Sam is a senior in high school. He's on the basketball team, and works with his father, a veterinarian. When Sam catches a glimpse of Red at the local stockyard, he is attracted to her, even though she already has a boyfriend. Red is the story of Sam's messy efforts to navigate puberty and his first real love.

Growing up on a subsistence farm in North Carolina, Jap Allen married his childhood sweetheart, got his degree in veterinary medicine from Auburn University, served in the army, and established his practice in eastern North Carolina. When Jap started into practice in the 1950s, he worked mostly on farm animals -- on small farms and at the local stockyard. Money was scarce, and he was sometimes paid in produce. Mules were the tractors of the day, and Jap treated many mules for colic and oth...

What happens when you thrust a sensitive, spectacled boy into the rough-and-tumble 1960s world of public elementary school? A boy who cannot sit still in class, and who develops a crush on a fourth-grade classmate? A boy who fantasizes about catching the world's largest catfish and riding his bicycle around the world? A boy who imagines he's Marshal Matt Dillon while on Safety Patrol? Meet Sammy Pearsall, the barefoot, four-eyed hero of Sammy. Cringe as 10-year-old Sammy asks for ...

Zombie Co-Pilot and Other TalesMy first bicycle ride was on a rusty Schwinn single-speed that I found abandoned in a neighbor's vacant lot. The old bike was lying at the top of a gentle slope that led to the street in front of my childhood home. I was about 12 years old. I straddled the bike and pushed off -- and suddenly, my life changed -- I could fly! From that first adventure to my ride yesterday, nearly 60 years later, I have been seeking adve...

Knitting and haiku, together at last!The soft clacking of needles, the repetitive looping of yarn…you’ve fallen under the spell of knitting. For you, and for knitters the world over, this ancient craft is more than just a hobby, it’s a soothing practice with a rhythm and mystery that echoes its sister in poetry, the haiku.Written for the passionate knitter, Knit One, Haiku Too is a tribute to all there is to love about knitting: the creativity, the...