FAQ

Over the course of publishing Gettysburg: Sentinels of Stone and Vicksburg: Sentinels of Stone, many people have asked many questions about the books and my reasons for shooting and writing them. Below are some of the most commonly asked questions and my answers.

Q: How did you become interested in the Civil War?

My parents would often take my sister and I on afternoon trips. These trips were often to the Jackson Zoo, Ross Barnett Reservoir and so forth. One trip was to the Old Capital Museum in Jackson, Miss. I didn't know at the time but that trip influenced me a great deal. The museum is a great walk through Mississippi history. I think my love of history started at that point.

There was a 3-D display of Confederate gunners shelling the Union ironclads as they tried to run the defenses at Vicksburg. This sparked an interest in Vicksburg. A couple of weeks later, my parents took me to the Vicksburg National Military Park. At the young age of 10, I played "army" on the hills and fortifications that once seemed insurmountable for the Union army. The following week, my mother took me to the Jackson Library and I checked out "The Last Cavalier" by Burke Davis. The book was about Confederate cavalryman, J. E. B. Stuart. After that I was hooked. I still read many books about the Civil War and continue to make my pilgrimages to Vicksburg, Gettysburg and other battlefield sites.

Q: Who were some of your Civil War heroes?

I think it goes without saying that everyone's hero has to be the everyday foot soldier of the Civil War. I can't imagine putting up with all they did before, during and after the war. These were extraordinary people.

My heroes have evolved as I have become more knowledgeable about the different personalities. My first heroes were typical for a boy growing up in Mississippi. I read books about Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, Albert Sidney Johnston and John Mosby.

As I got older I began to read about the Union generals too. I have read a number of books about Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, John Buford, Winfield Scott Hancock, John Reynolds and William Rosecrans.

Through more than 30 years of studying these men, I would have to say the leaders I respect the most are (Union) Winfield Scott Hancock, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman and John Buford and (Confederate) John B. Gordon, Patrick Cleburne, James Longstreet, William C. Oates and Nathan Bedford Forrest. A number of these individuals were citizen soldiers who literally learned how to be military leaders on the job. Whatever anyone thinks about Forrest after the Civil War, one has to admit that he was a military genius. If I was in a fight, I would want him on my side.

Many of these men are larger than life as their deeds have grown over the years. Lee is almost a deity in the Deep South, as well as Stonewall Jackson. You have to give Grant his due. Without his leadership and timely victories, I wonder if the North would have won the war.

Although I grew up in a town that Sherman burned (Jackson, Miss.), I have a grudging respect for him. He definitely was a determined man and he was great for a quote. I find some of his quotes to the point and very humorous. As a journalist, I especially like his quote about the press. Sherman said during the war, "If I had my choice, I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast."

Q: Any generals you don't care for?

That one is easy. Phil Sheridan for the north and Braxton Bragg for the south are the two who least represent the ideals I admire in the truly great Civil War leaders.

Q: Why do the books?

The books were not a conscious effort. My wife (Judy) and I have constantly gone to Vicksburg to spend the day, have picnics and just be with family. These trips were weekend or holiday excursions since we lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I was very focused on my career, having just finished a project on the Vietnamese people living in Biloxi, Miss. Both of us were also focused on our toddler son, Patrick. Judy had watched the PBS series on the Civil War and developed an interest in Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. She came to me and asked if I would be interested in going to Gettysburg for vacation. She didn't have to twist my arm at all. I had never been to an Eastern Theater battlefield and Gettysburg was the ultimate battle in that theater.

As we were driving through the park, I would tell my family "this was happening in Vicksburg while this was happening in Gettysburg." I must have said it one too many times because Judy looked at me and said, "If you know so much, why don't you do a book." From that day in 1995, the Sentinels of Stone project began.

Q: What photographers have influenced your career?

I have many favorites ranging through the years. I'm a big fan of Timothy O'Sullivan, who shot the picture at the Sharpshooter's Nest at Gettysburg. After the war, O'Sullivan traveled west and took some beautiful pictures of the western landscapes. One cannot like landscape/nature photography without liking Ansel Adams.

As a photojournalist, my heroes are Eugene Smith, Margaret Bourke White, Larry Burrows, David Hume Kennerly and Ted Jackson. Smith, White and Burrows are dead but their work lives on. Burrow's poignant documentation of Yankee Papa 13 during the Vietnam War could compete with anything today.

I have always admired Kennerly for his creative eye and ability to get unbelievable access. I met him once and he seems like an interesting person. I'm honored to call Jackson a friend. He was a year ahead of me at the photojournalism program at the University of Southern Mississippi. He works at the Times Picayune in New Orleans and I'm at the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss. We cross paths many times while covering news events. I respect Jackson as a photojournalist and as a person.

My evolution as a photographer comes from the influence that these and other photographers have had on my life and career.

Q: Were there any obstacles in getting published?

I've read that it is easy to get published but I would disagree with that to an extent. I have been in the newspaper industry for 20 plus years and am published in the paper almost every day. I was a relative unknown in the book publishing world so sending out the manuscript and hoping for positive feedback was a bit of an ordeal.

I sought advice from other Civil War authors to one degree or another. It was discouraging when a number of these "didn't have the time" to answer an e-mail. I will always be grateful to William C. Davis, Terrence Winschel, Gabor Borritt and Jeff Shaara for taking the time to answer e-mails and offer advice. Shaara and I have traded e-mails on different occasions and we hope to actually meet during our trip to Gettysburg this year. Both of us will be signing our new books on the same days at Gettysburg.

The original manuscript for Sentinels was sent to four different publishing houses. One I never heard from and two turned me down. I feel blessed and honored to have been accepted by the University Press of Mississippi.

I guess the true trial and tribulation was meeting deadlines after Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown of Gulfport, Miss., and the rest of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Q: Talk about Hurricane Katrina and trying to meet your deadlines.

Hurricane Katrina literally wiped the Mississippi Gulf Coast off the map. Towns like Waveland and Bay St. Louis are little more than slabs. Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport and Biloxi didn't fare much better. Since I'm a photographer at the Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi, covering the worst natural disaster in our history became a top priority for me. I worked 14-hour days covering the destruction and more importantly the heroism displayed by the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

During this period, the final copy and picture deadlines for my two books were looming. I had four trees sitting on my roof and 14 more in my backyard but I still had a home. I would work my long days covering Katrina and then retire to my home to work on the books. Although the work was exhausting, I made myself work on the Sentinels books at night. It was during those hours that I could forget about Katrina and the destroyed Coast. The books gave me an avenue of escape during a time when I needed one most.

Katrina is probably the biggest news event I have covered in my career as a photojournalist. I'm proud of the work I did and the fact that the Sun Herald won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, but I would gladly trade the accolades for the Coast to be whole again.

I don't look back at that time with many fond memories. It was something I had to cover not something I wanted to cover. I think I was in shock for the first two weeks after the storm. You keep hoping you are going to wake up from a bad dream. The place I called home was turned into a war zone. It is hard to describe unless you walk the ground. Just imagine your hometown standing one day and in ruins the next. Imagine having to stand in line for water and a few cans of food. Imagine razor wire and armed soldiers keeping you from going to different parts of your town. We had to go through a razor wire check point to buy a lawnmower to replace the one that was destroyed. While the clean up is progressing, you are still surrounded by destruction. When most people drive through their towns they see construction. When you drive the Coast, you see destruction. The piles of rubble that used to be buildings stand as a testament to the power of nature's fury. There are times when I feel like I'm on the Gaza Strip instead of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The help from volunteers throughout the country and resiliency of the people of the Coast are the only thing I can look back at and smile. Although I know we will rebuild, I worry about the mental well being of those who live down here. For many, a way of life has been destroyed. An area's history and culture was washed out to sea by an unforgiving storm surge.

Q: What do the national parks mean to you?

The parks and battlefields are national treasures. During my childhood, many of our family vacations were spent at national parks. The Smoky Mountains were a favorite destination for my parents. I have followed their example and often take my family to the national parks. The national battlefields are especially important to me. Places where soldiers from North and South gave their last full measure will forever be hallowed ground.

I hope my books create an interest for Civil War buffs young and old. I also hope that our elected officials will see the importance of these places and fund them so they will be around for my son's children and grandchildren. It is at theses places that we really learn our nation's history.