by Bambi Evans
posted July 22, 2006
Local authors will be showcased this Sunday at the Chattanooga Barnes & Noble and they proudly represent the diversity of thought and history of this area. From 1-3 p.m. Dean Arnold, Sonya Haskins, Cathy Holton, Paula Egner and David Jenkins will be on hand to autograph their recent offerings. All the books can be purchased at Barnes & Noble.
Paula J. Egner, from Jackson, Tn., has two books available. Her first novel “If There Be None” (Echelon Press Publishing, $13.49) follows Charley Sue Channing from a young girl of six, when her mother inexplicably disappears, through young adulthood as she searches for answers and struggles to find a future of love and happiness. It is available at www.echelonpress.com. Egner’s 2004 book “Ex-Wives and Ex-Lives: Survival Guide for the Next Wife” mixes humor with a serious focus on the realities of remarriage. Paula Egner also runs Aptly Spoken Enterprises, speaking and promoting Christian values through unconventional story themes. Her philosophy is based on Proverbs 25:11: “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” You can find more info on Egner’s books and activities at
Cathy Holton’s debut novel “Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes” (Ballantine/Random House) cleverly captures three small-town Georgia women just as a crosswind of marital unpleasantness hits their status-conscious lives. To survive, they unite, in a way only spirited women can understand, feeding off of each others strength and humor. To heal, they plot delicious revenge against their neglectful, cheating husbands. For those unfamiliar with it, the Kudzu Ball was a playful, counter-culture response to the stereotypical Southern tradition of debutante balls, specifically the long-running Cotton Ball. Women will identify with Lavonne, Nita and Eadie, laughing through the pain and craziness.
Holton is working on the sequel (out May 2007) which picks up two years after the end of the first novel. The “Q & A” and “Biography” section on her web site (www.cathyholton.com) is a must read for those intending to read “Revenge.”
David Jenkins’ “Baseball in Chattanooga” was released in March as part of Arcadia Publishing’s (www.arcadiapublishing.com) Baseball in America series. The history of the Chattanooga Lookouts, Joe Engel/Engel Stadium, and the players that made it to the big leagues, is affectionately told in well-researched text and over 170 photos and illustrations, many from the permanent collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Jenkins, the beat reporter who covered the Lookouts for 18 years, had help from Allan Vandergriff, the team photographer and, a beneficial stipulation in Joe Engel’s will (upon his death in 1969), that much of the Engel/Lookouts archive be preserved in Cooperstown.
The book begins in 1885 when pro ball was introduced to Chattanooga and runs up to the 2004 Lookouts season at Bell South Park. Look for these nuggets: the Negro League era; a decent timeline; the Babe Ruth stories (supposedly he hit his first triple in Engel Stadium); and the other fascinating players who passed through the Lookouts franchise. Ask David Jenkins about the time that the 1930 NY Yankees, in between spring training in Florida and the Bronx season, went sightseeing at Point Park on Lookout Mountain. And the “Babe” hit a ball off the top of the mountain! “Baseball” ($19.99) is widely available, including the store at BellSouth Park.
Sonya A. Haskins will be signing her latest books “Soddy-Daisy” and “Bristol Motor Speedway,” both published by Arcadia this year. “Soddy-Daisy,” part of the Images of America series, came out in March and is co-authored with her mother, Cathy A. Hawkins. Haskins grew up in Soddy-Daisy, graduating from Soddy-Daisy High School in 1988. Hawkins has spent most of her adult life in Soddy-Daisy and now lives near Opossum Creek with her husband Ronald Hawkins. The mother-daughter collaboration is not a comprehensive history of the community. Rather, it follows the usual Arcadia format of “sentimental history,” using descriptive photos to tell the story. Chapters include: Buildings and Street Scenes; Work; Military; and Children.
Haskins co-authored “Bristol Motor Speedway” with David M. McGee, a reporter for the Bristol Herald Courier and a member of the speedway’s announcing staff. The black and white photos show the glory and the danger of the racetrack, which opened in the summer of 1961. You don’t have to be a NASCAR fan to appreciate the photos and their descriptions. Haskins has three other books published by Arcadia: “Jonesborough” where she now lives; “Johnson City;” and “Bristol.” Visit www.sonyahaskins.com for more details on the author and her books.
At more than 500 pages, Dean W. Arnold’s historical odyssey “Old Money, New South: The Spirit of Chattanooga” will impress the hell out of you, even if you never step foot in our town. Published by Chattanooga Historical Foundation in March, it is every thing from every aspect that you would want to know about Chattanooga -- without a boring note in its pages. Arnold delivers history accurately and thoroughly but his inspired writing style turns dry facts and faces into a fascinating fable.
Take these elements - the philanthropic angle, the Cherokee and Scottish influences, the rise, fall and rise again economic cycle - and then multiply that by a thousand interesting stories, and you’ll get a sense of the comprehensive, but enjoyable, picture that Arnold paints. Among the fun highlights: the connection to the New York Times; Cherokee river myths; the Renaissance spirit; the power of the religious majority; the clash between the "mountain" elite and the regular folk in the “valley;” and then there is the source of all those family fortunes. Reading the finished product, it’s hard to imagine the early obstacles that Arnold faced, mostly due to his past criticism of some of Chattanooga’s founding families. But the end result is satisfying and complete without dwelling on the negatives.
Leading portrait artist, Gordon Wetmore, writes the Foreword. Area artists Andrew Wilkie, Tabitha Arnold, Brent Sanders, Cessna Decosimo, Shaun LaRose and Justin Cox provide the art. Go to www.OldMoneyNewSouth.com for more info. Arnold is also the author of “America’s Trail of Tears: A Story of Love and Betrayal.”
Barnes & Noble is located at 2230 Hamilton Place Boulevard in Chattanooga. Their phone number is 423.899.9970.
(Bambi Evans is a freelance writer here in Chattanooga. She writes about books, films, music and art, in addition to an editorial column. Her e-mail address is stonyirons@aol.com)
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