David Abram’s Spell of the Sensuous
Many readers of Red Clay, Blood River have been struck by the voice of Earth as narrator. It is Earth’s memory in which we find our own. It is in Earth’s life that we find the deeper sources of our human reconciliation. For me, this was a literary exploration following intuitions sensitized by years of [...]
Festival in Cherokee
I’ll be going over to Cherokee, NC, this Saturday, August 29, to be on hand for the Saunook Village Festival. I will be hanging out in the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery, owned and operated by Dr. Michael Abram, who is carrying Red Clay, Blood River. The Gallery has one of the best exhibitions of [...]
Rupert Ross’s Returning to the Teachings
For some time my friend Tom Porter has urged me to read Rupert Ross’s, Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice (Penguin, 1996, 2006). I just finished it with the question, why didn’t I get to this book sooner? Tom is Director of JustPeace, the United Methodist organization for mediation and conflict transformation. This is [...]
Bookmania in Waynesville
On August 1 I joined over 40 other authors at Waynesville’s “Bookmania” Fair, sponsored by Osondu’s Booksellers and held at the First Presbyterian Church. The sunny weather brought out over 500 people who milled around, chatted and even bought books! In the afternoon I was joined again by Barbara Bates Smith and Geri Littlejohn on [...]
William J. Everett
In my teaching career I authored eight books and numerous articles in social ethics and religion. After over thirty years of academic work — in Germany, India, and South Africa as well as in the United States — I wanted to turn my hand to a poetically written novel to probe the issues of ecological and human reconciliation.
When I am not writing, I create furniture for worship settings. For more about my work, go to www.WisdomsTable.net, where you will also find galleries of artwork by my wife Sylvia, whose ancestors were the original inspiration for Red Clay, Blood River. Click to read my complete bio...
Red Clay Blood River
Red Clay, Blood River is a story told by Earth about two brothers from Germany and an enslaved South African woman whose lives bind together America’s “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s simultaneous “Great Trek” of 1838. Memories of their journeys through oppression, estrangement and reconciliation reverberate in the lives of three contemporary students brought together by their interests in ecology. Through their often difficult friendship and a surprising discovery they begin to unravel the mystery of their estrangements, struggles, and deep connections to each other and to the earth.
Based on extensive research in the United States, South Africa, and England, this book takes readers through a sweeping saga of love and conflict in the context of emigration, invasion, slavery, and exploitation. Through its stories we are invited to see our fractured human history from within the sensibilities of an earth that seeks the flourishing of all creatures and transcends their deaths within its life.
I welcome you to read Excerpts from Red Clay Blood River.
You can also view some Reader's Responses to the book.
If you are already reading Red Clay, Blood River, check out the Reader's Guide and Glossary of Names.
If you are in a Book Club, go to the Guide for Discussion Groups.
If you want to know more about people who helped me in writing this book check out the People Present at the Creation.