Jeremy McCollum's Blog

The Time Has Come

Writing a novel is a lot of work.  Writing a good one take a bit of magic.  On June 1st 2013 Colored Whistles will be officially available to the public!  It will take a few weeks to make it to market on Amazon, NOOK, and the iBookstore, but it will be available immediately on my site at: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jeremymccollum. I hope you can grab a copy, and I truly hope you enjoy the story.  Thank-you!

Building A Case

In a spirit of honesty, I offer the caveat up front: this blog entry is a shameless attempt to build interest in my latest story.  Of course, that has been it’s purpose from the beginning!  I will offer only the following teasers at this time:

1) Look for publication of Colored Whistles in March of this year.

2) The story intertwines history, controversy, mystery, faith, friendship, honor, and romance.  Oh yeah and murder.

3) It will absolutely be available in the iBookstore, Barnes and Noble NOOK Store, Amazon, and my website.

4) The main character’s name is Dr. Nathan Ogilvie, a well trained and respected Veterinarian.  His trade comes in handy.

5) Dr. Ogilvie settles just outside the city where this famous statues resides.  What city is this?  Do you know the story behind the “Waving Girl”?

Look for more teasers in the coming weeks!

Taken for Granted

While researching and writing Colored Whistles, I was constantly amazed by how much our lives have changed in the last 75 years.  Many times I caught myself describing things as simple as sandwiches or underwear (not in the same scene), and I had to step back and rethink how these things looked, felt, and if they even existed.  Times are rough, but before we make too many comparisons of the last few years to the Great Depression, let’s take a look at what Depression folks didn’t have, and what they gave us as a result:

Insured bank deposits
 Food Stamps
Social Security
Anti-Trust laws
Dramatic improvements in access to electricity
A national highway network (not freeways- that was Eisenhower)
Increased telephone communication- on networks that served us well into the Internet age
briefs and elastic bands
The proliferation of electric appliances, automobiles, and infrastructure

In many ways, the Depression defined us almost as much as WWII.  Let’s be thankful this season that while we may be enduring turbulent economic times, if we still have a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, and people who love us, we are indeed blessed.

Racism and Renewal

While delving into the ugly side of racism in Colored Whistles, I also explore hope.  It was these small voices of compassion that steadily grew into the roar that changed the laws and practices of this land in the 1960′s.  It seemed that after 100 years of freedom from slavery, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC, and the army of Civil Rights leaders and volunteers finally struck a chord in mainstream American society.  People came to realize that freedom is not truly freedom without equality.

I am fascinated by glimpses of compassion, respect, and equality before it was the law of the land.  I want to leave you with a thought, and solicit your feedback, especially from U.S. History buffs.  Here it is:

It has been said of the antebellum era, “Northerners loved blacks as a race, but hated them as individuals.  Southerners hated blacks as a race, but loved them as individuals.”  Do you agree?  Please leave me your thoughts and examples.  I want to explore our history, not start controversy, so please be respectful!

Colored Controversy

Colored Whistles takes place in 1936 and 1937 in and near Savannah, Georgia.  Some of the vocabulary may strike a painful chord from our nation’s history, especially in the South, but the terms used to describe Americans of African ancestry over the last 100 years reveal more of a struggle for identity than a campaign for political correctness.  During the Great Depression, the terms “Colored” and “Negro” were most common, but did they have negative connotations?  Not necessarily.  The following is a brief history of terms used to describe African Americans:

- Colonial Times to 1900- “Colored” was used in common and government vocabulary.  In 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP was established.  Today they retain the name, and describe the term “colored” as antiquated but not derogatory.

- 1910-1960- “Negroes” was the official US Census designation.  In 1920 W.E.B. Du Bois championed the term “Negroes,” including it’s capitalization, which was formally adopted in 1930.  “Negro” was the preferred designation until 1966, when the “black power” movement began to use “Negro” as a term for someone who was a member of the establishment.

- 1970′s and 1980′s- “Negro” gained a strongly negative connotation, and most people polled preferred the term “black.”  Jesse Jackson championed the term “African American,” which did not meet with as much acceptance as “black,” but is considered an acceptable and often more official term.

- Today: Polls show most folks prefer the terms “black” or “African American.”

Regardless of the term, blacks and whites were legally and socially separated, especially in the South, until the 1960′s and the Civil Rights movement.  Did you know:

1) Until the 1970′s there were still anti-miscegenation laws on the books in some states prohibiting interracial marriage.

2) In 1868 John Menard of Louisiana was the first African American elected to Congress.  He never served because white members of Congress would never let him take his seat.

3) After the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom from slavery and the right to vote were passed, Congress also passed a Civil Right Act in 1875.  It was then nullified by the Supreme Court in 1883 after a national backlash.

4) Black rights, especially at the polls, were severely limited by powerful Southern White Democrats and their more liberal counterparts in the north willing to compromise in order to pass legislation.  This lasted until FDR in the 1930′s, when compromises negatively affecting black people continued in Congress as northerners tried to appease Southern Democrats in order to pass New Deal legislation.

5) Representative (and later President) Lyndon B. Johnson (D- TX) introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1957.  It was watered down to appease Southern Democrats again until it simply created a Civil Rights Commission.  It did, however, pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that finally tore down the old Jim Crow Laws.

Given the racial tension and economic crises of the 1930′s, can you imagine the controversy if a white man fell in love with a “colored” woman, especially in the Deep South?  What would happen if a prominent Cotton Broker went missing, and the last person seen with him was a “negro”? You don’t have to wait long.  Colored Whistles is on its way to being published very soon!

Curious?

Would you like a pre-publication peek at upcoming projects?  Here’s a morsel to whet your appetite from my upcoming novel Colored Whistles.

“After graduating from Auburn, young Veterinarian Dr. Nathan Ogilvie moves to Savannah, Georgia to begin his practice in a difficult year: 1936.  He is successful, and he is well liked for his compassion and assistance to poor farmers, but his personal convictions soon make him a controversial figure.  In the small town of Pooler, just outside of Savannah, he befriends a colored woman named Mattie Walker who takes in orphans and abandoned children, many of whom are half white.  Out of desperation, Mattie calls him for help with a rape victim who has taken refuge with her, and his life is changed forever. He soon falls in love with his patient, but there is one problem: she is colored.  As their relationship develops, he further alienates himself from the community and endangers his fledgling practice, but he also finds support among true friends, including the sheriff in Pooler.  Life becomes even more complicated when a wealthy cotton broker goes missing, and Nathan finds himself fighting to save those closest to him from murderous accusations.”

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