On the air!!!

What an exciting and nerve-wracking day!  I had the privilege of being a guest on Hank Bauchman’s Radio Talk show on Latrobe (PA) station WCNS this morning.  I was pretty sure I was going to stumble around – which I did once or twice! – but all in all it went very well.  He’s a great interviewer and I felt comfortable – the half hour went super fast!

We talked about Letters to Mary – of course! – but we also spent substantial time talking about Smail Auto – my employment there since 1967, making it almost 50 years.  He’s a great friend of Bud’s and has much respect for the Smail organization, and was very impressed with my lengthy tenure there. I sort of felt like I was running TWO spots, both near and dear to my heart!

I loved being offered the opportunity to talk about Daniel’s letters, about Mary’s life and struggles.  He asked me what one of the greatest truths about the Civil War that I came away with, and I had to say that it was the fact that the soldiers were not the only casualties of the war, Civil or any other.  The loss of the men -both in battle and from the communities – had a huge impact on the lives of the families of those left behind.  There are no numbers recorded for those casualties, no statistics.  Many people, like Mary and Charlie and little Alice, were left to make their way on their own in whatever situation they faced.

Right now I could think of about a million things I could have said in addition to – or instead of! – what I did say, but the blessing of being on the air, talking about Letters to Mary and the process of writing and publishing, was a great experience.  A huge thanks to Mr. Baughman for contacting me and inviting me to share Mary’s story, and talk about the book, to his listening audience.  It was great fun!