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"It has taken 50 years and a crab to give me an understanding of American history and enjoy it. Thank you!" Burton, grandfather from Williamsburg, VA |
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Posts Tagged ‘Chester Comix’
The First Remainder.
Written on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 [permanent link]
Wow. A milestone! The First Time I Saw One of My Books in a Used Bookstore.
Today, at the popular Book Exchange on Jamestown Road in Williamsburg.
Maybe a good thing? It means my stuff is out there, people are trying them. Not everyone will like what they read. Comix are a hard art form to navigate if you haven’t read any since Archie and Jughead when you were 7.
But I couldn’t stop staring — like finding one of my homemade cupcakes in the trash at the company picnic, with one bite out of it. I know in my head that used Chester Comix are out there — you can see them advertised on Amazon. But I’ve never physically come face-to-cover with one in all the used bookstores I love to cruise.
I resisted the urge to pull a Paddington and write a note to stick inside it: “Please take care of this book.”
Tags: Author's Purpose, Bentley Boyd, bookstore, Chester Comix, Revolutionary City
Posted in Author's Purpose | 4 Comments »
Bacon’s Rebellion on Jamestown Island
Written on Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 [permanent link]
A week ago I found myself on Jamestown Island on a Saturday night for the annual telling of the story of Bacon’s Rebellion. Of course I’ve been out to the island many times in the 18 years that I’ve lived in the Historic Triangle, but I had never been there for this event. What a cool and calm feeling watching the sun set over the church and then watching the moon rise over the fields where some experts made it feel like 1678!
Willie Balderson was the leader of the crew that night. He is one of the best actors in the Williamsburg area, in part because he can range so widely across the timeline. For years he has led groups on this annual walk through Bacon’s Rebellion — the first major uprising of American colonists against British royal authority (a century before the Declaration of Independence). He has a deft touch in making the story understandable to modern audiences but still making them feel he was a participant in that story. (It helps that the crowd’s interest mirrors what actually happened: after the rebellion the king sent investigators to Virginia to interview people to find out what went so haywire.)
It’s a dramatic story that very few Americans know about — probably the biggest adventure that is untold to modern audiences. Well, except for my own version of it in my Founding Fathers book. 😉
Jamestown Island is great example of how I can do what I do for a living. It is a favorite among locals because it has beautiful hiking and biking just a few minutes away from our community. It is amazing that we have such historic ground so nearby, where we can see the marshes at sunset, watch a bald eagle eat dinner on the James River seawall, or hear the archaeologists tell us what they’ve learned about Jamestown Fort today that they didn’t know a month ago. It’s getting harder to find those unique pieces of ground in America, but this is easy to get to and there’s no Wal-Mart around!
Tags: Bacon's Rebellion, Bentley Boyd, Chester Comix, Jamestown Island, Virginia, Willie Balderson
Posted in Author's Purpose, Historical Travel, History Teacher | No Comments »
Slow as Manassas
Written on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 [permanent link]
I’ve lived in Virginia for 18 years without making it up to the site of the first major battle of the Civil War — and then there was a last-minute mission to get my boys to the Green Day concert just down Lee Highway from the Manassas Battlefield . . .
(Don’t worry, I got my Cool Dad badge LAST summer when I actually went into the Green Day concert in downtown DC with my boys. But this time the concert was at an outdoor theater, and it hit 101 degrees today, and, well . . . )
Manassas was the site of the first major battle of the Civil War. And the feel of today’s battlefield park is just right. Thank goodness these rolling hills are not covered with condos. Though the Manassas Battlefield is only a mile or so north of Interstate 66, you can stand here and feel the struggle of men and guns up and down these hills (and why holding the high ground was so important). There WAS a modern road cutting through the park, but seeing the modern rush hour traffic jammed on its two lanes did not feel overwhelming — it just reminded me of the traffic jam that came at the end of the First Battle of Manassas, as Union soldiers and spectators rushed over each other down that very same roadway to get back to the safety of DC!!
I love visiting Civil War battlefields in the late afternoon. Battles usually ended at sunsdown anyway, so it’s a good time to feel the peacefulness and consider the bravery and the terrible pain that happened on this ground — and the ideas that brought people here in conflict.
I feel restored and inspired from having walked through the quiet grass of Manassas. Now back to Paneras to wait for the concert to end!
Tags: battlefield, Bentley Boyd, Chester Comix, Chester the Crab, Civil War, educational comics, First Battle of Manassas, history, Virginia
Posted in Author's Purpose, Historical Travel | No Comments »
