About I Will Not Write a Book of Lamentations by John Fearrington Benton
“I Will Not Write a Book of Lamentations” is a novel inspired by memories from a Carolina childhood and youth. The memories and stories span both North and South Carolina, but the heart of the stories is a small town in North Carolina, Monroe, south of Charlotte and not far from the South Carolina border. But this is not any small Southern town, because you see, the town helped spawn a leader of the modern Conservative movement, Jesse Helms. And the town was the site of the infamous Kissing Case in the late 1950’s, which resulted in an appeal for mercy for the two accused black boys by Eleanor Roosevelt, who had visited a few years earlier. Freedom Riders came to town, too, in the early 1960’s, with the Klan waiting to greet them Add to all this a bit of whimsy: the “Dukes of Hazzard” story sprung from moonshiners’ tales of adventure in the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside. Yet with all the turmoil and strife, the Roosevelts and Carl Sandburg admired the town’s progressive elements. It was a complicated place, and there is an untold story: what I saw, the boyhood stories that I heard. The fictionalized stories mostly take place within several blocks of a small Southern town, the fictional town of Madison. Amidst tragedy and despair, there are stories that inspire: stories of courage and humor and hope.
Buy the book, and follow the author on social media:
Author Bio:
John Fearrington Benton was born in the town of Monroe, North Carolina and spent much of his life there. After graduating from Monroe High School, he attended Davidson College and then received a master’s degree in counselor education from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston, he lived in the Ansonborough District, absorbing the colorful stories of the residents, both natives and outsiders.
After graduating from The Citadel, he became a teacher, counselor, and guidance department director in Monroe and Union County and retired after three decades of service. As a boy there were two things that he wanted to be: an educator and writer. In retirement, he has pursued his second dream, and “I Will Not Write a Book of Lamentations” is his first novel.
Growing up in Monroe, Benton was shy, plain, and he spoke with a stammer, almost never uttering a word. He listened, though. He listened and learned from all the stories that he heard in Monroe and beyond and began creating his own stores. A college advisor told him that because of his shyness and stammer, he could never become an educator, at least not without speech classes and speech therapy. To prove this advisor wrong, he told stories in front of a mirror and gradually overcame the stammer and later became a successful educator.
We live in uncertain times, and Lamentations shines hope and humor on a troubled landscape. Through the intersections of Carolina history, ingenuity, food, music, accents, and wisdom, and a little dark humor. Lamentations, derived from true stories, shows that much of Carolina culture is the best of American culture. The stories in Lamentations were written to inspire people of all ages, and especially for young people looking for meaning and personal enrichment. Rather than presenting a dystopian outlook for the future, Lamentations shows how supporting each other with empathy and respect and celebrating differences are the true keys to happiness and success