John MacDonald’s story starts in the early part of the Great Depression. Although he was a combat veteran of World War I, he likens the difficulty of enduring this tumultuous time as being harsher than a literal battlefield.
(Working on) Waiting for the Train, Part Two
(The first entry of this blog series is located here) Robert L. MacDonald, known as Bob or Mac, worked as an English teacher and non-profit educator up until his death in 2014. His relationship with his father, as the youngest son of three, was a source of great pain for Bob. His focus on his father’s journal lasted most of his adult life, although years would intervene between efforts to organize and publish it. At…
A Matter of Tense: Past or Present?
When an author frequently switches between past and present tense, how should an editor handle it?
(Working on) Waiting for the Train, Part One
After nearly three decades of on and off again preparation, we are ready to finally tackle the behemoth that is John MacDonald’s journal. His son, Robert (Bob) MacDonald, tried and failed several times to get the journal published. His efforts to put the journal into a publication-ready state were incomplete and faltering, despite years of work. The reasons become quickly evident – John’s writing is difficult to decipher and contains run on paragraphs, mangled grammar,…
Introducing “Waiting for the Train”
John MacDonald rode the rails during the worst years of the Great Depression. In his journal, Waiting for the Train, he combines the grittiness of Studs Terkel with the romanticism of Woody Guthrie. Warner House Press will publish the journal for the first time later this year. In the meantime, follow us here on Facebook and on Twitter at @warnerhouseprss for some great excerpts.