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Recently I have added 2 works to my published oeuvre: “White on Black: Thinking about Race in a Small Alabama Community” came out a few months back and “Remembering my Forebears: The Turbervilles of Greensboro and the Mays of Hollow Square and Sawyerville, Hale County, Alabama” is available in both paperback and eBook editions on February 1, 2024.They are, in my opinion, companion pieces, each one shedding some light on the other.
The “White on Black” title/subtitle pretty much explains itself. I try to describe how my thinking on matters racial have evolved over time. The chapters are topical instead of strictly chronoligical, and each one is a gerund, just like that “Thinking” in the subtitle. Learning. Worshiping. Losing. I wanted to use the “ing” form in part to indicate that this is an ongoing process, not something that has been written in stone.
The later work begins with an “ing” word. That process too is ongoing. Earlier I had published separate works about my Turberville and May families, and in the process I became aware of how they make one story instead of two. Combining them in this way permitted me an opportunity to add some new material, edit out some redundancies, correct a fact or so, and improve spelling. I was also able to add photos of each family.
Although at present the separate works, one for each family, remain available, I believe that the later combined work is by far the best because of the changes.
The title “Remembering My Forebears is oddly generic, but it does describe both the process and the matter involved. The subtitle “The Turbervilles of Greensboro and the Mays of Hollow Square and Sawyerville, Hale County, Alabama” is a bit cumbersome, but it gives me the opportunity to put in a lot of searchable words up front and make more room for other words in the seven allowed searchable subject tags for the book. Want to know what those are? Deafness in families, Depression, Family secrets, Suicide, Mixed-race families, Sibling relationships. Alcoholism.
My back jacket copy for the paperback of “Remembering My Forebears” gives a decent summary that sort of fits both of these books:
“The writer considers the lives of his Turberville mother and his May father, their parents, and their siblings and tries to make sense of how he came to be and how he was shaped by the families before him. He does not shy away from tales of alcoholism, depression, religious mania, suicide, murder, and mysterious death. He is frank about what is known of his family's mixed-race relationships and kinships. In his attempt to understand, even to love, he speculates freely from known fact, always careful to alert the reader as he does. His mother used to say of her relatives, “You want to whip some and drown some!” He tries to understand and do neither. This volume combines two earlier works on his parents' families, for he began to realize that they were one story after all.”
Close to the beginning of that later work I wrote:
“But that family is what this humble piece is all about: my memories of these people. Notice I said my memories. I’m sure that any of you readers who descended from or who knew any of these people will have your own set of memories of those mentioned in detail or in passing, and I’m sure that not in every case will they match completely with mine. That’s all right. It would be wonderful if you would set down your memories as well. What I hope is that my memories will jog your memories and make you think about the past and remember.
I have tried to get facts correct when possible, and some of you may recall the occasional question from me about someone or something. But the memories are more important to me than the cold facts.
“You’ve all heard the old expression “warts and all.” Well, this is not quite that. Too much emphasis on the warts and you don’t notice the good stuff. Still I have not avoided the warts entirely, and I believe my examination of them is restrained and judicious. I hope that I am ending up with a fairly decent and fairly honest set of pictures of the Turbervilles and the Mays without being cruel or offensive. Certainly my intent has been to be kind.”
You will note that the book jackets, although having different designs, feature the same colors. That was a deliberate choice to suggest a relationship between the two works.
While I can’t say that these two works will be my absolute final word on the people and matters covered, I think I can safely say that at least this is the most of it. My intention now is to move on to other topics.
The later work begins with an “ing” word. That process too is ongoing. Earlier I had published separate works about my Turberville and May families, and in the process I became aware of how they make one story instead of two. Combining them in this way permitted me an opportunity to add some new material, edit out some redundancies, correct a fact or so, and improve spelling. I was also able to add photos of each family.
Although at present the separate works, one for each family, remain available, I believe that the later combined work is by far the best because of the changes.
The title “Remembering My Forebears is oddly generic, but it does describe both the process and the matter involved. The subtitle “The Turbervilles of Greensboro and the Mays of Hollow Square and Sawyerville, Hale County, Alabama” is a bit cumbersome, but it gives me the opportunity to put in a lot of searchable words up front and make more room for other words in the seven allowed searchable subject tags for the book. Want to know what those are? Deafness in families, Depression, Family secrets, Suicide, Mixed-race families, Sibling relationships. Alcoholism.
My back jacket copy for the paperback of “Remembering My Forebears” gives a decent summary that sort of fits both of these books:
“The writer considers the lives of his Turberville mother and his May father, their parents, and their siblings and tries to make sense of how he came to be and how he was shaped by the families before him. He does not shy away from tales of alcoholism, depression, religious mania, suicide, murder, and mysterious death. He is frank about what is known of his family's mixed-race relationships and kinships. In his attempt to understand, even to love, he speculates freely from known fact, always careful to alert the reader as he does. His mother used to say of her relatives, “You want to whip some and drown some!” He tries to understand and do neither. This volume combines two earlier works on his parents' families, for he began to realize that they were one story after all.”
Close to the beginning of that later work I wrote:
“But that family is what this humble piece is all about: my memories of these people. Notice I said my memories. I’m sure that any of you readers who descended from or who knew any of these people will have your own set of memories of those mentioned in detail or in passing, and I’m sure that not in every case will they match completely with mine. That’s all right. It would be wonderful if you would set down your memories as well. What I hope is that my memories will jog your memories and make you think about the past and remember.
I have tried to get facts correct when possible, and some of you may recall the occasional question from me about someone or something. But the memories are more important to me than the cold facts.
“You’ve all heard the old expression “warts and all.” Well, this is not quite that. Too much emphasis on the warts and you don’t notice the good stuff. Still I have not avoided the warts entirely, and I believe my examination of them is restrained and judicious. I hope that I am ending up with a fairly decent and fairly honest set of pictures of the Turbervilles and the Mays without being cruel or offensive. Certainly my intent has been to be kind.”
You will note that the book jackets, although having different designs, feature the same colors. That was a deliberate choice to suggest a relationship between the two works.
While I can’t say that these two works will be my absolute final word on the people and matters covered, I think I can safely say that at least this is the most of it. My intention now is to move on to other topics.
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