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BUY Thunder from a Clear
Sky
July
2006
July
9 * Guest
Speaker- Sunday Book Club at the Newburgh Central Library,
Newburgh, IN
Well, I was originally going to
take July off as a breather, but I got a call to attend a
meeting of the Sunday Book Club at the new Newburgh Central
Library. I had to say yes. The old library, the one where I
did some of my research for Thunder from a Clear Sky,
was down on the Ohio River waterfront in the old part of
Newburgh. The new library is a grand, beautiful building
and will be a great service to the community for many years
to come. It doesn't have the million dollar view of where
Adam Johnson first stepped foot on Indiana soil on July 18,
1862, but it has many other things to recommend it. Among
those things is Diane Sprick. Many people have heard me
tell the story about how I first learned that there was no
previous book published on the Newburgh raid. I went to the
Newburgh library, asked the librarian, and was informed
that there "was no book." This story now has a name for the
famous librarian involved. Her name is Diane Sprick. It was
Diane who first looked me in the eye and informed me that
there was no book published on the Newburgh raid. That was
the day that set me on the path toward writing Thunder from a Clear Sky.
At that time I didn't know Diane at all. Diane is also the
one who invited me to speak at the Sunday Book Club. I
really enjoy book clubs. The part I enjoy the most about
giving talks on Thunder is the questions I
get to ponder from the audience. Although it was a small
crowd, I thought it was a pretty lively discussion and some
great questions were asked. I got to talk about a bunch of
things I've learned since the raid and I wound up selling
some books. I had a great time. Thank you Diane- for
everything.
July
19 * Book
Presentation- At the new Newburgh Town Hall on Jennings
Street, Newburgh, IN
In a picture I snapped during the relocation of the
Newburgh Town Council, the council rolled their chairs from
the old Town Hall to the new while being led by the Sons of
the American Revolution. The entire event was according to
protocol.
This is why I love Newburgh, Indiana.
After 40 years in which town hall proceedings were held in
the old 1853 Presbyterian Church on State street, the
Newburgh Town Council moved to new quarters in what used to
be the top floor of the Newburgh Library on Jennings
Street. The library had recently moved to a new location
closer to where most of the people now live in Newburgh-
further north. When that happened the town council took the
opportunity to renovate and move into the vacated former
library building. The old library had a million dollar view
of the Ohio River (if any view of the Ohio could be worth
that much). Now it is the modern digs for the Newburgh Town
Council. That would be story enough, but when the council
moved they literally rolled their chairs down State street
onto Jennings and rolled them right behind their new
rostrum. This was all according to the protocol of how
seats of government are to be changed. On hand for the
ceremony were Reg and Shirley Porter from Newburgh's sister
city, Newburgh, England. I asked Frank Hijuelos if it would
be appropriate for me to present a copy of my book to the
sister city representatives and Frank thought it was a good
idea. I got up and gave a short blurb on the book and gave
it to Reginald. I was nervous. He graciously accepted the
book and was going to have the council in Newburgh, England
read it. So, Thunder From a Clear Sky
is going
international.
