Hello and welcome to my official author's website - a place for you to encounter and hopefully enjoy the things I have written over the years about faith, family, and history.
I am a native and lifelong resident of Watauga County, North Carolina, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia, where many of my ancestors settled by the 1790s, resulting in some of my family having been here for eight or more generations. This rich and lengthy heritage sparked my early interest in genealogy and local history and, at the age of eleven (quite a few moons ago!), I embarked on a quest to write books about each of my four grandparents' families. I published three of those over a period of decades and have one more to complete. Beyond these genealogical endeavors, I have also delved into other aspects of my county's history (including a well-known murder case), resulting in the publication of a few other books, ideally with more to follow. Additionally, I have composed quite a few personal reflections about Bible passages, my faith in Jesus Christ, and the Christian life.
I am a graduate of Appalachian State University in my hometown of Boone, North Carolina (BA in Political Science/MA in Education with a social studies concentration) and also worked at the university for nine years before being employed at Samaritan's Purse, a Christian international relief organization, where I have worked for the past twenty-eight years.
Perhaps because I'm blood kin to a number of craftsmen, musicians, and storytellers, I have always needed and enjoyed creative outlets. Aside from writing, I have dabbled through the years in art (pencil drawings in particuar), residential design/decor (enjoying my log home, which sits on part of my maternal grandparents' former farm and has an inspiring view of the mountains), collecting and refinishing antiques, amateur photography, and even a bit of cooking.
I have also had the privilege to travel quite extensively, visiting more than 60 countries through both personal and work-related trips, and I have appreciated the opportunity to expand my worldview in the process. In the words of Mark Twain, “Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.... Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Again, welcome! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out. I am glad you are here.
Hello and welcome to my official author's website - a place for you to encounter and hopefully enjoy the things I have written over the years about faith, family, and history.
I am a native and lifelong resident of Watauga County, North Carolina, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia, where many of my ancestors settled by the 1790s, resulting in some of my family having been here for eight or more generations. This rich and lengthy...
Available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions.
For fifty years, the 1972 murders of Bryce and Virginia Durham and their teenage son Bobby on a bitter winter’s night in Boone, North Carolina were unsolved, but in 2022, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office announced that their killers had finally been identified. Based on information from...
Prior to its formation in 1849, Watauga County was a hunting ground for the Cherokee and part of the trail blazed by frontiersman Daniel Boone, for whom the county seat was later named. Primarily settled by whites after the Revolutionary War, many of the county’s earliest families came to the Appalachians from the Piedmont region of North...
Ancestors and Descendants of Alf and Letha Watson Yates
This 325-page book outlines the ancestors and descendants of the author's great, great, great-grandparents, Alf and Letha Watson Yates, who moved from Wilkes County, North Carolina to neighboring Watauga County, North Carolina in 1875. It includes many details of Alf Yates's military service as a Confederate soldier, including the Battle of...
Yes, you read that correctly. Daniel Boone and South Sudan’s independence.
“But wait,” you say. “Boone, that great American, who helped blaze a trail to what would become Kentucky, died in 1820, and South Sudan did not gain its independence until 2011. And to my knowledge, Boone never left his continent and certainly never traveled to Africa. What the heck are you talking about?”
Well, your facts are accurate, and perhaps I should clarify (read: admit) that Daniel Boone did not personally have...
This morning, on the outskirts of our local farmer’s market, I met a lovely, elderly lady, tall and slender, with short, stylish, salt and pepper hair. Dressed in what appeared to be comfortable lounge wear, she sat her handbag down in order to zip up her long, “puffer” overcoat against the cool October breeze.
I started our conversation with, “That’s a nice coat,” followed by asking if she was having a good day. Her daughter had dropped her off at the entrance to the farmer’s market while...
In the spring of 1891, an elderly patient was brought into Boston’s city hospital. Seemingly dressed in everything he owned – four shirts, three pairs of pants, two overcoats – and accompanied by his dog Pete, the man was a curious sight. He suffered from a bad heart and bad kidneys, and when he died, faithful Pete had to be dragged from his side. The old man was buried in a pauper’s grave.
His beginning was as regrettable as his ending. Born into slavery around 1815 in Caswell County, North...
