Part 2 of the "Little Bit of Fun" Competition - An Interview With Jack C. Young

So here we are a week later with the second promised portion of the "Little Bit of Fun" competition, where I swing the bare glowing bulb over the head of regular Un:Bound reader/comment guy, Jack C. Young. I had a great time talking to Jack about his love for history and the Civil War (he's not a fan of war, I mean, well - hell you know what I mean), the different perspectives between Civil War writers, and of course a little bit about genre reading too!

It occurred to me that doing something like this - interviewing our readers - might make for a great regular feature. After all, one of the big goals behind Un:Bound is to be a place where we can all share and express out love for the written word, and as much as you know us through our writing, we'd love to get to know you a bit, too!

Anyway, that being said, on to the interview!

Chris: Jack, first of all thanks for agreeing to this and for saving me from having to read the Bible in Latin! So what made you pick Stories The Soldiers Wouldn't Tell? And have you read it yourself?

Jack: Yes I sure have read it. To start off, I've always been a major Civil War buff. Ever since I first read Bruce Catton's Mr. Lincoln's Army and the two sequels I never quite recovered. I love reading everything and anything about that pivotal conflict. It made the U. S. pretty much what it is today, for better or worse.

Btw, Hagelrat is indeed demonic! ;-) But it would be a lot less fun without her. (And which Latin version would you review: the Old Latin, The Clementine version of Jerome's text, or the reconstruction of his original, now called the "New" Vulgate? I'm glad to have stepped into the breech and prevented a real horror from taking place for you.

(ed. note - at this point I was in awe of Mr. Young's intelligence - more proof that the smartest people are Un:Bound people - myself excluded)

C: I liked how Stories Soldiers Wouldn't Tell... covered a section of the war you don't see in more standard histories. What nuggets of wisdom did you take away from the book?

J: I'd have to say that people of flesh and blood are, were, and will be the same, no matter what circumstances may hold.

Men and women are primarily sexual beings (whether or not they actually engage in whichever form of gratification they prefer). DNA has already seen to that. So if society officially denies them open freedom to perform they will "go underground" as did the drinkers during the prohibition madness (Get a veteran in his cups sometime and ask him how he got his kicks during whichever war. Nam and Iraqi vets may be less inhibited than a WWII vet might be).

C: Let's say I'm a newbie to the whole Civil War thing. Where's a good place to start learning about it?

J: Where to begin? That's a bit more difficult. I started with Catton, who was very pro-Union as he grew up in Michigan and lived surrounded by several vets of the Grand Army of the Republic. Shelby Foote might be good to start with because though he was brought up in Mississippi, he treats both sides fairly. His trilogy The Civil War reads much more slowly than Catton because he isn't as chatty (Catton wrote the way he spoke. You always had the impression that, somehow, he had an "inside track" with some long dead veterans. He really writes as though he'd been there). Civil War Times is another way to get into the history, trivia and the small details of the era.

C: I've heard great things about Shelby Foote's series, and recently picked up James McPhearson's Battle Cry of Freedom.

J: I liked BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM very much. It does cover the entire four years of the war concisely with sympathy for both sides. You might also try Robert Leckie's None Died in Vain: The Saga of the American Civil War. It's a bit faster paced than the McPhearson but unreels like a motion picture.

Also of interest, if you don't mind the sectionalism of the authors, are Catton's This Hallowed Ground (from the Northern point of view), and The Land They Fought For by Clifford Dowdy (outlining the Southern point of view). You'll find a lot here which doesn't make it into the general histories of the conflict.

C: OK, let's talk a little bit about your geek side: What brought you to Un:Bound originally? And tell us a little about your SF&F proclivities - who and what do you read when it comes to genre?

J: I've long been a follower of Dana's blog, Zhadi's Den. She's a great storyteller and a brilliant personality . When she started hosting the RR days on Adele's site I just had to "join up".I'm not at all sorry I did. I've come to like Adele/Hagelrat very much too. I've met several fascinating people (including Kate/Margery/Lana--whichever personality is ascendant at the moment) and have enjoyed their blogs as well.

What do I usually read?

I started with a small paperback from Washington Square Press titled Great Ghost Stories ( I was always interested in the supernatural. It probably stems from the fact that I was born about two hours after Hallowe'en, 1946). At least I can always blame the day--an ancient celebration/propitiation of the dead. For all I know I might be correct too!

Ghost Stories introduced me to the masters: M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, F. Marion Crawford, and several others. I began looking for others and eventually found them.

I saw all the Hammer remakes (especially HORROR OF DRACULA, starring Christopher Lee). This led me to Stoker's novel and I never recovered.

Then came George Romero and NOTLD and it's sequels. This is where Dana comes in: I first met her through HOMEPAGE OF THE DEAD. Her two stories there were head and shoulders above the other offerings and I wrote her an appreciative note through that site. She led me to Un:Bound and certain other favorite blogs of hers. The rest, as they say, "is history".

C: One last question: you have control of Un:Bound…what would you like to see more of? What should we cover that we're not?

J: WOW!!!

This is a very hard one for me. I'm not sure I COULD do a better job of organizing than you good people are already performing. I might probably concentrate more on SF and Fantasy but the site would not be as eclectic as it is currently. I'm convinced Adele and all of you are hitting the mark with what you are accomplishing.

Oh--I would still host the RR Days. So many people are having too much fun to allow that to die.

To sum it all up, I like Un:Bound just the way it is. If all of you should decide to change the format (for whatever reason) that will be all right with me as well. As long as the RR Days continue, that is. :-)

I have enjoyed this very much and am grateful that you and Adele have considered me worthy to participate in this way. May the ancient fannish gods Ghu and Foo always smile upon your efforts (See Sam Moskowitz's THE IMMORTAL STORM for more details on theis fannish "religion") .

And there you have it, folks. A class act all the way. And don't worry, Jack - I have a feeling RR isn't going anywhere - it's all we can do to contain it in one day!