Dear Editor

by Jay MacLeod

Russell M. Waters is a substitute high school teacher. He has had a rough year. One of his sons has recently gone to prison. The other plans to move far away. His estranged wife is petitioning for a divorce. In September he gets a call to cover classes over the course of an entire school year. Russ undertakes a campaign of public improvement, beginning with the letters page of the local newspaper.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 24, 2011

About the author

A Rhodes scholar, Jay MacLeod holds degrees in social studies and theology. He and his wife, Sally Asher, spent four years in Mississippi, where their work with local teenagers led to the publication of Minds Stayed On Freedom: The Civil Rights Struggle In The Rural South, An Oral History.

MacLeod is now an Anglican priest in Chesterfield, a declining mining and market town in Asher's native England. Combining Christian ministry with community work, MacLeod still plays streetball, or tries to. His working-class parish is one of the most ethnically diverse square miles in Britain, and MacLeod works closely with members of the local mosques to engage disaffected teenagers and to foster friendships across the lines of race and religion.