 Meet author,
educator and world traveler,
John Slade of Woodgate International
Its been a
pleasure to partner with John Slade for nearly a year now as one of
the Featured Publishers here at AtlasBooks. John has published a wide
variety of titles in fiction and non-fiction, including plays, poetry, a
children's book, and several titles addressing issues from education to
ecology, with his most recent book
Bootmaker to the Nation, adding a historical novel to his already
diverse list of topics.
John has had a unique itinerary during his
career as an educator which complements his already well-equipped
credentials.
A graduate of Stanford University, Slade
earned a BA, MA, and PhD in comparative literature and went on to earn a
masters in education from the University of Vermont. Most of his titles were
written during his years as an educator, teaching English at high school and
college levels in the United States, the Caribbean and Norway. While in Bodo,
Norway, he helped develop an exchange program with a university in St.
Petersburg, Russia. His unique five year experience as a teacher in St.
Petersburg prepared him to write
The New St.
Petersburg, a nonfiction work documenting the lives of people trying
to rebuild after the collapse of Soviet Russia. Experiences such as this have
provided him access to locations from the exotic to the oppressed, and
allowed him to embrace the cultures and issues prominent in his books.
John has chosen a variety of themes over the
years that address the human condition from the unique perspective of one who
has taught, experienced and researched across the globe. Perhaps one of his
best and most researched stories, (Slade spent 5 years preparing for this)
Bootmaker to the Nation was
sparked not out of a love for American history, but by a general lack of
enthusiasm for it. Here's what Slade had to say:
"I was as bored as everybody else in
American history class in high school. I wrote the book (Bootmaker To The
Nation) as a gift to America, and especially to the kids of America. I had
taught English at the high school and college levels...and knew that most
of my students had little understanding of American history. I loved those
kids, loved their energy and enthusiasm, loved their ability to explore
literature and to write with increasing clarity, and enjoyed motivating
them toward their dreams, but I understood that they had little foundation
as citizens of America.
While I taught in Russia, from 1992 to 1996,
I worked with students who had lost the country they had been born in: the
Soviet Union was gone....Their university-educated parents were often
unemployed...the Russian economy was wreckage...Our university classroom in
1995-1996 had two light bulbs in the ceiling...and was never warmer during
the entire winter than 42° F.
...those excellent students knew their
history...in clear detail, and often referred to it with deep
pride...Though they had lost almost everything else, they had their Russian
foundation, and on that foundation they would build a new country.
So, when I returned to the United States in
1996 to take care of my family, I wanted to give an understanding of our
American foundation to the people of my own country, and especially to the
kids. Many books and films have been written and made about the Civil War,
but the Revolution has long been neglected. What were the principles, the
beliefs, the dreams back then? I wanted to bring those principles to life,
today."
I have to confess: as a student, I was also
bored with the standard reading on the American Revolution, and as I sat down
with Bootmaker to the Nation,
I found myself thoroughly charmed.
Two of the main characters, Benjamin and
Genevieve, provided an insiders view of the turbulent period from 1774 to
1783. Slade has infused the story with historical detail and language unique
to this period in history, allowing the reader to find himself on the harsh
journey from London across the Atlantic, embroiled in the battle between the
Continental Army and British soldiers, or riding with General George
Washington's courier. The story is told through two main characters, one a
native to the colonies and the other kidnapped and taken by force into the
volatile unknown of America where the two meet, marry and become a living and
breathing testament to our nation's history, brilliantly bringing the reality
of this exciting period in American history to life.
Although
Bootmaker to the Nation is a
work of fiction, Slade's penchant for researching his books is as evident in
this as any other of his titles.
Painstakingly researching this period of
American history, he visited every historic site mentioned in the novel,
studied historical documents in the Library of Congress and read countless
books on the subject. In an effort to "...tell the story with the detail it
deserves," Slade even spent ten days in the highest rigging of a sailing ship
in the Caribbean, so that he could vividly describe Benjamin's experience on
the British Frigate.
John has provided an excerpt from
Bootmaker to the Nation for you
to sample:
Benjamin, a most anxious father-to-be
July 9, 1776
At six o'clock in the evening of July 9, when the companies of our regiment
formed an open square on the worn grassy common in front of our barracks,
we could only guess how Congress would formulate our break with Britain.
Would Philadelphia take into its hands the power formerly held by
Parliament? Would the thirteen colonies each go their own way, with little
but the war to unite them? Would some powerful landowner assert his rights
as our new king, in the guise of some title such as President? And would
we, the soldiers, continue to fight and die so that ship owners and
merchants could return to the old days of profits untroubled by taxes?
We assembled on that warm July
evening, as the sun disappeared behind the rooftops and chimneys along the
Broad Way, not to hear the latest list of resolves. We wanted to know
why we were fighting this endless war.
As a lieutenant read with a voice
loud enough for all to hear, we realized that the lawyers and landowners
gathered in their assembly hall in Philadelphia had truly understood us.
They seemed to have sat with us around our campfires night after night, to
have listened to us, down to the last humble farmer and cobbler, as we
spoke of our fear and our hopes, of our anger and our dreams. They seemed
to have cast the old dusty history books into the flames, then to have
penned something entirely new. Aye, they signed their fine names to that
document in defiance of the King, but what they wrote, every soldier among
us would have been willing to sign as well.
The soldiers interrupted the reading
with frequent and hearty cheers. We felt emboldened, indignant, and
vindicated: our defense of our American rights was justified by every
phrase that we heard, and our mission on behalf of mankind was laid before
us. The best minds in America believed in us, as did the Creator Himself.
Every soldier among us felt a bit nobler, for our work would reach down
through the ages.
I hope you have enjoyed this
month's Author Spotlight on John Slade.
For more details about this author, his books and ordering information visit
http://www.woodgateintl.com
Return to the
Author Spotlight index
|
BOOTMAKER TO THE NATION
BOOK SIGNING
Look for author
John Slade
at
Colonial Williamsburg where he will be available to sign your copy of
BOOTMAKER TO THE NATION. John will be
at the Visitor's Center promoting this historical novel July 2, 3, and 4, 2004. This is John's fifth visit to Williamsburg where Bootmaker
has been very well received.
DANCING WITH SAMUEL
CHILDREN OF THE SUN
A JOURNEY OUT
OF DARKNESS
HERBERT'S MOUNTAIN
THE NEW
ST.PETERSBURG
ACID RAIN, ACID
SNOW
A DREAM
SEEDED IN THE EARTH
COVENANT
GOOD MORNING DADDY! |
