Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
May 19, 2014, 3:30 p.m., Fort Morgan, Alabama The crisp breeze off the Gulf of Mexico buffets me a little as I walk westward along the beach towards the old fort. The surf is comforting, but I watch my step as I walk along the edge of the warm water, […]
Christmas Day, 1900 The Wilson Home,Chipley, Florida Have you ever seen pictures of seated royalty on their thrones? The ones featuring a king, with princes and other members of the royal family seated around a central authority figure in descending order of power? If you stood Father’s front yard that […]
May 18, 2014, 11:40 a.m. Pensacola Historic District Clearly, I am in the presence of awesomeness. I can’t describe it, but as I walk around historic downtown Pensacola with Jacki Wilson, retracing Emmett Wilson’s everyday steps, I am aware and humbled by her true awesomeness. For the record, my relationship […]
May 18, 2014, 10:45 a.m. Pensacola Historic District It wasn’t hard to find the parking lot behind the old City Hall building in downtown Pensacola. Even if my van’s GPS decided to conk out, one wouldn’t get lost. The darn thing is a hulking example of beige Spanish architecture. It’s […]
December 22, 1900The F.C. Wilson House, 6th Street, Chipley When I reached the house, I was out of breath. The air was sharp and cold; I could see my breath as I exhaled. I stopped on the top porch step, and took in a few slow, deep breaths. I turned […]
May 18, 2014, 8:45 a.m.St. John’s Cemetery Pensacola The female GPS voice crisply announces “Destination,” as I pull up slowly along North G Street, in the St. John’s Coalition neighborhood in Pensacola. I feel my stomach know up with anxiety. It’s not logical; there’s no reason for anxiety, but it […]
December 22, 1900Dr. Francis C. Wilson’s Office, Downtown Chipley Continued from here. === I climbed the stairs and paused at the top; my heart was pounding. I closed my eyes, and counted to ten; rubbed the center of my chest. Touched the liquor flask hidden in my coat pocket. After […]
May 18, 2014, about 6 a.m., Leaving Montgomery, Alabama I have a lot to think about on my way to Pensacola. It’s good to be out and about, especially since I don’t have a specific date or time with the person I’m meeting, but I wasn’t been able to sleep […]
May 17, 2014, Montgomery, Alabama, about 3 p.m. Her eyes. They are so blue, piercingly blue. I catch my breath audibly. But it isn’t just her eyes that get me — it is the moment. I can’t believe it. And in response, she laughs, kindly, cheerfully at me. I am […]
May 17, 2014, Montgomery, Alabama, about 1 p.m. I’m in a car with Carol B., whom I met in person five minutes earlier. She picked me up from my friend Margaret’s house in Montgomery. Carol’s taking me to meet her mother, Jule Wilson Perry, who I found about six months […]
Tell my story. 