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John H. Harding, Jr. P.O Box 44, Burgess, VA 22432 Dr. John H. Harding, Jr. is a lifelong Northumberland resident, whose ancestors came to the Northern Neck of Virginia in the seventeenth century. He attended local schools, graduated from the College of William and Mary, taught school for one year before serving two years in the army. In 1960, he graduated from the Medical College of Virginia's School of Dentistry and returned to Northumberland County where he practiced for thirty-one years. After retirement, he raised cattle and took up his pen in praise of the home he loves. His first book, Shortchanged, focused on the thoughts of a dying Northern Neck soldier in Korea. His second, Alvin: Recollections and Reflections, recounted a man’s conversations about his life tending crops, fishing for menhaden, shucking oysters, and serving his country in World War II. John's latest effort, A Reluctant Rebel, celebrates life in rural Virginia, a subject with which Dr. Harding is intimately familiar. The book is about an ancestor, William Harding (1797 - 1878), who has always fascinated him. It is based on stories that survived, and on papers left by William Harding. |
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John Harding's new book "A Reluctant Rebel" combines his interest in history as well as a deep knowlege of the area in Virginia known as the Northern Neck, covering a time period from 1797 to 1878, into a fascinating story of the plantation people of that era. Harding has shown the great talent of describing ordinary people with a realism that brings them right into your life. The depths of human existence in a very troubled time before and after the Civil War is brought vividly into your home. All of his books have had a Northern Neck theme, and this latest one tells the story of one of his own ancestors, William Harding. It is classified as historical fiction, but only because not all of Dr. Harding’s sources are on paper; his original inspiration for the book came from stories told to him by his father and a cousin. “I had heard about him all my life,” says Harding. A Reluctant Rebel depicts a fair and generous man torn between his
conscience and his extensive holdings in business interests, land, and slaves.
“He was sold on the idea that something could be done about slavery,” Marsh
reported, “but he was torn as to what could be done. He foresaw that the
Confederacy couldn’t survive, and he wanted Virginia to stay in the Union.” The
Civil War reduced his holdings considerably, but he was still better off than
most of his neighbors, and when they looked to him for help, he did his best to
respond. Click Book Jacket above to Buy this Book on line at Northern Neck Heritage Tours - $16.95 plus S&H.
Other Reviewer Comments "As in his two previous novels, he has shown the great talent of describing ordinary people with a realism that brings them right into your life. The depths of human existence in a very troubled time before and after [lie Civil War is brought vividly into your home." -- Richard Maxwell, Former free-lance book reviewer for the Richmond Times Dispatch "A Reluctant Rebel, is an interesting account of one of his ancestors, William Harding of Springfield. It is a tangible link with the culture and history of the long ago age. A Reluctant Rebel is a real contribution to the history of Virginia." -- Miriam W. Haynie, Author o/The Stronghold, and A Kingdom by the Sea "A Reluctant Rebel combines family oral traditions with primary documents
and gives a human view of our nation's greatest conflict. It is important to
save these stories, and I am delighted John H. Harding Jr. has done so with this
book." -- Dr. Maureen Murphy, Vice President,
Rappahannock Community College |
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Read Reviews below and Click Book Jacket to Buy this Book on line at Northern Neck Heritage Tours $13.95 plus S&H |
Read Reviews below and Click Book Jacket to Buy this Book on line at Northern Neck Heritage Tours $10.95 plus S&H |
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"Well written and sculptured, easy and enjoyable to read and not likely to be soon forgotten." -- Sherm Pratt, Korean War Veterans Assoc. Graybeards "A story about war and grinding poverty, and a soldier who endured and suffered both." -- John O. Marsh, Jr., former Secretary of the Army "Shortchanged" tells the story of a young man who can't seem to get a break. As his life passes in front of him , we get glimpses into his rural Virginia past that seem to at once comfort him and haunt him. We must wait, as he does, to find out if he will continue to be "shortchanged". -- Amazon.com reader review John H. Harding,Jr. has drawn upon his own growning up in the Northern Neck of rural Virginia to create a memorable word picture of how a young man finds solace in flashbacks of his youth while dying in a foxhole in Korea. His story is told in a simple direct style suitable for the setting and the youth's encounters there. It is in his recounting his memories that we get to know him, his family, and the neighbors that cared about his well-being. We sense his fears and his puzzlement of being hit by friendly fire after only five weeks as a driver in Korea and the ending that appears eminent. This is a book that gives credence to the following quote from it. Page 112 "------There is no glory in war, only pain for those who live as well as those who die." Everyone is Shortchanged. -- Amazon.com reader review |
A realistic picture of life for the minority poor in the last century unfolds through retold conversations about a locality, a fishing industry, and two wars. This book is a fictionalized biography of Alvin Wormley, an actual person, a remarkable black man who was born the son of a poor tenant farmer in the rural south of 1912. Alvin faced life's perplexities in a segregated society. Through good times and bad he accepted life as it was offered. An honest and sincere man, he lived without malice until his return from army service in World War II. It was only then that he questioned riding in the back of the bus. "Dr. Harding's reconstructed conversations with Alvin capture a time and place long vanished, but more than that, give us the opportunity to get to know a remarkable man whose voice might otherwise have been lost forever ... a compelling story." -- Ron Carter, Associate Professor of English, Rappahannock Community College "Dr. Harding presents a powerful verbal portrait of living with insult, pain
and anger in the raw, real rural south. From beneath the 'pine tree,'
conversations with 'Stack' provide vicarious exposures to life through the
extraordinary perceptions of an ordinary man." -- T. Wright Morris, Pastor,
Shiloh Baptist Church
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