American Odyssey, Book One

About the Book

American Odyssey, Book One, portrays the first part of the journey of George Bush, a free black man, a true to life historical character.  His wanderings take him from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, from the state of Pennsylvania to the territory of Missouri.  Book Two, soon to be released, portrays his further odyssey from the banks of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.

The milieu of America in the late 1700s and early 1800s retains the flux of the revolutionary days.  The new country is striving to develop as a nation in an age when “the rights of man” have become the cornerstone of political talk and action.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution flower with great principles:  “all men are created equal” and “justice and equality for all.”  The elite who wrote those principles interpret them, thereby creating an interpretation that favors their class.  Those chosen few come from the white educated male, the economically advantaged, the socially accepted.

Those denied include native Americans, slaves, women, free black people, the uneducated, the socially unacceptable, the poor.  Although free and having inherited money, George Bush is one of the denied.  Throughout life, he struggles in the collision of cultures fermenting America.

Born free in Philadelphia in the late 1700s, George Bush lives in the home of a white sea captain to whom his father is servant although a free man.  George Bush has the benefits of education in a Quaker school and the means to support himself.  His early boyhood, happy and easy, is enriched by the friendships of Philadelphia free black families.  In the sea captain’s library, George teaches his close friend, Isaiah Curry, to read.  They fish from the banks of the Delaware River with all the abandon of youngsters.  That world shatters when white patrollers steal Isaiah from a Philadelphia dock and sell him into slavery in the American southland.

The Free African Society of Philadelphia begins a search for Isaiah using the network of ministers throughout the southland.  When word comes that Isaiah slaves on a Lousiana plantation, George Bush takes on the risks of going south to find Isaiah and bring him home.

Andrew Jackson’s ads for Tennessee frontier land draw George Bush to East Tennessee.  He settles with a recently freed,  elderly couple, Sam and Sally, while he develops a piece of land he hopes to buy.  Forced off his land by a scheming white man with a gun, he learns the strength and resilience of the ex-slave couple.  Bush has honed his sharpshooting skills, and Sam vouches for him at the East Tennessee Militia muster.  Heading south with the militia provides Bush safe passage through territories and states with restrictive laws and social mores designed to “keep him in his place.”  Although a noncitizen, he serves in the East Tennessee Militia and plans to use that service as cover in his search for Isaiah.  He finds further motivation to enlist in General Andrew Jackson’s promise of one hundred sixty acres as reward for free blacks joining the fight against the British army invading Louisiana in 1814.

George Bush is one of three thousand men on forty-seven flatboats that float south on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  Undisciplined, unskilled in military tactics, the men are shaped into a fighting force by General William Carroll; he directs that flatboats be lashed together and orders drills while the men float down the rivers.  Turbulent and dangerous, the Mississippi tosses boats, capsizes several, then turns benign and flows its course to New Orleans.

January 8, 1815, finds George Bush and the East Tennessee Militia as units in General Andrew Jackson’s fighting force defending America’s southland.  The men face the

About the Author

Ethel Roesch and Paul R. Roesch are partners writing under the name E. P. Roesch.

Publications of E. P. Roesch

Ashana, historical novel

 Hardcover United States edition, Random House, Inc., 1990

 Paperback United States edition, Ballantine Books, 1991

 Hardcover Dutch edition, Uitgeverij Areopagus, 1991

 Paperback German edition, Bastei-Lbbe-Taschenbuch, 1992

 United States edition read into the Library for the Blind, 1992

"Oral History to Historical Fiction:  The Anatomy of a Novel," and article  published in Oshkaabewis Native Journal, Volume 1, Number 3, 1991, American Indian Studies Press, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota

Works in Progress, E. P. Roesch

American Odyssey, Book One, historical fiction, is based on the life of a free black man born in Philadelphia in the late 1700s; the book is completed for publication.  American Odyssey, Book Two, historical fiction, yet to be released, continues his Odyssey from Missouri to Washington Territory on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Historical fiction, a trilogy based on three families of Viet Nam and the country´s north, middle region, and south during the period from late 1700s to April 30, 1975.

Historical fiction based on the slave milieu of Arlington Plantation, Virginia, pre-Civil War and during the Civil War

Manuscripts for a broad range of short stories, poetry, and articles, writings based on research and oral history carried on over a period of twenty-plus years

Writings by Ethel Roesch

"The Boy Who Went to the Moon," a book length children´s prose poem ready for publication.

25 Poems, 1 Play, and 2 Stories.  Issaquah, Washington:  Quadrant Press.

Short stories published in The American Swedish Historical Foundation Yearbook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including:

 Legend of White Chippewa Girl

 The Country Schoolteacher

 The Swedish Peddler (or Forty Below Love)

Article, "Action in the Cascades," Snowmobiling Magazine, Boise, Idaho

Article, "Basque of the Sawtooth Range," Frontier Times, Western Publications, Austin, Texas

Article, "A YWCA Ice Chalet, A Pioneering Venture," The YWCA Magazine, National YWCA Board Publications, New York, New York

Articles on selected businesses and people in Washington, published in issues of Washington Wonderland, The Washington State Magazine, Seattle, Washington

Many poems in small magazines and various newspapers

"Scenario of Political Scenes," copyrighted scripts presenting short skits, poems, and lyrics for JoEl-Puppeteers, purchased by a political party for use in campaigns and at state fairs

Education

Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska

Professional Services Experience

Teacher, elementary schools

Newspaper reporter

Secretary, U. S. Army Hospital

Executive Director, , YWCA, wrote grants for and implemented a broad range of service and justice programs for minorities and women, including:

Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Program

Work Options for Women

Harbor House, an early shelter for abused women and children

Applejam Music and Folklore Center

La Escuelita, a learning program for small Latino children

Created a Center providing a medium for meeting community needs of minority groups devoid of resources

Member, Washington State Interagency Council for Migrant Housing

Honors

Recognition and Certificateof Award for Outstanding Service in the area of human and civil rights to the black community of the State of Washington, awarded by the New Life Baptist Church of Olympia, Washington

Certificate and Honorary Membership in the Indochinese Mutual Assistance Association, for aiding the formation and governance of the self-help association composed of Indochinese refugees in Washington State

Friendship Medallion awarded by the Native American nations of Minnesota at special meeting held at Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota

Distinguished Service Award, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota

Honorary Citizen, Roseau, Minnesota

PEN Women Chapter, Seattle, Washington

Volunteer Community Involvement

A lifetime of community service, theater productions, and human rights and social issues support, resulting in numerous honors and no few griefs

Personal

Ethel and Paul Roesch are wife and husband partners in research and writing as "E. P. Roesch."  They live in Washington state.  They have five adult children with families.

Special Interests:  Reading, gardening, musicals, theater, and travel.

Publications by Paul Roesch

Award winning poem [untitled], published in Poetic Voices of America, Spring 1990, Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum, Inc., West Virginia

Documents, exhibits, and memoranda for copyright and patent protection under Federal law, including novels, short stories, poetry, and other literary properties

Numerous legal briefs, memoranda, and appeals documents relative to cases before Washington state agencies; National Labor Relations Board, Seattle Regional office and National Appeals Division, Washington, D. C.; U. S. Department of the Interior, land division; and U. S. District Courts in Washington and Idaho.

Education

J. D.,  University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

B. A., University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

A. B., Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska

Professional Services Experience

Special consultant to the Metropolitan Park District and the Tacoma Public School District (both of Tacoma, Washington), services including design and writing of the twenty-year Greater Tacoma "Recreation and Open Span Plan" and creation and implementation of units of the plan.  Special consultant to the agencies in the design and implementation of facilities´ access for disabled persons

Legislative consultant, Washington State Legislature, regular and special sessions, analyzing existing and proposed laws, recommending amendments and other revisions, attending hearings, and drafting special subject memoranda for committees and individual legislators

General legal practice, emphasizing civil and human rights, adoption proceedings, and small business enterprises

Honors

Distinguished Service Award, Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska

Friendship Medallion awarded by the Native American nations of Minnesota at special meeting held at Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota

Award winning poem [untitled], published in Poetic Voices of America, Spring 1990, Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum, Inc., West Virginia

Past-President, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, and serving successive terms as a member of the board of directors

Blue Key National Honor Fraternity

Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Fraternity

Pi Kappa Delta, Province of the Platte, College Oratory and Debate, special distinction in each extempraneous speaking championship

Personal

Ethel and Paul R. Roesch are wife and husband partners in research and writing as "E. P. Roesch."  They live in Washington state.  They have five adult children with families.

Special Interests:  Rare prints and watercolors, rare books and documents, reading, gardening, musicals, and travel.