Category: Uncategorized

Embarrassing. Another first for Georgia. In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Political Insider blog, Jim Galloway reports: Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced this afternoon that, to meet a 3 percent ($732,626) budget cut ordered by Gov. Nathan Deal, he’ll be forced to cut off general public access to the state archives collection in Morrow, effective Nov. 1. From Kemp: ”The decision to reduce public access to the historical records of this state was not arrived at without great consternation.  To my knowledge, Georgia will be the only state in the country that will not have a central location in which the public can visit to research and review the historical records of their government and state.” Access to records will be available by…

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I participated in an Independent Book Publishers Association promotion that ran in the August 27 issue of Publishers Weekly. I couldn’t ask for better position: Brambleman was at the top right side of Page 3.  It will be featured in PW again in October, hopefully with a review.

From the Orlando Sentinel: Florida A&M University is not responsible for drum major Robert Champion’s hazing death, according to a court document filed Monday night. Champion himself is. In a 23-page motion seeking dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Champion’s family in Orange County circuit court, FAMU’s attorneys laid out a blunt response: Champion was a 26-year-old leader in FAMU’s famous marching band who knew the dangers of hazing. He had signed an anti-hazing pledge with the university months before he was beaten aboard a charter bus in Orlando last fall. He had witnessed two other students submit to the brutal ritual immediately before him. And for several months previously, Champion had debated with his friend and fellow drum major…

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Money Quote:  “I don’t know if white students have been discriminated against.” From Inside Higher Ed: A Towson University student who sparked debate last year by founding  a chapter of Youth for Western Civilization is now trying to create a White  Student Union, The  Baltimore Sun reported. The group he created last year has fallen apart  after losing its faculty adviser. L. Victor Collins, assistant vice president of  student affairs for diversity, said  the proposed group would be evaluated  like all others, based on non-political criteria. While Collins said he  supported the group’s First Amendment rights, he questioned the need for a white  organization. “They think they are a parallel comparison to the Black Student  Union,” he said. “In my observation in…

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The newspaper account below was erroneous. The young woman did not recover from the attack, which occurred on Sunday, Sept. 8. She  died the next morning (100 years ago today).  Contrary to popular opinion, Mae Crow’s rape and murder did not mark the beginning of racial turmoil in Forsyth County. People were already up in arms (literally) over an alleged (and very questionable) assault a few days before. centennial In the days to come, I’ll be posting more about Forsyth County events to commemorate the centennial of one of the worst outbreaks of racial violence in the 20th century—events which would eventually lead to Forsyth County becoming known as the nation’s most famous “Sundown Town.” (Chapter Five of Brambleman contains a fictionalized account of these events.)…

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(Photo by Laurel Grant) We had another successful showing at the Decatur Book Festival this year, marking the debut of my second novel, Brambleman. (You can see my wife, Judy, at the far right. My kids, Laurel and Nathan, also helped out a lot.)  This time we sold eBooks out of the booth by putting Smashwords.com coupon codes on postcards and offering a special deal: both Chain Gang Elementary and Brambleman for only $5. We plan to be back next year with a third novel, Party to a Crime, which is with the editor now. Below: The Chain Gang Crew  Nathan, Judy, and Laurel.