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Sky
June
2006
June
10 * Guest
Speaker- 8th Annual Military History Education Group,
Arthur, IL
I'm being introduced at the 8th Annual Military History
Education Group Conference at
Yoder's Kitchen in Arthur, Illinois (I'm standing in the
distant center in blue).
Bruce Gregory is a special person. He
called me and asked me to re-schedule a previous engagement
for June 10 in order to attend his annual conference. I am
extremely glad I did. This is going to be a long entry
because I've got so much to say about Bruce, about the
event, about the other authors I got to know, and about how
things went for me.
First,
Bruce Gregory. Bruce has created a world-class event with
his Military History Education Group and with his Civil War
roundtable group. These are top class events. After 25
years in the pharmaceutical industry, I've attended many
top shelf conferences, presentations, seminars, and
training courses throughout North America. Bruce's events
lack nothing in terms of accommodations, atmosphere, and
general quality. Bruce has discovered that the key to a
good conference is the quality of the facilities, speakers,
and support team that can be assembled. Bruce's family and
friends are his biggest asset. They are always looking
after the author's needs, clearing every obstacle for good
presentations. You won't be able to go anywhere else for a
better array of Civil War historians.
Author
Gary Robert Matthews, Gary's wife, and I arrived at the
Arthur Country Inn before anyone else. More on Gary later.
I called Bruce to let him know we were present in Arthur
and a few minutes later he showed up at my hotel door. Gary
came over and we both listened to Bruce give us the
"rundown" on Arthur. Arthur, Illinois, is the third largest
Amish community in the United States and that fact gives
the town its distinctive feel. With Amish furniture
craftsmen posted on each street corner, and horse and buggy
teams clopping Illinois Route 133, it is quite quaint.
After
an hour or so we proceeded to meet the other two presenters
for a home cooked meal with Bruce's family and some
friends. There we met authors Edward T. Cotham, Jr. and Dr.
John V. Cimprich. I don't mind telling you that I was in
awesome company for this rare evening. Mr. Cotham is an
attorney and author of three Civil War books, Dr. Cimprich
is a professor of History at Thomas More College and author
of two Civil War books, Mr. Matthews is a historian and
free lance writer, and Bruce Gregory probably knows more
about the current generation of Civil War writers than any
other man in America. I felt like I should be paying good
money to be among such company. It was a great time to sit
around and talk about anything that came to mind. Bruce
allows the authors to bond with each other knowing that for
the next 24 hours we would be an informal team, put
together to share our knowledge in front of a paying
audience while having some fun along the way. We convened
at Yoder's Kitchen around 8:30 AM the next
day.
The Amish flavor of Arthur, Illinois, is on display at
Yoder's Kitchen
The
name "Yoder's Kitchen" may conjure a certain image to
anyone who hasn't been to the establishment. I assure you
it is a grand place. It has a great hall where the
presentations were given and where a large and varied Civil
War book display was on view. Mind you, I had never been to
such a symposium before and had no idea what I was supposed
to do while awaiting the official start of the
presentations. Since I was there to get the word out about
Adam Johnson, I posted myself near my bookstand and started
to talk to browsers as they came by. People started buying
my book simply on the faith that if I was brought in by
Bruce then I had a good book to sell and a good
presentation to follow. I probably sold ten books before I
said a word from the stage area.
Gary
Matthews was first up and gave a wonderful talk on Basil
Duke, General John Hunt Morgan's right-hand man. Sometimes
you'll speak with someone for only a few minutes and
realize that you could be good friends. That's how I felt
with Gary. Since his book is about the Kentucky Civil War
experience, he agreed to an interview and a book review of
his new work: Basil
Wilson Duke, CSA: The Right Man in the Right
Place. His book is
my review selection for the 2nd Quarter of 2007. I was up
next.
Continuing
on a theme struck the night before at dinner, I decided to
talk about Thunder
From a Clear Sky in terms of my personal journey of growth
and fulfillment. It probably wasn't what the audience
expected or ordinarily gets from famous Civil War authors.
Of course, I talked about the raid and sketched an outline
of Adam Johnson's incredible life story. After talking to
Bruce and several other guests the previous evening, I felt
like I wanted to let others know that if it was possible
for me to stand among such respected Civil War historians,
then whatever dreams they might be harboring could be set
to action without fear or uncertainty. That's about all I
remember of what I said. I can only judge from the response
as to how the audience accepted it. I was mobbed by people
wanting to buy Thunder before the lunch break. I probably sold a
dozen more books in the fifteen minutes preceding lunch.
After
lunch is a tough time to present. Everyone is full from a
good meal and the occasional lunch plate rattles in the
background. Somehow, Bruce knew that Ed Cotham was the
right man in the right place (to borrow a phrase). I knew
absolutely nothing about the Battle of Sabine Pass- you
could have told me it was a World War II battle and I
wouldn't have doubted you. Ed Cotham hooked me, deep. I was
absolutely entranced. This is a fascinating little story
and it was told in a spellbinding manner. I did something
that I almost never do. I purchased Ed's book on the power
of his presentation and the neat little hook of the story.
I look forward to reading it. After Ed's presentation, I
continued to sell books pretty steadily. According to the
bookseller, I wound up selling 30 books which was almost
twice as many as any previous author to present at any of
the previous seven annual conferences. I felt good that
Adam Johnson's story was spreading.
Last
up for the day was Dr. Cimprich, who had an immobilized
wing as a result of some shoulder problems. Dr. Cimprich
gave a nice little talk on the Fort Pillow massacre. It's
not a subject I knew much about, but I do now. I enjoyed
listening to him.
That's
about it. I felt really good about the results of my first
conference and it gave me enough energy to ride home the
three and a half hours in safe shape. Just another one of
those once-in-a-lifetime events, I
guess.
June
15 * Guest
Speaker- St. Benedict's Silver Club, Evansville, IN
Members of
the St. Benedict's Silver Club
Kamille Stich heard me speak at Henderson
last year and liked what I had to say enough to invite me
to speak at the St. Benedict's Silver Club. The Club is
made up of people 55 and older from the parish who are
interested in learning whatever life has to offer. I took
the afternoon off from work and met Kamille before my talk.
After the Military History Conference this past weekend it
was a little different to speak to such a small group. But
my motto is that if I show up and only one person is there,
that person gets the works as if the room was packed. Since
there were only about ten people I decided to gather
everyone close and have a sort of roundtable talk about the
book, the story, and some of the things I've learned. It
was fun. I remained seated and it was a very casual affair.
The group invited me for lunch (which was great) and I sat
around and talked about whatever came up. I sold a few
books and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for an
anniversary gift for my wife. It was a nice affair and I'm
looking forward to a little break. My next appointment
isn't until July 9, but I'll be posting quite a bit until
then. I look forward to perhaps doing something else with
the parish. Only time will tell.
