-
The book has been written, yet the story still unfolds
First, I got a picture of Shedrick Thompson’s father, and then pictures of his siblings. And yesterday, I saw for the first time a picture of his mother. Maybe, if my luck holds, I will someday see a picture of Thompson himself. Thompson is a key figure in The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia. He…
-
Klan story stirs reaction and memory of rally in Caroline
A friend said she was surprised to read last week’s blog post about the Ku Klux Klan parade and rally in Warrenton. She is in her 50s, grew up in Fauquier County, graduated from high school in Warrenton, and knew of the Benner Farm where the cross-burning took place. Yet she had never heard of…
-
Let’s pause now for a short intermission
I started this blog in January with the goal of describing what it was like to write this book and get it published. One question that I faced immediately was how often to post. I hoped to develop interest in the book before publication, but I didn’t want to turn off potential readers with too…
-
‘He was wrong what he did’
I remember how excited I was when I first saw this video by Dylan Nicholls. Dylan created it in 2014 as part of a successful Kickstarter campaign to help fund a film about the Shedrick Thompson case. Dylan is a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., who works part time with Fauquier County…
-
He walked among them but was not of them
One of the first things I had to figure out when working on this book was Shedrick Thompson’s correct name. Thompson is one of the key characters in the story, the man accused of attacking the Baxleys and the man lynched on Rattlesnake Mountain. Yet in news accounts and legal documents, I found nine different…
-
The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!
The cover for this book arrived from History Press this morning, and all I can think about is Steve Martin in the 1979 movie “The Jerk.” I laughed again to see the YouTube clip of him celebrating the arrival of the new phone book. “I’m somebody now!” Martin says. “Millions of people look at this…
-
Reality intervenes after I mix enthusiasm and ignorance
Lesson learned last week: The arrival of page proofs doesn’t mean that publication is imminent. One of History Press’ copy editors recently completed a read-through of this manuscript and made dozens of changes. Then, within days and without warning, I found the page proofs in my inbox. At the newspaper where I worked, page proofs…
Author & Lecturer
Jim Hall 