This small book creates a big and clear picture of life not easily reproduced. A time that could easily be lost forever if it were not for Mr. Link's clear recollection and superbly comfortable writing style. Reading this book was a great experience. I could almost smell and hear the times returning when my parents were young and experiencing their life's events for the first time. Thanks, Mr. Link. I look forward to reading your next book.

I love this book because it confirms that the heart is the warm pocket where beloved people and pets reside forever,even after they have died. Phil Link is a legendary talker, but his writing is poetic and evocative and this little book left me wanting more, more, more!

This is about as engrossing a true crime book as one can get. Well researched and compellingly written, it tracks the story of three families whose lives intertwine only to culminate in boodshed. It is a story that will enthrall the reader, as well as tug at the reader's heartstrings, because of the tragic familial implications.

At the heart of the horror that this book reveals is a beautiful southern belle, Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch, who together with her first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, the mentally unbalanced son of a prominent doctor, goes on to be involved in unspeakable acts. It is a riveting book that will keep the reader turning the pages and is one of the best books in the true crime genre.

This is about as engrossing a true crime book as one can get. Well-researched and compellingly written, it tracks the story of three families whose lives intertwine only to culminate in boodshed. It is a story that will enthrall the reader, as well as tug at the reader's heartstrings, because of the tragic familial implications.

At the heart of the horror that this book reveals is a beautiful southern belle, Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch, who together with her first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, the mentally unbalanced son of a prominent doctor, goes on to be involved in unspeakable acts. It is a riveting book that will keep the reader turning the pages and is one of the best books in the true crime genre.

Blue Horizons is a story of a journey. Jerry Bledsoe does a wonderful job decribing his bicycle journey down the Blue Ridge Parkway. He is no ironman, so his journey both enjoyable to read and dreamable for even the casual cyclist. I found myself reading a Blue Ridge Parkway guide along with this book to further enhance the experience. At times I thought I was there. I dream of one day of doing the trip. A great book but be careful, you may find yourself saving money and calling Blue Ridge hotels to plan your own Blue Horizon experience.

All I can say is that this sequel was everything I could have hoped for; readers of Angel Doll will embrace this book as well.

I really enjoyed this book. When you read it, you feel like you're sitting in a cozy family room talking to the author who happens to be a really nice guy (and my uncle).

One of the best histories of small business men making it big

Murder For Breakfast: The True Story Of Alma Petty And The Preacher Who Betrayed Her by writer, painter and journalist Phil Link is the extensively researched and meticulously pieced together true story of murder and betrayal. Set in the late twenties, it tells of Alma Petty, a young woman who confesses to Tom Pardue, an evangelist priest, that she murdered her own father with an ax at the breakfast table; yet when Pardue tried to bring the story to the authorities, he was dismissed as a crackpot -- until the murdered man's body was finally discovered and dug up. Author Phil Link was the 12-year-old next-door-neighbor of the Petty family and personally witnessed the finding and removal of the elder Petty's decomposed body from basement and the sensational murder trial that followed in his hometown community of 1928. A dark saga of the flaws and cruelties of human nature, Murder For Breakfast is highly recommended as a deftly presented true crime narrative.

This is an extremely readable book about the popular artist, Bob Timberlake. If you are from North Carolina, you will recognize many of the locations he and Jerry Bledsoe write about. If you are not from NC, you are welcome to "set a spell" and watch a boy grow up in a small-town world not unlike Mayberry (yes, there were really towns like that in NC). Surprisingly, Bob was not born with a paintbrush in his hand: this is something he happened into as an adult. Many of the seemingly simple events of his life converged to make him the artist he is today. You will learn what makes Bob Timberlake stand out from the pack and the values that keep him grounded.

Bledsoe does an incredible job detailing the history and background of this media fiasco, including the toll it took on one seemingly honorable man. This is the true story of Jack Purdue, an amatuer civil war historian tapped to teach a community outreach course at a North Carolina community college, and his encounter with an ambitious young newspaper reporter. Bledsoe gives us a great feel for Jack's personal character and how that character was called into question by the reporter, who apparently fabricated much of his news story to further his career. This book should be required reading for every journalism student, not just for the specific lessons on how not to write a story, but to give that student a feel for the power he or she wields because of the public's trust in mainstream media. In the end this reporter's seeming misdeeds may very well have cost Jack Purdue his life. The only reason this book didnt get five stars is that at times it was a bit of chore to get through, and did get bogged down in details. This is not Bledsoe's fault though, as the nature of the subject matter doesn't really lend itself to a page turner of a suspenseful book and some people may really enjoy knowing every detail about this event. One last issue is that there were apparently videotapes of the class that were never released by Purdue, which could have conclusively exonerated him and his class. The fact those tapes were not released to the public (even when Purdue's character was being trashed in the media for something he apparently did not say), nor has Bledsoe seemed to have reviewed them, leaves the reader wondering whether he is getting the full story even from Bledsoe.

Jerry Bledsoe shows what happens when journalists misuse their vast power, sometimes by hitting too hard and then other times failing to act at all - - including failing to admit horrible mistakes and not doing much to offset the damage. Every reporter in the world should read this book and have it be a guide to prudent journalism.

Rhonda Winters was the director of a satellite campus for a North Carolina community college who offered an adult community-outreach course on the Civil War, a course of studies organized by regional historian and preservationist Jack Perdue. The course was almost finished (and the students were both learning the material and enjoying experience) when a reporter wrote an article falsely claiming that Winters was teaching the slaves in the South were happy with their condition. Originally published in a local paper, the defamatory article was picked up by the Associated Press and reprinted worldwide, bring Winters a barrage of vituperative news coverage defaming both her and the college, and resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Commission on Civile Rights, as well as the cancellation of the course. Even when students, instructors, and college officials clearly proclaimed the article to be false, the newspaper's editors backed the reporter. In the end, the newspaper's deceptive view prevailed, despite a wealth of evidence laid out in the pages of Death By Journalism? Here is a focused spotlight on one of journalism's most irresponsible episodes, a scenario that did real harm to real people and discredited the profession to all who knew where the truth really lay. Put very simply, Death By Journalism? should be required reading for every journalism student in every college and university in this country.