I was raised in Abraham Lincoln's Illinois backyard. This helped me develop a fascination and love of history. I've been a US Marine, a landscape designer, a reporter, a free-lance writer and retired as a history/English teacher. I've traveled to all 50 states and 50 countries.

My experiences encouraged and solidified my love of history. But, is history what has happened or what we perceive has happened? And if history is based on perception. Whose perception do we rely on? One of my first college professors taught me to always, always rely on multiple sources to understand an historical event. Even then, he insisted, there will inevitably be room for disagreement as well as expanded understanding.

History has never been black and white. History is not exactly fluid, then again neither is it rigid. In a word, history is a mystery. It is a labyrinth of competing recollections shaped by personality, prejudice, and predilection. History can be compelling. But it can also be frustrating and oft times horrifying. History is what we make it. We find the truth in history as best we can by relying on uncompromisingly honest historians.

To this end I have written the SNAKEBIT series - a well-researched story about Western Maryland neighbors who become both friends and enemies as they experience the Civil War and its Reconstruction aftermath. My purpose is to introduce the reader to historical people and events that have for too long been hidden from view. I wish to entertain, yes, but also to inform. In the process, readers will better understand the seemingly irreconcilable differences we face in American society today.

Feel free to contact me at Visions_PGH@hotmail.com

You might also visit my author’s page at https://www.johnponiske.com/