Michael W. Crist

After the Dogwood Blossoms Michael W. Crist

A dream of many years has come to fruition. For many years, growing up, I was encouraged to be a writer by my mother. She told me to experience life and one day I will have the heart to write a great book. I began sailing the Chesapeake Bay in my sixteen foot Hobie cat when I was a preteen. As I gained experience, I grew braver and ventured across the bay and into some of the major rivers that flowed into it. One day, about midday, I was sailing up the York river and I met a young Mattiponi boy about my same age. I offered to take him for a ride on my cat and a friendship developed. When I graduated from high school, I attended a small college in North Carolina. The Vietnam war was developing so I felt it was my duty to join the service. I became a Navy photographer. When my tour of duty was completed, I decided to return to college and get my degree. I graduated with a BS in elementary education 4-7. I enjoyed my career of 28 years of teaching but I hadn't met my goal to write a book. Having taught about the Woodland Powhatan Indians throughout the years, I focused my research and learned about and visited close local tribe sights and museums. I retired from teaching to write my book. After many reams of paper and constant editing and revising, my two plus years of writing finally became hopeful reality. We all have watched Apache raids in movies and on tv and read James F. Cooper's Last of the Mohicans but what about a story about Indian life before the invasion of the alien British Colonists. Who were the Tidewater Woodland Powhatan Indians and what is their story? Michael Crist