Thank you to everybody who came to my book launch last night for Night's a Shadow; Day's a Shine. What a thrill to see so many people! The history of Skidaway Island consists of drama, known and unknown. I love speaking to your group about it.
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My next big appearance is October 20th at the Village Library on Skidaway Island.
​Did you know Skidaway Island was a major player in the 40 acre and a mule experiment? 40 acres and a Lie, Part 2 by Reveal, aired on Public Broadcast Stations and Mother Jones tells Skidaway's story. NPR aired my interview through summer 2024 and for Black History month February 2025.
40 Acres and a Lie , including my recording, is a 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
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My characters, Dicie and Lizzie lived on Skidaway Island through the upheavals of Civil War and the 40 acres and a mule experiment.
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Night's a Shadow; Day's a Shine
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The drums boomed unceasingly, beating the rhythm of change bounding across Skidaway Island--change to the lives of every poor soul rooted in sand on the fragile, wind-swept island. Geechees Lizzie and her daughter Dicie suffer as enslaved cotton field workers on the sub-tropical island. Dicie's beloved father is sold to a rice planter, ripping the family apart.
Although the Geechees rejoice in 1865 when General Sherman captures Savannah and sets them free, Sherman's Field Order No. 15 (40 acres and a mule) confiscates the land mother and daughter farm. One thousand black men rush to Skidaway Island to claim Lizzie and Dicie's home and crops. Her father returns, but relations between her parents break down, even before he embarks on a wild scheme to make money.
Will Lizzie's clandestine ability to understand numbers get her killed? Will family secrets foil Dicie's chances with the handsome young drummer on the next plantation? To survive, Dicie must master the ancient African magic practiced by her mother. Geechees call the rituals "rooting," but others call them witchcraft.
Against the turmoil of Civil War and Reconstruction, a young girl struggles to preserve her family and find love.
Catherine earns a meager living shucking oysters in a filthy, mosquito-infested shed. Prohibition becomes law and the mayor and sheriff of nearby Savannah lure her son and daughter into rum-running on the deserted Georgia sea islands. Will voodoo and prayer be enough to protect her children when federal agents close in for a raid?
Wild Times on Skidaway Island examines choices residents make when stared down by a bald eagle, when a red-tailed hawk mistakes a golf ball for bird food, and when awakened by the clatter of hooves hitting wooden deck as a deer make a midnight snack out of newly potted flowers.
"It's never too late to discover the champion hidden within." Karen Dove Barr was a 50 year old working mother when the last of her children grew up and abandoned her. All that was left were 3 bedrooms full of furniture rejected by the Salvation Army. When she tried running a few steps her husband told her to "just walk, you are too old to run." A long distance runner was born.
