One of the questions I had to answer while writing my novel was obvious to me yet also a central premise of the work: Why would Abraham Lincoln care about Elijah Lovejoy? Why would he care about what happened in Alton and feel compelled to go there? Lincoln and Lovejoy never met. When I beganContinue reading “Why Lincoln Could Not Ignore Alton”
Tag Archives: books
Before They Were Rivals–Lincoln and Douglas
This week I ended up returning to Chapter 3 of my novel after uncovering comments from my writers group that I had not fully addressed. It felt a little unhappy moving backward in the manuscript instead of forward, but revision often works that way. Sometimes the foundation needs attention before the upper floors can beContinue reading “Before They Were Rivals–Lincoln and Douglas”
The Stories Abraham Lincoln Told About Himself
Lincoln is often remembered for great speeches, great debates, and great decisions. This week while visiting The Lincolns at Home exhibit at the Allen County Public Library and watching a new documentary about Lincoln’s early life, I was reminded about what a great storyteller he was. The documentary spent considerable time on the stories, jokesContinue reading “The Stories Abraham Lincoln Told About Himself”
The Physical World Abraham Lincoln Lived In
I’m only two days into my break and having to do a lot of household and yard chores that have connected me to the difficult work of the 19th century. When we think about Abrham Lincoln, it is easy to picture speeches, debates, and history-changing decisions. Yet Lincoln came from a deeply physical worked–one shapedContinue reading “The Physical World Abraham Lincoln Lived In”
The Difference Between Thinking About Writing and Living Inside It
Today begins three weeks away from work, and with it comes the hope of finally moving more deeply into the writing itself. During work stretches, writing often exists in fragments–notes, revisions, ideas carried in the mind between responsibilities and long days. The story continues moving, but sometimes at a distance. Time off changes that. ThereContinue reading “The Difference Between Thinking About Writing and Living Inside It”
Why Abraham Lincoln Feared the Breakdown of Civilization
As I follow Abraham Lincoln’s life and work on my novel, there is one idea that keeps appearing again and again in his early thinking: the fear that civilization itself could begin to unravel. Lincoln lived during a period of growing instability in the United States. Mob violence, political anger, and deepening sectional divisions wereContinue reading “Why Abraham Lincoln Feared the Breakdown of Civilization”
What Mob Violence Taught Abraham Lincoln
Long before Abraham Lincoln became president, he was already living in a country increasingly shaped by mob violence. The murders of Francies McIntosh in St. louis and Elijah P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois were familiar to him. They unfolded within the world in which he lived, traveled, and practiced law. What Lincoln understood was thatContinue reading “What Mob Violence Taught Abraham Lincoln”
Why Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Speech Still Matters
One of the moments that I refer to in my study of Abraham Lincoln is the Lyceum Address. At the time, Lincoln was still a new young lawyer and politician in Illinois. He was not yet the national figure history would later remember. But in this speech, it is possible to see the beginnings ofContinue reading “Why Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Speech Still Matters”
How Family and Community Shaped Abraham Lincoln’s World
This week I spent time researching through a section of family history, tracing connections between the Pelton, Warren and Mayhew families. What stands out is not a single event but the pattern. These families are connected through marriage, shared Quaker roots, and a migration path from New England into Ohio, Indiana, and the broader Midwest.Continue reading “How Family and Community Shaped Abraham Lincoln’s World”
How Lovejoy Shaped Lincoln’s First Major Speech
In working on Abraham Lincoln and the beginnings of his public life, I have studied his first major address, the Lyceum Address. Lincoln never met Elijah P. Lovejoy, but the events surrounding his death were very much in the news at the time, and they form part of the background to that speech. Lovejoy’s murderContinue reading “How Lovejoy Shaped Lincoln’s First Major Speech”
The View From The Imaginarium 