Runaway Swimmer was conceptualized by the author in 1996. The novel is based on a family legend concerning George Washington Skipper. He was a half-white/half-Indian boy of three years old when he disappeared. His family thought that he may have been taken by a local Cherokee tribe that had recently vacated the area surrounding their homestead at the outset of the Trail of Tears. He was never seen or heard from again, and as far as his family knew, he was dead.
The novel is built around this story and a great deal of historical research. The facts of the novel revolve primarily around the names of the characters and some of the events in which they were involved. The American Civil War and the Trail of Tears are two major backdrops for the story, and provide the impetus for several of the life changes the characters experience. However, the actions the characters take and the discoveries they make about themselves are the true vehicles that shape the story.
One of the major locations mentioned in the story is the Foundation Stone. The Foundation Stone is known to our family as the Indian Rock. It stands only a few miles from where my family has lived for over seven generations. The first picture shows the Frog Stone. It is a smaller rock that resembles a frog.
The second picture is of the Eagle Stone. Again, aptly named.
The final photograph is of the Indian Rock (Foundation Stone). This rock resembles a large face with an eye and gaping mouth, similar to a large panther.
11 comments:
Rock on (pun intended).
Where are these rocks located, exactly?
I thought you and Larissa had been out there with us. Guess not...
If you take the road off of which Mom and Dad's house sits just about 4 miles further and turn left on the next paved road you come to, then turn left into a pasture, you can walk through the woods about 200 yards or so and be right there at these cool rocks.
There have been arhcaeological teams studying it in the past and from what I understand, it was probably some sort of holy place to the local tribes.
It's really hard to grasp the size of the rocks unless you see them in person.
The Indian Rock (last pic) is probably 15 feet from its lowest to its highest point and that doesn't count the part that's underground.
Y'all should go see them with us sometime.
I love the last rock. I had no idea this stuff was just a walk from your parents house.
Yes, take us there!
Cool! We'll be going down for a weekend toward the end of the month.
Y'all come down for a day or two and we can all go out there for a little while.
As a design professional, I recommend including that into the cover of the book. Maybe have a main character standing on it. Just a thought. Thanks for the pics, now I want to see it in person.
Y'all could come, too, Chuck! It's a pretty cool place to visit.
We took some pics with Dad and me standing around it. It would be a little more difficult to get us standing on it since it's pretty big.
We'll probably be down there the last weekend in this month for any and all who want to come down for a day and see it. No admission charged.
Nice post Sipper.
I’m not sure why seeing these rocks sort of actualizes the story for me but it does. On a side note I’m not sure why pictures of rocks does much of anything for me but it does none the less. I’ve always liked the idea of rock outcropping having an air of importance. Someday I’d love to have a giant rock garden.
It has a "Stonehenge" quality to it, I must say.
When you see the rocks in person, it's kind of a "spiritual" experience.
They're just weird because there are not really any large rock formations around south Alabama, but you walk into the woods in the middle of nowhere and there are these three large boulders.
That's it, just three rocks. Not any gravel or smaller rocks, just the three. It's like they were moved there from somewhere else or something.
now that you mention that, it makes those rocks even stranger...
Yeah, it's kinda weird, man.
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