The Sitting Stone: Bonus Literary Edition

Sitting there gazing at the ethereal Mobile Bay, I became keenly aware that I was joined in thought by a cast of interesting characters and uncommon storyline. The same evening I went home and began to write as if they were talking to me. I did not stop until the book was completed. The characters became very real to me, and I felt that this was genuinely based on someone's life who needed the story told."The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama, has been in business since the mid-1800s representing more than a hotel; it was an experience. The lodging of choice for military commanders, celebrities, royals, and Presidents' wives, Sought out by entertainers of all musical genres and just regular folks who were looking to leave their routine lives for a moment and bask in an Eden Intracoastal paradise. People have come to the Eastern Shore for over 100 years. A unique pilgrimage of free-thinkers, naturalists, conservationists, writers, artists. And those who embraced the anti-capitalist single-tax theory—sojourning down its winding green-lined pathways—drawn like bees to honeysuckle. They obeyed the clarion call to put down roots and build their future in Arcadia. The wayfaring pioneers traveling with shared beliefs and collective ethos arrived in Fairhope, seeking a fair and equitable way of life. Respecting the land and the natives already there, they shared a common hope discerning they did not arrive to rule the land but adjoin. All over America, the 70s was a time of social, cultural, and political metamorphism. Nothing characterized it as much as the music. Don McLean mourned the loss of American innocence and the death of Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson by a plane crash in his iconic song, American Pie. Roberta Flack's rendition of the Ewan MacColl composition, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, hypnotized listeners with a 5-minute 22-second glimpse into the first intimacies of a relationship.Meanwhile, soul brother number one, James Brown, petitioned all who would listen to Make it Funky. Dancing to the Godfather of Soul's infectious rhythms and beats gave temporary solace from the nation's ills. Seventy-two marked a series of worrying headlines across America. Still healing from the loss of two proponents of peace and civil rights a few years earlier, Fairhope residents leaned on one another to segue from one incident to another. Fairhope is a city that lived peacefully with its neighbor, regardless of color—entrenched in a philosophy that sought life's fair Hope for all. They practiced foundational values with their neighbors affirming; equality was the most basic of inherent rights.The Sitting Stone is a story of life in Fairhope, Alabama, in the 1970s. The storyline is intertwined around the Taylor family, their struggles, triumphs, and faith in God. Read and join the journey of the Taylor family as they segue through trials and triumphs undergirded by the prayers and insight of Juba Lee Taylor, the matriarch of the Taylor family. THE SITTING STONE is a testament to strong grandmothers holding it together for their families everywhere. Characters from Malvern & Hot Springs, Arkansas, Hilton Head Island, SC, New Orleans, LA, Viet Nam to Fairhope, Alabama, are compiled in this story. Despite the uncertainty and contention in the world. There exists a place a short drive away to a rustic and ethereal pier in Fairhope, Alabama. Looking across the glittering blue from her shores, one can imagine the myriads of aspirants who stood there before. In reverence to the watery handiwork of God, there's an unclaimed dream for the future. In obeisance, whisper a prayer of gratitude. Read more