“Julia & Maud” Book-Signing and Program

“Julia & Maud” Book-Signing and Program with authors Joyce Faulkner & Tom Wing

Thursday, September 21 at 5:30 pm

Free

Fort Smith Museum of History

320 Rogers Avenue

479-783-7841

fortsmithmuseum.org

info@fortsmithmuseum.org

In Julia and Maud, author Joyce Faulkner presents a compelling tale told by Archie Biggs, the “steadfast,” yet conflicted Huck Finn-type narrator. Biggs, often at the center of the action, whether he wants to be or not, reveals his own bias, while also showing the perspectives of complicated citizens during an evolutionary 1890s Fort Smith. The ebb and flow of popular opinion and the six-degrees of separation which connect characters throughout parallels many political stories and the ambitions throughout Arkansas history to the present. Readers are empathetic to the narrator, whose dialectal perspective, youth, and honor, are clear throughout. Some readers may find empathy for Maud, as reminded by Faulkner, this story has many sides.

Truth is stranger than fiction and as aided by the noted historian and author, UAFS Assistant Professor and Director of the Drennen-Scott Historic House, Tom Wing, the story is plausible, well-told, and intriguing. Faulkner’s chapters will have some readers looking over their shoulders for Maud, as the chill crosses the room, laughing at the antics or language of some characters, or encouraging readers to look deeper into not only the well-known names, but also of those average folks in the blurry background, on the fringes of acceptable society, or those faces we recognize, yet their stories are untold or forgotten. Faulkner, Wing, with help from Cody Faber, Al Whitson, Calvin Evans, Joe Wasson, and Tom Dillard, among others, will keep this story, and many of Arkansas’ unique people, places, and stories alive for generations.

—Kevin L. Jones, Ph.D. Professor of English, Dept. of English, Rhetoric and Writing, and Media Communication, College of Arts and Sciences University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

Joyce Faulkner grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, graduating from Immaculate Conception School in 1962 and St. Anne’s Academy in 1966. She attended the University of Arkansas, majoring in writing, from 1966 to 1968. She earned her Chemical Engineering Degree with a specialty in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 and her Masters of Business Administration from Cleveland State in 1991. She worked in the Gas industry for twenty years and managed a new department dedicated to adapting corporate functions to a multi- company Intranet/Internet world in the late 1990s.

Interested in a variety of subjects and approaches, Joyce is the author of many award-winning books and articles. However, her main interests are History, Historical Fiction and True Crime. Her Historical Fiction titles include “In the Shadow of Suribachi” about the Battle of Iwo Jima, “Windshift” about the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs) in World War II, “Vala’s Bed” about the Holocaust and its aftermath, “Garrison Avenue” with coauthor Dr. Micki Voelkel, about a lynching that took place on Garrison Avenue in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1912. Her Nonfiction History books include “Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors” and “Role Call: Women’s Voices,” both with coauthor Pat McGrath Avery. She has also ghosted several other books about World War II and Vietnam.

Tom Wing is a 6th generation Arkansawyer and currently Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Drennen-Scott Historic Site for the University of Arkansas-Fort smith. He’s been an educator in both secondary and higher education classrooms for 35 years, and a museum professional with 27 years in resource interpretation, program planning, exhibit design, and visitor services. He’s a published author with numerous articles and two books: “A Rough Introduction to This Sunny Land: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry Albert Strong Company K, 12th Kansas Infantry,” and “Images of America: Van Buren.” He is a 19th Century scholar with interviews on Discovery Channel, History Channel, Smithsonian Channel, and PBS.

An award-winning historic preservationist, he possesses diversified skill sets including curriculum design, interpretive planning, client and visitor relations, human resources and recruiting, historical research, grant writing and project management. He has served multiple terms as a board member for Preserve Arkansas and the Arkansas Historical Association. He cherishes time with Renee, his wife of 34 years, his four sons, daughters in law and currently 6 grandchildren with another due soon. He lived for 25 years near the Old Wire Road in the hills Northern Crawford County, but today resides near the confluence of Lee Creek (Papillon to the French fur trappers) and the Arkansas River. Well-known Historian, Teacher and Author, Tom Wing, found the original documents…and more importantly, Maud’s letters.