Hester - Historical Fiction about the Life of a Slave by Maude Pickett Smith

Aug. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- After terrible experiences, Hester found sanctuary and a measure of peace with her last owners, the Parrotts, and she and their daughter, “Missy Mary,” stayed in touch after the Civil War until Mary died.

The book is also very much the story of two amazing Duplin County, North Carolina, women—“Maude” (the author) and “Hester” (the subject of Maude’s book), one White and one Black. Their lives were and are curiously and wonderfully intertwined.

Hester, Historical Fiction about the Life of a Slave by Maude Pickett Smith was edited by Lynn Veach Sadler.



Acknowledgments

I thank

—Barbara Seuling for encouraging me when I was ready to quit. I would never have written this story if she hadn’t told me she liked
it and said, “Write it, Maude!”

—(Dr.) Lynn Veach Sadler for editing my book and helping me get it published as well as for all the help she has unselfishly given and, especially, for being my friend.

—Liza Swazey and Kevin McColley, instructors of the Institute of Children’s Literature, for getting me started writing.

—Celestine Davis for telling me to “write so a blind person can see,” encouraging me to get published, and helping me in many, many ways to make my story better.

—Elizabeth Pope for encouragement and for help with the research.

—Stephen Stoikes for critiquing my work and offering suggestions.

—Barri Piner for encouragement and critiques.

—Jacqueline Hall for listening to my story over and over and over and for encouraging me to keep going.

—Jeffrey J. Crow, Paul D. Escott, and Flora J. Hatley for use of their A History of African Americans in North Carolina (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1992).

—My sons and their wives (Bobby; Patsy; A. Q., Jr.; and Sharon) for being excited about my story, encouraging me, and saying, “Get it published, Mom!”

Maude Pickett Smith,  August, 2012

To order:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/maude-pickett-smith/hester/paper...