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Twice a Slave II: The Apostle to the Opelousas
Randy Willis tells the epic story based on his own ancestors, that gives Native American history a new face.
The story of Joseph Willis begins at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and ends as America is threatened by Civil War. Joseph Willis' life is a story of triumph over tragedy and victory over adversity!
• He was born into slavery. His mother was Cherokee and his father a wealthy English plantation owner.
• His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance (which would have made him the wealthiest plantation owner in all of Bladen County, North Carolina in 1776).
• He fought as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War under the most colorful of all the American generals, Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox.
• His first wife died in childbirth, and his second wife died only six years later, leaving him with five small children.
• He crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez at the peril of his own life, riding a mule!
• He entered hostile Spanish-controlled Louisiana Territory, when the dreaded Code Noir (Black Code) was in effect. It forbade any Protestant ministers who came into the territory from preaching.
• His life was threatened because of the message he brought to Spanish-controlled Louisiana!
• His own denomination refused to ordain him because of his race.
• Joseph Willis preached the first Gospel sermon by an Evangelical west of the Mississippi River.
• After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, he blazed a trail for others for another half-century that changed American history.
• His accomplishments are still felt today.
_______________________
The Birth of "Twice a Slave," the novel and the play.
Inspired by his grandmother, Lillie Hanks Willis, and his cousin Dr. Greene Wallace Strother, Randy Willis began researching and writing about Joseph Willis in 1981.
After writing Joseph Willis' biography and many articles on him, Randy Willis got the idea that the story of Joseph Willis would best be told as both a play and a novel from his friend and fellow researcher Dr. Sue Eakin. This is how the idea for "Twice a Slave" came about.
Randy Willis was often a guest lecturer, on the life of Joseph Willis, in Dr. Eakin's history classes at Louisiana State University at Alexandria. She specialized in Louisiana history, particularly the Old South plantation system. Dr. Eakin is best known for documenting, annotating, and reviving interest in the 1853 "Twelve Years a Slave," a slave narrative by Solomon Northup, a free man from New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Randy Willis helped Dr. Eakin with her research on William Prince Ford, who bought Solomon Northup and was an associate of Joseph Willis.
"Twelve Years a Slave" won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture. In his acceptance speech for the honor, director McQueen thanked Dr. Eakin: "I'd like to thank this amazing historian, Sue Eakin, whose life, she gave her life's work to preserving Solomon’s book.
At a meeting with Sammy Tippit, in 2012, in San Marcos, Texas, Randy Willis asked him if he would like to collaborate with him on a novel based upon the life of Joseph Willis. He later agreed.
The story of Joseph Willis begins at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and ends as America is threatened by Civil War. Joseph Willis' life is a story of triumph over tragedy and victory over adversity!
• He was born into slavery. His mother was Cherokee and his father a wealthy English plantation owner.
• His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance (which would have made him the wealthiest plantation owner in all of Bladen County, North Carolina in 1776).
• He fought as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War under the most colorful of all the American generals, Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox.
• His first wife died in childbirth, and his second wife died only six years later, leaving him with five small children.
• He crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez at the peril of his own life, riding a mule!
• He entered hostile Spanish-controlled Louisiana Territory, when the dreaded Code Noir (Black Code) was in effect. It forbade any Protestant ministers who came into the territory from preaching.
• His life was threatened because of the message he brought to Spanish-controlled Louisiana!
• His own denomination refused to ordain him because of his race.
• Joseph Willis preached the first Gospel sermon by an Evangelical west of the Mississippi River.
• After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, he blazed a trail for others for another half-century that changed American history.
• His accomplishments are still felt today.
_______________________
The Birth of "Twice a Slave," the novel and the play.
Inspired by his grandmother, Lillie Hanks Willis, and his cousin Dr. Greene Wallace Strother, Randy Willis began researching and writing about Joseph Willis in 1981.
After writing Joseph Willis' biography and many articles on him, Randy Willis got the idea that the story of Joseph Willis would best be told as both a play and a novel from his friend and fellow researcher Dr. Sue Eakin. This is how the idea for "Twice a Slave" came about.
Randy Willis was often a guest lecturer, on the life of Joseph Willis, in Dr. Eakin's history classes at Louisiana State University at Alexandria. She specialized in Louisiana history, particularly the Old South plantation system. Dr. Eakin is best known for documenting, annotating, and reviving interest in the 1853 "Twelve Years a Slave," a slave narrative by Solomon Northup, a free man from New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Randy Willis helped Dr. Eakin with her research on William Prince Ford, who bought Solomon Northup and was an associate of Joseph Willis.
"Twelve Years a Slave" won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture. In his acceptance speech for the honor, director McQueen thanked Dr. Eakin: "I'd like to thank this amazing historian, Sue Eakin, whose life, she gave her life's work to preserving Solomon’s book.
At a meeting with Sammy Tippit, in 2012, in San Marcos, Texas, Randy Willis asked him if he would like to collaborate with him on a novel based upon the life of Joseph Willis. He later agreed.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2014
5 people want to read
About the author
Randy Willis
23 books9 followersRandy Willis is an American novelist, biographer, rancher, and music publisher.
Randy Willis is the author of Destiny, Twice a Slave, Three Winds Blowing, Louisiana Wind, Beckoning Candle, The Apostle to the Opelousas, The Story of Joseph Willis, and many magazine and newspaper articles.
Randy Willis...novels about adventure, family, faith, and the character of men and women that touched generations.
Randy Willis is as much at home in the saddle as he is in front of the computer where he composes his western family sagas. Drawing on his family heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors, Randy carries on the tradition of loving the outdoors and sharing it in the adventures he creates for readers of his novels.
Website: http://threewindsblowing.com
Randy Willis is the author of Destiny, Twice a Slave, Three Winds Blowing, Louisiana Wind, Beckoning Candle, The Apostle to the Opelousas, The Story of Joseph Willis, and many magazine and newspaper articles.
Randy Willis...novels about adventure, family, faith, and the character of men and women that touched generations.
Randy Willis is as much at home in the saddle as he is in front of the computer where he composes his western family sagas. Drawing on his family heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors, Randy carries on the tradition of loving the outdoors and sharing it in the adventures he creates for readers of his novels.
Website: http://threewindsblowing.com
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