One evening this week, John and I had the pleasure of attending a reading and book signing by Richard Croker, who John worked with in TBS days, at the Georgia Center for the Book in Decatur. Richard’s gotten two novels published, both set during US Civil War battles: Antietam for the first, and Fredericksburg for the new one. Richard read several excerpts from No Greater Courage, all insightful and enticing.
Richard also revealed that when he doesn’t have the real names of his characters passed down through history, he often borrows them from people he knows—including family and friends. John’s and Richard’s buddy Tony Marshall is one such donor. Tony was in the audience, occasioning much laughter as Richard read that the Civil War-era Anthony directed the breaking of over 500 mules in a single day. Today’s Tony avoids “breaking” fancy broadcast cameras (sometimes for Braves games!) and the like, and the contrast still has me giggling!