Sidney St James

In the Eye of the Storm Sidney St James

In the early 1980's this novel had its beginning preempted by the writing of my Family History. As the author, while wearing tall cowboy boots, trudged through many small country farms in Colorado, Austin, and Fayette Counties and dictated the many small etched tombstones in grown-up weeds onto a small cassette recorder. The index this family history book had of over fifty cemeteries buried in the woods of old homeplaces reflected what my good friend Bill Stein at the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus once told me, "It is one of the most utilized paperbacks in the archives for people searching their family histories." One time, I went in to see the book and could not help laughing as it was taped back together from the daily use of it as a reference manual. Of course, this was all before the Internet had its existence. Time was spent weekly turning through the microfilm to follow one particular family from Oldenburg and Rastede, Germany to Columbus and on to Frelsburg where they settled down near a good friend, William Frels. One would be hard-pressed to fully explain the impact that the Strauss Family descendants had in the State of Texas, as well as thousands upon thousands of other immigrants from Germany, between the years 1836-1846. They came in substantial numbers and had such an impact on politics, economics, and the social life of Texas that much of the things that were, began a dramatic change by the mid-1850's. It is amazing how, as adults, we struggle during our childhood through the date-pocketed courses of history...bored, disenchanted, waiting only for the end of that cobwebbed test of endurance. What we find, in later years, is that history is the most fascinating and stimulating of all areas of knowledge. We can ask ourselves, why this unfortunate paradox? Has "history" really changed? The answer is... No!" However essential dates, names, and places may be to an expert understanding of history, they are not history, but only the checkpoints and framework of history. This novel is about people...real people, with blood and bones, loves and hates, strengths, passions, weaknesses and their belief in Jesus Christ, our Lord. History is joys and sorrows, failures and successes, heartbreaks and ecstasies. What is history? History is power, the exercise of power, and the vacuum of power. A relatively new genre too, one that this author has found intriguing in following the Johann Strauss family from Germany to Texas in the mid-1800's, creative fiction and creative nonfiction takes the writing of history to a whole new level. From over thirty years of family research and the production of numerous history books, creative writing explores the history of people, real people! This novel, although fiction, is based on a true story. It follows a typical German family through the painful decision-making process to leave Germany and pull up roots from generations of farming on the River Hunte near Rastede, Germany. They fight delays from unfavorable winds traveling through the North Sea, storms that take many lives onboard their vessel, contracting yellow fever and other terrible sicknesses, Indian attacks, and many other adversities. Follow the author at his blog site: www.sidneystjames.com Karlshaven, Oldenburg, Rastede, Shaws Bend, Frelsburg, Columbus, Zimmeersheidt, Garwood, Eagle Lake, Frels, Brune, Lilie, Struss, Hunte.