thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

As I've mentioned before, I get all manner of press releases requesting reviews of new books, some of which actually look interesting enough to tell my readers about. At other times, books will just arrive in the mail and, again, if they appear to be of interest to readers, I'll hold onto them and let you folks know about them. Space is limited so I can't justify doing a feature on each one, so here is a brief description of two recent deliveries:

"Precious Memories of the Pioneers and Veterans of Graham County," by Louise Huscusson Stewart, is about the people of Graham County, North Carolina. Stewart is a descendant of some of the earliest settlers and has a great passion for the veterans of her home county. Her late husband, Donald Stewart, was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.

Some of the names represented in the book are familiar Blount County names: Adams, Ammons, Buchanan, Cable, Campbell, Carpenter, Davis, Grindstaff, Jenkins and more. With the family ties of East Tennessee to Western North Carolina, the family lines most likely cross the state lines in many cases. The soft-cover book, published by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia Inc., Western North Carolina, contains 215 pages and is available from Louise Huscusson Stewart, 999 Ledbetter Road, Robbinsville, NC 28771 or by calling (828) 479-6888. Books are $20 each with $3 tax/shipping/handling for the first book, $1 for each additional book. Allow four to five weeks for delivery.

"The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America," by Lorri Glover (associate professor of early American history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville) and Daniel Blake Smith caught my attention at its very beginning. The book might not be for everybody, but if you have an interest in history, I think you'll enjoy it.

Historians Glover and Smith did extensive research to unveil the story of Jamestown, England's first American colony. They perused long-neglected historical documents to tell the factual story of the colony.

The book centers around the ship "Sea Venture," the pride of England's the Virginia Company. Onboard the ship were a mixture of passengers, including entrepreneurs, hucksters and young families who sailed from England in 1609 as part of a convoy to bring food, supplies and order to the faltering Jamestown colony.

A hurricane, however, tore the ship apart before it reached its destination, stranding the passengers on "the isle of devils" -- Bermuda. Somehow, all the passengers survived to reach the island but the ship was destroyed. A remnant eventually constructed boats from scraps of the "Sea Venture" and Bermuda cedar, arriving in Virginia only days before the Jamestown settlers would have starved to death.

You'll have to read the book (Henry Holt and Company/John Macrae Books, hard-cover, 304 pages) to find out what happened. It retails for $26. Check with your favorite book store for availability.

Linda Albert is Women's Times editor and a staff writer for The Daily Times. Her column runs every Sunday in the Women's Times section. You may contact her at 981-1168 or e-mail linda.albert@thedailytimes.com.