According to Chautauqua’s website (http://www.ciweb.org/), “Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will stay at Chautauqua and participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of an historic lakeside village.”

Theodore Roosevelt described Chautauqua as “typically American in that it is typical of America at its best.”

You enter Chautauqua through an imposing gate by showing your “pass.” Very few cars are permitted on the “grounds,” so you as you walk the brick streets, you feel as if you’ve stepped back in time.

Physically, Chautauqua is dotted with picturesque cottages, most of which have been brought back to their former glory. It’s nothing short of charming. The avenues are named after people who were instrumental in the development of Chautauqua. Read more

The one question my readers ask most often is, “Where did you get the idea for your plot?” For me, it started with a germ of an idea. A few years ago, I read on the web that during the 1920s, Akron had the biggest chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States. I was immediately intrigued, and starting looking into it further.

I learned that in the decade from 1910 to 1920, Akron was the fasting growing city in the country, and the population exploded by over 60 percent. Immigrants and Appalachians were flowing into the city to work in the rubber factories and make tires, which created a culture of resentment and bigotry against those who weren’t “true Americans.” Appalachians were dubbed “hillbillies” or “snakes.” Many called Akron “the capital of West Virginia.”

Originally I thought the KKK would be a pivotal part of the book, but it turns out I only make mention of it once in an historical overview of the 1920s. The more I read about Akron, the rubber factories, and the decadent culture during Prohibtion, the more I began to imagine my eventual story. Read more