Carolina, so I’m sharing a passage from Galvanized in today’s blog: “When Sherman entered North Carolina, he ordered restraint from the men, unlike the devastation that had been wreaked on the rest of the South. Fayetteville, home of the…
Like many people, I’ve always been fascinated with pirate stories. The TV series “Black Sails” has been fascinating with its mix of fact and fiction, but we no longer have the movie service that shows it. In that show, there are several pirates of fame, even North Carolina’s own Blackbeard. But one of the main…
I always wanted a Swiss Army knife when I was growing up. It was a pretty handy tool and eventually that dream came true. While it was handy, I never thought about the Swiss Army being fearsome. I was wrong on that one. It’s been said that man-for-man, the Swiss Army is one of the…