Sandbars, Sandlots, and City Streets;

takes its title from some of the powerful influences that shaped and continue to shape our (mine and Katherine's) lives:

Sandbars (The Eastern Shore of Virginia and its environs) ... where Katherine was born and lived the first twelve years of her life; where her brother was born; where I met the woman with whom I have spent the last twenty-six years; and where, as a school teacher (father and husband), I found both personal and professional fulfillment.

Sandlots (Baseball) ... my first love (and close to the top of Katherine's loves). We write about the fields upon which we played; players we met, ballparks in which we sat; our respect for the Game's history; and how a Southern family tried, unsuccessfully, to save baseball's greatest shrine.

I grew up in an era when the Game looked, felt, and was played very differently.

City Streets (Richmond and our Ancestry) ... for a long time, Richmond stayed unchanged and very Southern. The town my grandparents, parents, and I knew, is rapidly slipping away.

This part of the Book also focuses on four very Southern women, all of whom had, and continue to have, a tremendous impact on me, and through me, on Katherine and her brother, Tom.

Elon (Etc.) ... Katherine attends Elon University and will graduate in 2014. I graduated in 1980 (when it was Elon College). Elon, along with some "random writings," make up the final section of the Book.

We hope you find it a good "read."