THE CHESAPEAKE: Country Cornpone Cornucopia

by Ken Rossignol, Larry Jarboe, Fred McCoy

The fifth book in the series of short stories of and about people in and around the Tidewater Chesapeake region - along with a few stories from other regions when the writers travel or deployed overseas. Lots of history and humor and a perfect way to pass time in front of a roaring fire or on a beach or promenade deck. Fans of Readers Digest will enjoy the variety as the authors work hard to entertain the reader, from the writers of THE CHESAPEAKE, THE SOLOMON'S ISLANDER, and THE BLUE CRAB.

Genres: Nonfiction, Anthologies

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 30, 2017

About the author

Writing in true crime, maritime history and cruise thrillers occupies most of Ken Rossignol's time.
As a maritime history speaker, Rossignol enjoys meeting audiences around the world and discussing the original news stories of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and other maritime history topics.
In recent years Rossignol has appeared on dozens of ships in the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean discussing the stories of the heroes of the Titanic, the explorations of the new world voyagers, the Bermuda Triangle and the history of piracy.
Rossignol appears at the Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and Branson, Missouri for book signings and to talk with visitors about the RMS Titanic.
He has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC 20/20; ABC World News Tonight and in a 2012 production of Discovery Channel Investigation Motives & Murders Series, A Body in the Bay.
News coverage of Rossignol’s landmark civil rights case, represented by Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz re: United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Rossignol v Voorhaar, 2003, included articles in most major news outlets, as well as a column by syndicated columnists James J. Kilpatrick.
The story of the St. Mary's Today newspaper is now available in ebook and paperback: The Story of THE RAG! The book includes nearly 200 editorial cartoons that appeared over the years.
A strong highway safety advocate, Rossignol also publishes the DWIHitParade.com which focuses on impaired driving and the monthly publication, The Chesapeake.
News coverage of Rossignol’s DWIHitParade won an Emmy in 2012 for WJLA reporter Jay Korff and coverage of the St. Mary’s Today newspaper by WUSA reporter Bruce Leshan was awarded an Emmy in 2000.

Reviews

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection starts out wonderfully, with a story about an amazing baseball player who just happened to have only one arm. What skill this player had! (Truly, a touching story.)

From there, I got to read a wide variety of stories that have to do with the Chesapeake area. Most are pretty interesting.

I was happily surprised to find some little diamonds in the rough; in particular some articles by Ed Laney really brightened my day. One such article is called “Happiness is Doing God's Will”, in which the writer shares about the felicity of being a Christian, another is called “Dreams and Goals”.

Some of the stories I could even see as being fun to read aloud to your children or grandkids. Not quite everything in the collection would be appropriate, but there are a few that are definitely worth sharing.

Note: There may be a small amount of mild language found in this book.

A great volume for anyone interested in maritime reading or the Chesapeake area.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very hard review for me to write. So I have attempted to back off and coldly review it without getting too personal. Why? I’ve personally known the author for many years, have read most of his books and reviewing many of them. So what is different this time? Because one of the stories included I wrote in an email to Ken. I enjoy writing and often write short stories of my own life for friends reading, usually in emails, and long ago told Ken he could use them any way he wished. I also either know of or have met many of the others contributing “storytellers” in this book. All have extensive knowledge of Southern Maryland and it’s surrounding water; the Bay, Rivers and of course the Potomac as well as the land mass all that water borders and touches.

This book, as are all of Ken Rossignol’s books, is a very easy read, but this is one of his series that the reader can easily read a chapter and then lay it down to be picked up at their next spare time, or even weeks or months later. That’s because it is filled with short stories, each complete in its telling. That’s a bit rare today in most books which must be entirely finished to obtain the story. And sadly, today most books seem to be part of a series to come leaving the reader hanging and raising the probability they will purchase that author’s next book. The subject matter of this book is vast, entertaining, colorful and spans many areas of Southern Maryland, life there, or displaced Southern Marylanders. If you are taking a trip and need something you can pick up, lay down, and return to then this is a super book to carry along for your reading enjoyment, a good chuckle, and time passer while riding, waiting for others at an amusement park, or before bed. I’m sure many readers will thumb through certain chapters because they simply may not be into that particular subject matter, but I assure you there will be enough other chapters to maintain your enjoyment of this book. In fact, I wish I had had this book, or one written in this style to have carried when I was younger. Instead, I used to carry the Reader’s Digest to fill that purpose.

I wholeheartedly recommend this as a great traveling companion book, or for a real insiders look into Southern Maryland, a beautiful section of our nation, near our capital city and one of the earliest settlements by Europeans in this nation which became the state of Maryland. So pick one up and enjoy some honest stories, a few tall tales and peeps into So. Md.’s politics. And yes my own small contributing story was completely truthful!

David B. Wright