Family photos

I had a reading and signing today at ColdWater Books in Tuscumbia, Alabama. It’s a really beautiful store–dark polished wood floors and banisters and high ceilings–with, I must say, an excellent coffee bar. One thing about writing books–and reading them in public–you become a connoisseur of bookstore beverages across the country. I rarely leave a bookstore without a cup of coffee. (I also rarely leave a bookstore without a book, which can become a problem when I’m on a book tour. My last tour I tried to lay off the books and just get coffee. I had mixed success…but an excellent reading list.) 

As always when I talk about The Well and the Mine, I told plenty of stories today about my own family. I just added some photos to the Why This Book section of the site, but let me add another couple here. First, of all, here’s my great-grandmother and great-grandfather, and all four of their children. (They, unlike the Moores, had four kids.) From top left, clockwise: Carson, the oldest child, about to head overseas for WWII; Roy,Jr., the youngest boy, whose biography coincides with Jack’s; Clara, the youngest girl, who had Tess’ sense of fun; my great-grandmother, Alma, just as grounded and pragmatic as Leta is; my great-grandfather, Royal, a coal miner; and my grandmother, Virginia, looking beautiful as always.

This photo is a larger version of the one already located in the Web site–you can see the faces better here. My two favorite things about the photo: my grandmother’s smile and my great-grandfather’s hat. Both are jaunty.

Great-grandparents and All the Kids, 1942

And here’s one more photo, this one of my grandmother and her sister. Both are lovely and young and extremely stylish.

My grandmother's in the striped skirt. They're posing in the front yard.