A Northern Kentucky hill farm can be a place of crushing loneliness for a 13-year-old boy, especially when he has been separated from his parents. That sense of isolation came rushing back to Terry Cummins while writing his poignant memoir,
Feed My Sheep.
Cummins has since conquered those emotions, but the memories have helped to shape his life.
The author, a retired educator who now leads of life of writing, running, and mountain-climbing, is the lead-off author in Destinations Booksellers’
Winter Authors Fortnight, scheduled during the next two weeks at the New Albany bookstore.
Cummins will read from and discuss his book during a 7 p.m appearance on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The writer will also sign copies of his novel-like memoir.
The Winter Authors Fortnight will include contributions from at least six local authors from Tuesday through Saturday, Jan. 22.
Cummins was raised by his grandfather on a farm in north central Kentucky but found escape from the loneliness at church, at school, and at the local country store. When he left the farm at 18, he had every intention of returning to a life where little of civilization had attained.
After college, service in the military, and a 34-year career as an educator, Cummins pursued his long-time yen to travel and has found a regular creative outlet as a humor columnist for
The Tribune in New Albany, Ind.
Among his travel adventures, Cummins includes having tea with Princess Diana in London and an archaelogical dig at Incan ruins in Peru. In his “retirement,” he has added long-distance running and technical mountain climbing to his repertoire, including treks to Mt. Everest and K2, the second-tallest mountain in the world.
Cummins says the book is about “discovering” his soul and the evolving recognition of the same in his grandfather. The biblical admonition from Jesus to Peter to “feed my sheep” informs the memoir and lends itself to the title.
The demanding life on a hard-scrabble farm prepared Cummins for life in a way he never anticipated.
Feed My Sheep is his tribute to that heritage.
The appearance at Destinations Booksellers, 604 E. Spring St. in New Albany, is free and the public is invited to come out and hear Cummins and get his autograph. For more information about the appearance, call the store at (812) 944-5116 or e-mail to ops@destinationsbooksellers.com
Destinations Booksellers is the only full-service independent general bookstore on the Indiana side of metropolitan Louisville, Ky. More than a dozen local authors have found a friend at Destinations Booksellers, according to owner Randy Smith. Here is the schedule for the
Winter Authors Fortnight at the store:
- Terry Cummins will discuss and sign his book,
Feed My Sheep, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
- Frank Schroeder of New Albany will demonstrate his craft and sign copies of his book,
Magic Diamonds, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13. Schroeder has created an interactive origami workbook that combines illustration, coloring, and folding to create animated marvels out of paper. Children and adults will have the chance to make their own origami creations using Schroeder’s patented system.
- Christa Hoyland will read and sign her children’s story book,
The Beautiful Butterfly, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13. Christa and her illustrator sister, Cathy Tinsley, were recently featured in The Courier-Journal's Indiana Weekly.
- New Albany native Kathleen McConnell discusses her encounters with three young “spirit” children inhabiting the Fontaine Manse in Louisville’s Portland area during an author talk at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.
Don’t Call Them Ghosts is one of the store’s best selling titles, and McConnell will autograph copies after her talk.
- Louisville’s J. Bruce Miller will lead a discussion of his book,
Air Ball, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 20. The book chronicles the region’s, and Miller’s, efforts to bring an NBA team to the city over the past 30 years. The always-lively Miller will sign copies of the book after his appearance.
- Kenneth L. Weber, a former IUS lecturer and a 28-year Air Force veteran, sits down for an author interview at 2 p.m on Saturday, Jan. 22, to conclude the Winter Authors Fortnight. Weber will take questions from the audience and personally inscribe copies of his novel,
What the Captain Really Means, afterward.
Smith says, “We’ve been fairly successful at reaching out to published authors. In January, we hope to bring in more amateur and unpublished writers to our Saturday evening Rhyme and Reason events.”
The event is designed to be a place for writers of poetry and prose to try out their works-in-progress in an atmosphere of critique and support. Smith has invited several local writers groups to participate in the weekly discussions.
