Author Description

A retired school teacher inherits a box full of memories after his mother’s passing. He pieces together his family history beginning in 1936 when his grandfather, Jonah King, the Black son of a slave, leaves the Jim Crow South searching for a better life. With his wife, Tiny, and their four children, they reach a small, dying town in a remote part of northeast New Mexico where they find acceptance and opportunity. The Kings flourish, eventually becoming substantial land and business owners, but not without struggles. The children grow up and have their own lives including war experiences, civil rights activities, and management of the family ranch. The author gets to the end of his memory box in 1964 and we discover which of the four children is his parent.