On February 11, 1972, Wanda arrived home at 11:30 p.m. She was the charge nurse at a local nursing home. What she did not know was by 3:00 a.m. February 12, her life would be irrevocably changed by the unexpected violent death of her mother. Walk with Wanda through the cycles of homicidal loss. See how she was spiritually transformed. Allow her to help you regain hope and healing as she gently accompanies you in the aftermath of a loved ones murder. My Story, My Song: Daughter of a Murder Victim is Wandas story of her transition from devastation to spiritual transformation after the loss. Her story is an intimate and inspirational portrayal of how one can be transformed through grief and mourning while experiencing divine and human grace.
“We Are the Murder Victims Who Lived” is a gritty and grimy memoir written in the first person, which tackles the surviving of sexual assault while offering hope on life after. It also glimpses into the struggles and shames of life lived during, and a reminiscence on the innocence of life led before. This book serves as a beacon of hope to survivors of sexual assault as well as a wake-up call for a society blinded by darkness. The book targets audiences of every age and gender and sexual orientation, presenting itself as a safe zone specifically for women, a comfort for those previously affected by sexual violence, assault, and abuse. It is also written for those who are trying to understand what has happened to their loved ones, navigating through the unknown. It is an education in the horrors of sexual assault, a spit in the face of the writer’s very own rapist. It paves its way as a testimony to the power of good people. It is an education in the phases that survivors of sexual assault face: denial, hate, hiding, shame, and fear, which then lends itself to hopefulness, unbounding love, and truth. It is a plea for people to listen, forcing us to look at the ways in which we view sex and relationships, and consider whether we will raise our very own sons from boys to men--or from boys to rapists.
Murder Ballads Old & New: A Dark and Bloody Record is an exploration of an age-old topic— our human need to document the horrors of the world around us. The murder ballad, here expanded to include songs about traumatic loss in modern variants and multiple styles, including punk, post-punk, alt-country, and folk. The book is a graveyard stroll past tombs both well-kept and half-hidden. Murder Ballads Old & New excavates facts about killers, victims, and the folkloric storytellers who disseminated their tales in song. Author Steven L. Jones focuses the tragic ballad as “an act of remembering and a soul-reckoning with the ineffable.” Songs examined range from obscure tunes from the founding days of the United States to familiar canonical songs learned in schoolrooms and honkytonks. Jones tackles each song in a manner that’s equal parts musicological, psychosocial, and genealogical as he uncovers stories that reveal larger contexts and maps the lineages of songs and themes, forebears, and ancestors. Murder Ballads Old & New includes a wide range of songs and performers from the relatively unknown (Boiled in Lead, Freakons, Nelstone’s Hawaiians) to the ironically famous (Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth). Highlights include tales of Muddy Waters guitar sideman Pat Hare, whose incendiary blues boast “I’m Gonna Murder My Baby” proved grimly prophetic. And honky-tonk pioneer Eddie Noack, whose morbid stab at late-career rebirth, “Psycho,” couldn’t match the bottomless tragedy of his own life. As well as Depression-era holdup man Pretty Boy Floyd, Schubert’s mythical Erlkönig, and the Manson Family. Murder Ballads Old & New is a compelling delve into the perennial American fascination with True Crime. Includes archival and historical black & white images.
After the tragic murder of our oldest daughter by her husband, I was compelled to do something to help other victims of domestic violence. I have been forced to be an advocate against a horrible crime that I did not know existed. Not wanting my daughter's death to be in vain, I have had a God-driven force to tell our story and hopefully reach the law enforcement agencies to make them realize how horrible domestic violence is, and that they should take domestic violence calls seriously and as a crime, not just as a disturbance. My hope is to reach other victims and to help all communities understand that we can stop domestic violence if we work together. Shortly after our daughter's death, I realized that if I could tell our story and could get it published, I could help other families from going through the horrible senseless pain that our family has endured. Right away, the title came to me Not in Vain. I was not sure what God wanted me to do with it until I started reading my journal, my notes, and listening to my tape recordings of the events. It was at that time I realized that this man not only murdered our daughter; he almost killed my whole family. After years of separation and pain, our family did survive. Everything changed in May of 2004. Our lives changed forever.
On a wintry night in 1831, a man named Charlie Silver was murdered with an axe and his body burned in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. His young wife, Frankie Silver, was tried and hanged for the crime. In later years people claimed that a tree growing near the ruins of the old cabin was cursed--that anyone who climbed into it would be unable to get out. Daniel Patterson uses this "accurst" tree as a metaphor for the grip the story of the murder has had on the imaginations of the local community, the wider world, and the noted Appalachian traditional singer and storyteller Bobby McMillon. For nearly 170 years, the memory of Frankie Silver has been kept alive by a ballad and local legends and by the news accounts, fiction, plays, and other works they inspired. Weaving Bobby McMillon's personal story--how and why he became a taleteller and what this story means to him--into an investigation of the Silver murder, Patterson explores the genesis and uses of folklore and the interplay between folklore, social and personal history, law, and narrative as people and communities try to understand human character and fate. Bobby McMillon is a furniture and hospital worker in Lenoir, North Carolina, with deep roots in Appalachia and a lifelong passion for learning and performing traditional songs and tales. He has received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award from the state's Arts Council and also the North Carolina Folklore Society's Brown-Hudson Folklore Award.
For almost half a century, Foxfire has brought the philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers, teaching creative self-sufficiency and preserving the stories, crafts, and customs of Appalachia. Inspiring and practical, this classic series has become an American institution. The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book continues the beloved tradition of celebrating a simpler life, this time with a focus on Appalachian music, folk legends, and a history full of outsized personalities. We hear the encouraging life stories of banjo players, gospel singers, and bluegrass musicians who reminisce about their first time playing at the Grand Ole Opry; we shiver at the spine-tingling collection of tall tales, from ghosts born of long-ago crimes to rumors of giant catfish that lurk at the bottom of lakes and quarries; we recollect the Farm Family Program that sustained and educated Appalachian families for almost fifty years, through the Depression and beyond; and we learn the time-honored skills of those who came before, from building a sled to planting azaleas and braiding a leather bull-whip. Full of spirited narrative accounts and enduring knowledge, The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book is a piece of living history from a fascinating American culture.
