I continue to be blessed by the fact that Beacon Press chose to publish Inheriting the Trade. This past weekend Beacon chose to highlight Inheriting the Trade–along with a few other Beacon books/authors–at the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Roughly 100 people showed up for the workshop on Saturday afternoon. I was pleased by the turnout and I hope and trust that those in attendance learned a few things and were inspired to learn more on their own.
I signed more books Saturday than I have in a long time. One thing I’ve learned about UU’s is that in addition to–or perhaps more accurately stated that because of–their commitment to social justice UU’s are voracious readers.
This coming Saturday, July 5, I will be at the Waldenbooks store in Charleston, South Carolina at 6:00pm for a reading, conversation, and signing. Anyone reading this who lives in Charleston, or who knows people in Charleston, I’d appreciate you spreading the word. I’m excited about this particular appearance for a few reasons. One is that Waldenbooks is located just a few blocks from the first Unitarian Church in the South.
Another is that my cousins Dain and Jim’s father was the rector at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Charleston for more than a decade during their formative years. St. Michael’s is also just a few blocks from Waldenbooks.
Finally, the DeWolf family has another historic connection to Charleston in that Henry D’Wolf, nephew of James D’Wolf, the head of the most successful slave-trading family in U.S. history, managed the family slave auction house in Charleston in the early 19th century. The business was a partnership named “Christian and D’Wolf” and extant Charleston Courier newspapers from the era include advertisements for slave auctions by Charles and D’Wolf. I continue to be amazed at how widespread the “family business” was. I look forward to learning more when Lindi and I explore this area of Charleston this weekend.