Category Archives: Books by Sidney S. Stark

Historical Preservation

Historical Preservation

“History is the witness of the times… the life of memory…”— Marcus Tullius Cicero

Preserving the past is linked most often to physical assets, such as buildings, or artifacts like paintings, jewelry or utensils. But what of the people? How do we preserve the memories that tell us about those no longer with us? By telling stories about them. I’m working currently on a novel of historical fiction about a young man who lived in 18th century France before and during the chaotic French Revolution. The turmoil ruling that period known as the Reign of Terror makes it hard to write about without losing one’s way in the maelstrom. But this young man of whom I write lived a story that made him one of, if not the most celebrated man of his time. What’s left to tell about him if he’d earned such notoriety? Almost everything, because very few of his life stories were preserved to pass down. How could that be when one of our own Presidents, John Adams, praised him as ‘the most accomplished man in Europe’? Mozart praised his musical abilities and complained of his enviable relationships with the royalty of France, connections he himself yearned for but did not have.

And so the questions about him still echo today, largely because over two-hundred-years of silence have produced an anonymity of prejudice. Stories can’t be preserved if they’re not told, and we know that some narratives are lost by the choice of those living with them. How often do we hear the question asked, you never heard any of this in your family?  To be followed by the answer, no, never. We know nothing of it. Continue Reading

Warp and Weft

Warp and Weft

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone… and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.”—Sandra Day O’Connor For many years, I’ve considered layering in writing as a process much akin to that in the visual… Continue Reading

Badass!

Badass!

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.-John C. Maxwell How can a word used to describe someone have such different meanings depending on the gender of the one being defined? That just proves how much discrimination there is in society’s expectations for its different members. I’ve focused… Continue Reading

Open Invitation

Open Invitation

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien Some powerful examples of the serendipity and discovery of research dropped in my lap recently with the announcement that the man who occupied much of my last book, Tried As Silver, and was an implied romantic connection for the protagonist (we’ll never really know), had… Continue Reading