In 1961 in a small Kentucky community (Creekside) after a stormy altercation with his father, Ed, a fourteen year old white boy flees his home and finds himself running blindly through driving rain, chased by thunder, lightening and threatening flood water.He is rescued by a garrulous drunk called Riverboat Bill, an ex Marine, who gives him shelter on his shanty boat, but not before Ed is kicked in the head by a dead cow swirling in the raging stream.Fred Ruby, a black employee of Ed's family, promises to tell Ed how to heal the rift with his dad, if he will accompany his wife and him to church where a rousing gospel group, The Bluebirds, willl sing.After church, where he sees Riverboat Bill in the congregation, Ed learns about the Underground Railroad and begins to awaken to the racial injustice that is everywhere around him. He and a young black/Cherokee boy and a lovely bright black girl decide to take action for what they believe is just and right.They plunge into cross currents of social change, run afoul of the law, foil a murder plot, help to bust a crooked cop and contribute in their own crazy way to the founding of a park for all the people of Creekside. The story is fast moving, comical, emotionally gripping, sad, joyous and triumphant. Riverboat Bill reveals the unlikely alliances between richly developed characters, black and white, that helped to make a small, but tangible advance towards interracial harmony.

Riverboat Bill 1961 (The Creekside Sagas)

Literature & Fiction

Middleton, Ed

Literary

Skipjack Holdings LLC

In 1953 Bill Maddox comes home in his shiny red truck after hauling for the Commonwealth of Kentucky to find his home is a smoking hole in the ground: a black boy, who he and his wife Sarah had befriended and employed, has raped and murdered her, then burned the house down.Recognizing the boy is insane, Maddox, a WWII marine veteran, pleads that he be shown mercy. The judge spares the boy’s life and sends him to a mental institution, which enrages an element of the populace.Maddox falls ill. Deep depression, pneumonia and delirium overtake him. He nearly dies on the shanty boat where he has holed up. Unbeknownst to him the murderer’s mother and her children carry Bill off his boat to their home and nurse him back to health.During recovery he learns that his grandfather had been part of the Underground Railroad. He discovers forgiveness and joins the cause against racial oppression. His fellow travelers include a big time whiskey distiller, a prostitute, a blues singer and a juke joint operator just to name a few.Together, this alliance with the help of a cop by the name of Datillo uncovers and destroys a plot by the K.K.K. to infiltrate and take control of the Louisville Police Department. They receive no accolades, but interracial bonds are forged that bode well for the future. Mr. Maddox is a gritty triumphant tale told with ribald humor, a dash of hopefulness and a good measure of faith.

Mr. Maddox 1953 (The Creekside Sagas)

Genre Fiction

In the year 1859 on the banks of the Ohio River in Creekside, Ky., a small community upstream from Louisville, Skipjack Maddox (Riverboat Bill’s grandfather) lived upon a couple hundred acres of land and managed a river bank tavern that served river boats of all types and customers of all walks of life. There was a bustling kitchen and a good bar, so the Tavern was a destination for land lubbers as well.But in that year Skipjack and his wife Marcie and 11 year old son Billy became ensnared in the cross currents that were rending the nation.Suddenly it seemed the rot of slavery had infected or at least affected all strata of society. Lawlessness and bullheaded hardheartedness sprouted like weeds, as it became more and more obvious there was no easy way to escape the approaching chaos of violent dissolution.Abolitionists and slave holders were solidly cast on opposing sides and as the society began to crumble, there were slave snatchers, runaway slave hunters, runaway slaves, crooked politicians and then pirates, who would steal anything and would kill anyone but slaves they could enlist or sell.Of course, many citizens stood for freedom and decency. Marcie and Skipjack were among them. However, Skipjack Maddox harbored a secret. Unbeknownst even to Marcie, his beloved wife, Skipjack was an active participant in the Underground Railroad and rowed runaway slaves across the water to liberty. How this was accomplished is a shrouded mystery embedded in this compelling tale.Brother Tim, a riverboat card sharp, shows up intent on converting the tavern into a casino/brothel enterprise. After persuasion fails, Tim joins a she pirate and her mates and all hell busts loose, as in league with shady backers and a greedy sheriff, they endeavor to destroy Skipjack’s life and family. Unexpected alliances form and bond to thwart this wicked assault. Abiding love, faith, courage and an unlikely hero or two navigate currents dragging all inexorably into the maelstrom of The Civil War. Even so, Skipjack Maddox 1859 is a tale of healing triumph. You may weep, you will laugh and smile.

Skipjack Maddox 1859 (The Creekside Sagas)

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Riverboat Bill 1961 (The Creekside Sagas)

Mr. Maddox 1953 (The Creekside Sagas)

Skipjack Maddox 1859 (The Creekside Sagas)