THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A BLACK SOUTHERN DOCTOR

About the Book

The Life and Times of a Black Southern Doctor, or LATOBSD as it will be referred to from here on in this condensation, is a saga of life in the panhandle of Florida from 1896 to 1956 and a bit beyond. Doctor Alpha Omega Campbell was an actual practicing physician in and around Tallahassee between 1913 and 1956. In 1956, at the age of 67, A.O. Campbell was convicted of manslaughter in the death of a Jacksonville mother of two, after allegedly performing a criminal abortion that eventually results in her dying. On in years and eyeing semi-retirement, he is sent Florida’s hardest prison for four of his remaining years. LATOBSD begins 1 ½ years into the doctor’s incarceration at the time of his dear wife’s funeral. Maggie Lou Campbell did not do well with her husband hundreds of miles away. She has been watching their empire of wealth and real estate crumble around her, spurred on by numerous jealous conspirators who position themselves like sharks around a school of hapless fish. It is from that point backward, I transport the reader back in time, before Maggie Lou was conceived by her multi-racial mother with the help of one of Leon County’s most respected grocers and back when Alfrey (A.O.) Campbell’s family was beholding to a deep-rooted plantation owner; some called it slavery in the post emancipation south. From this time forward, I undertake the task of fictionalizing a seemingly unmeasurable share of people and events. Most of this recounting of the doctor’s affairs is true to history, used as a guidepost for the seventy-some year story line. There are many people amongst the ensemble that closely resemble many of those that truly did exist, back when the delineation between black and white was beginning to show signs of gray. Yet as close as the Campbells pushed that line towards equality, a stronger force bludgeoned them back where “they belonged”. As tempting as it was to make this biographical, I could not. Case in point, the considerable liberty taken, especially as it applies to the more famous characters I have inserted in this moderately loosely-tied account of what really happened. If you think historical fiction is tough, staying true to events, multiply that by two and you have a biography; there will always be someone who says: ‘That isn’t the way it happened.’. So as we traipse our way into the wonderful world of fiction. Consider this list of names and events (In order of their appearance): I. The Spanish-American War II. 25th President: William McKinley III. The Galveston Hurricane–1900 IV. 26th President: Theodore Roosevelt V. George Eastman (sister Judith) VI. Suffragette: Emmeline Pankhurst VII. The San Francisco Earthquake–1906 VIII. Playwright: Sir James Barrie IX. World War I X. Mary Pickford–Early Hollywood XI. The Pacific Clipper Flying Boats–PanAm XII. Roswell, New Mexico: Area 51 Whoowah Nellie. What does any of this have to do with a black Southern doctor you ask? That is what makes history fun, even if much of this stuff did not come down quite the way I write it. I promise to dedicate the 20th chapter to the process of sorting the beef from the bull; the inconsistencies you all will gladly point out while reading along as the decades peel away. The bottom line is that LATOBSD is not just about the doctor.

About the Author

Gwen was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin in an unnamed year. She grew up in a small family of four and lived there until going off to college. At Oconomowoc High School, she would fall in love……with the written word and after graduating, Miss Hoff immediately began her writing career; Science Fiction being the unlikely genre of choice. Her studies in English and Meteorology at UW-Milwaukee are mere window dressing to the greater passion of fashioning phrases; original ways to arrange the English language. A Trekkie (Star Trek NBC Television 1967-1969) to the core, Gwen would go on to complete three Sci Fi novels. All three are out of print and in the opinion of the author, ancient history, especially after reading & understanding The Holy Bible. She has 3 wonderful sons, a solid group of quality friends. To this very day, Gwendolyn Hoff still loves Science Fiction, cries at the opening of every STAR TREK movie and looks at the stars with a unique eye to the sky. That brings us to the year 1994. In that year, she would meet the Granddaughter of the subject doctor of THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A BLACK SOUTHERN DOCTOR. She entered into a partnership for the purpose of bringing the story of Alpha Omega Campbell to light. With informational trips to book’s setting of Tallahassee FL and the treasure trove of history, Washington DC in her bag of tricks, this book took form. During the intervening 12+ years, the life & times of a fine southern physician and gentleman would be lovingly crafted into words; some fact, some fiction.