Seeking clarity in a murky world
Welcome to Murky Press, an independent publisher dedicated to sharing stories about our nation’s sometimes murky history. Scroll down for information about our books and their authors.
Murky Press is pleased to announce the release of In the Courthouse’s Shadow: The Lynching of George Carter in Paris, Kentucky. Through diligent genealogical research and a comprehensive review of newspaper archives, author Tessa Bishop Hoggard has presented the human story that led to Carter’s hanging in 1901 and the human tragedy of its aftermath. Her clear-eyed account addresses the rampant injustices of the Jim Crow South as well as the biased news reporting that helped preserve a social order controlled by white men.
As we continue to struggle with unequal justice in this country, George Carter’s story is a reminder of the price we have paid for failing to address racial challenges that have been a part of this nation since its founding.
In the Courthouse’s Shadow is available through Amazon or by contacting Murky Press directly here. Read the blog announcing the book here.
Listen to the author interviewed by Tom Martin of WEKU’s Eastern Standard program (June 10, 2021).
In August 2023, Hoggard learned that her application for a permanent marker honoring three Black men who were lynched in Paris, Ky., between 1866 and 1901 had been accepted by the Kentucky Historical Society. Local Paris officials have also granted permission to erect the marker near the current courthouse. We will share details about the dedication ceremony as they are finalized. Congratulations, Tessa!
As we continue to struggle with unequal justice in this country, George Carter’s story is a reminder of the price we have paid for failing to address racial challenges that have been a part of this nation since its founding.
In the Courthouse’s Shadow is available through Amazon or by contacting Murky Press directly here. Read the blog announcing the book here.
Listen to the author interviewed by Tom Martin of WEKU’s Eastern Standard program (June 10, 2021).
In August 2023, Hoggard learned that her application for a permanent marker honoring three Black men who were lynched in Paris, Ky., between 1866 and 1901 had been accepted by the Kentucky Historical Society. Local Paris officials have also granted permission to erect the marker near the current courthouse. We will share details about the dedication ceremony as they are finalized. Congratulations, Tessa!
In March 2022, the Hopewell Museum in Paris, Ky., presented a virtual conversation with Murky Press authors Tessa Bishop Hoggard and Sallie Showalter. While doing research for her book In the Courthouse’s Shadow: The Lynching of George Carter in Paris, Kentucky, Hoggard stumbled across a blog post on the subject published by Showalter, the author of Next Train Out (more information below). Showalter’s novel tells the story of her own family, who were directly involved in the lynching of George Carter.
Showalter and Hoggard developed a close relationship, and Hoggard was instrumental in arranging an in-person conversation between Showalter and George Carter’s great-nephew Jim Bannister at the Hopewell Museum in July 2020.
Listen to the conversation between the two authors:
Showalter and Hoggard developed a close relationship, and Hoggard was instrumental in arranging an in-person conversation between Showalter and George Carter’s great-nephew Jim Bannister at the Hopewell Museum in July 2020.
Listen to the conversation between the two authors:
As the U.S. enters the Second World War, Effie Mae Board thinks she knows her husband of seven years. But a chance discovery prompts her to untangle the secrets of his early life and the wreckage he has left in his wake. As she struggles with these revelations—and examines the decisions she herself made as a young mother—the reader glimpses her husband, Lyons, recklessly careening from one fresh start to another as he tries to find his place after returning from the Great War.
Next Train Out is the culmination of nearly 10 years of research and writing. What started as a desire to learn something about a missing grandfather turned into a picaresque tale of an enigmatic rogue. Is Lyons a heartless narcissist and a scoundrel, or a lost soul trying to navigate the cultural fractures and shifting mores of the early twentieth century?
Whatever you decide about Lyons, there’s no doubt who Effie Mae is. Readers have fallen in love with the straight-shooting native of the Eastern Kentucky coal camps who tries her level best to understand Lyons and accept him, despite his transgressions. She and Lyons come from vastly different worlds, but they find uncommon common ground in their resiliency and their fearless embrace of each other.
Next Train Out is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or upon request from your favorite independent bookseller (ISBN 978-0-9992540-3-5). If you prefer, contact us at Murky Press and we’ll make arrangements to mail you a copy.
Listen to the author interviewed by Tom Martin of WEKU’s Eastern Standard program (July 16, 2020).
Next Train Out is the culmination of nearly 10 years of research and writing. What started as a desire to learn something about a missing grandfather turned into a picaresque tale of an enigmatic rogue. Is Lyons a heartless narcissist and a scoundrel, or a lost soul trying to navigate the cultural fractures and shifting mores of the early twentieth century?
Whatever you decide about Lyons, there’s no doubt who Effie Mae is. Readers have fallen in love with the straight-shooting native of the Eastern Kentucky coal camps who tries her level best to understand Lyons and accept him, despite his transgressions. She and Lyons come from vastly different worlds, but they find uncommon common ground in their resiliency and their fearless embrace of each other.
Next Train Out is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or upon request from your favorite independent bookseller (ISBN 978-0-9992540-3-5). If you prefer, contact us at Murky Press and we’ll make arrangements to mail you a copy.
Listen to the author interviewed by Tom Martin of WEKU’s Eastern Standard program (July 16, 2020).
Review
“How can a man hide a secret like that?” This singular question haunts Effie Mae Board throughout the pages of Next Train Out, the mystery she has to solve to save both her sanity and her marriage. It is also the question her husband, Lyons, determines to answer by finally, for the first time in his life, telling the truth. Spanning the years between the end of WWI and the early days of WWII, Showalter deftly turns over the heavy stones of secrets, wanderlust, regret, abandonment, and the pressures of societal expectation to show us what it takes for two people with very different dreams to commit themselves, one to the other. Effie Mae and Lyons will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.
—Teri Carter, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist
“How can a man hide a secret like that?” This singular question haunts Effie Mae Board throughout the pages of Next Train Out, the mystery she has to solve to save both her sanity and her marriage. It is also the question her husband, Lyons, determines to answer by finally, for the first time in his life, telling the truth. Spanning the years between the end of WWI and the early days of WWII, Showalter deftly turns over the heavy stones of secrets, wanderlust, regret, abandonment, and the pressures of societal expectation to show us what it takes for two people with very different dreams to commit themselves, one to the other. Effie Mae and Lyons will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.
—Teri Carter, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist
Murky Press is proud to have played a small role in the reprinting of Celebrate a Community, a handsome collection of historical photos and documents and carefully researched text recognizing the people and history of Fayetteville and Perry Township, Ohio. Lovingly compiled by Peggy Mezger Cooper and Harold Showalter, it recognizes the significance that one small town played in the cultural history of a region. The book is now available from Amazon.
The first meeting of Simon Kenton and Tecumseh likely occurred in Perry Township on the banks of East Fork in 1792. Located about midway between Cincinnati and the first state capital of Ohio at Chillicothe on one of the first roads (circa 1806) that connected these two important points, the area is also about an equal distance north of Limestone (currently Maysville, Ky.) opposite the terminus of Zane's Trace. Many early settlers traveled through this region on their way into the Northwest Territory wilderness. The reasonably priced land also attracted immigrants who built a community with a strong Catholic presence, influencing education and other aspects of community life well into the 1960s.
The editors of the book capture its purpose beautifully on the back cover:
The first meeting of Simon Kenton and Tecumseh likely occurred in Perry Township on the banks of East Fork in 1792. Located about midway between Cincinnati and the first state capital of Ohio at Chillicothe on one of the first roads (circa 1806) that connected these two important points, the area is also about an equal distance north of Limestone (currently Maysville, Ky.) opposite the terminus of Zane's Trace. Many early settlers traveled through this region on their way into the Northwest Territory wilderness. The reasonably priced land also attracted immigrants who built a community with a strong Catholic presence, influencing education and other aspects of community life well into the 1960s.
The editors of the book capture its purpose beautifully on the back cover:
Two sample spreads inside the book:
From 2017: the Murky Press Original Publication
Part field journal, part diary, The Last Resort: Journal of a Salt River Camp 1942-43 by John C. Goodlett chronicles the outdoor adventures of a group of young men in rural America just before they are called to serve during World War II. Their story is a reminder of a time when our lives were more rooted in the natural world, before a global war and the industries and public institutions it spawned accelerated our dislocation from our homes and our land.
Available online from Amazon or directly from Murky Press. Contact us here.
For more about the process of publishing The Last Resort or about the people and places that populate the book. check out the Murky Press blog, Clearing the Fog. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Details, then click the category The Last Resort.
Available online from Amazon or directly from Murky Press. Contact us here.
For more about the process of publishing The Last Resort or about the people and places that populate the book. check out the Murky Press blog, Clearing the Fog. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Details, then click the category The Last Resort.
THE LAST RESORT
a youth well spentThe author fishing central Kentucky's Salt River.
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among friendsTwo buddies, Bobby and John Allen, taking a break in the old Model T.
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before the warThe author, as he begins the transformation into Army man.
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