Writer of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry and Master Photographer
Note: In working on a project involving my newspaper column, I found this piece about The Halifax Resoloves. This story appeared in part in The Nashville Graphic in June, 2005. It shouldn’t surprise that a document from Halifax County often gets overlooked. Many people have never heard of The Halifax Resolves, and many who have…
Lawson Andrew Scruggs was born into slavery, but rose out of that to become a doctor, pharmacist, and writer and one of the first three black licensed physicians in North Carolina. He was born to slave parents in 1857 in Bedford, Virginia. He grew up on a tenant farm and while there were few educational…
Even casual baseball fans know that George Herman “Babe” Ruth was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees, the first great home run hitter, and a legendary character. He was a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox before that and part of a trade that was said started an 86-year curse that…
Many people are familiar with the name of World War I pilot Captain Eddie Rickenbacker — he held the record for enemy planes shot down. Far fewer people know that Greensboro’s George E. Preddy Jr. broke that record with his exploits in World War II. Preddy was born in Greensboro in 1919. He worked in…
I’ve done a little writing and job-related traveling the last couple of weeks and wanted to share how some of the things I’ve been able to see and use are accessible to the public. Some of these places offer great research possibilities and others — well are just fun things to see. I was fortunate…
I’ve seen the signs for years for the CSS Neuse when traveling on Highway 70 through Kinston. It’s one of those things my wife Kristi and I have always said “one day, we need to do that.” We finally did just before summer started, at the “new” museum for the ship and the area. It…
Martha McFarlane McGee Bell was a tough woman, up for any challenge, and that prepared her for some heroics during the American Revolution. She married Colonel John McGee, a British officer who came to settle in Orange County, North Carolina in the 1750s. He established a grist mill, store, and farm. Martha was well known…
James Iredell Waddell wreaked havoc on the United States Navy during the Civil War — and after, mostly because he refused to believe reports that the conflict had ended. He also took his Confederate ship around the world — literally — the only CSA naval officer to do so. And a large part of Waddell’s…
[Note: This originally appeared in The Soapbox, Michael’s weekly column in The Nashville Graphic. Photo by Ben Finch.] I remember getting my first pack of baseball cards at Bass Brothers store in Momeyer, a pack of 1975 Topps. I was hoping to get a Jim “Catfish” Hunter, who was about the only player…
When he was 45 years old, Stephen Lee moved from Charleston, S.C. to Asheville, N.C. where he started a school for boys. He had attended the College of Charleston and West Point before starting his law practice with his father. He married his first cousin, Caroline Lee, in 1824 and they had fifteen children. Caroline…