As I type this, it is early afternoon on Christmas Eve… Because I plan to be as far away from the keyboard as I can possibly get for the next week or so, I wanted to post a couple quick updates and announcements in between going to church functions and stuffing my face. I won’t be back in the blogosphere until after New Years, and I hope that you all have a blessed holiday. Just in case you get bored and stop by, here are a few things of interest.
First off, there are some new additions over on the Pinstripe Press website: My latest book review for The Free Lance-Star ran on Saturday. It is on Richard William’s Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man’s Friend. There is also an extended version (that discusses more of the film project) that will be posted up at CWI (Civil War Interactive). I also posted that Op-Ed I recently did on Oliver Howard: Battlefield Believer. The biggest addition over at the Pinstripe Press is The Jackson Society portal site, which is finally up. Are you a Christian who has an interest in the spiritual legacy of Thomas Jackson? Have you written, or published something that you would like to share with fellow Stonewall enthusiasts? Have you been searching for a forum to promote your work and witness for your Lord and Savior? If so, please check us out. We'd love to hear from you.
Second, today at morning services, I received an early (and absolutely spectacular) Christmas present from a good church friend named John K. (I’m using his initial only as I don’t like to post names on the Internet without permission.) John is very active at our church, and we have all been blessed by his presence. Even better [smiling]; he has always been a huge supporter of my work. John lives in a beautiful area that is adjacent to the Spotsylvania Battlefield. He is also a Civil War enthusiast, and a respectful and responsible relic-hunter. In appreciation for my books, he graciously presented me with a beautiful showcase that contains a 58 cal. 3-ring minnie, a smashed 3-ringer, a 52 cal. round-ball, and a 58 cal. 2-ring gardner that were all excavated on his property near the battlefield. Needless to say I was speechless, and it prompted me to propose an article on the subject. So, in addition to some upcoming pieces that I am doing (including features on Lee’s Lieutenants’ reenactment group, Liberty University’s Civil War Chaplains Museum, and a combined book review of “Grant & Sherman: The Friendship That Won The Civil War” by Charles Flood and Eric Wittenberg’s new book on “Rush’s Lancers: The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry in the Civil War,”) I will also be participating at a future dig with John, and writing about the positive aspects of relic hunting when done in the proper manner. Stay tuned.
OK. That’s it for 2006. See you again in ’07. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless.