GREENFIELD — Kurt Vetters’ fascination with the Civil War comes from growing up in the South — near Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to be precise– and his belief that the War Between the States was the watershed moment in American history.
“I don’t think we have moved past it,” Vetters said of the 1861-65 conflict, “and until we start to get a new understanding, we will never get past it.”
Vetters’ latest young-adult novel, “Freedom Spring,” a follow-up to his first book, “Confederate Winter,” takes steps to help bridge that gap.
While “Confederate Winter,” was written from the perspective of the south, Vetters said, “Freedom Spring” is written from the point of view of an African-American in the Union Army.
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Vetters’ circle of friends and acquaintances includes many Civil War buffs.
“But,” he said, “few of them know the saga in ‘Freedom Spring’ because they’ve never been exposed to the African-American point of view in that story.”
“Freedom Spring” tells the story of a young African-American soldier, 14-year-old Jim Coffee. Life is turned upside down as he journeys from slavery to joining the Union Army and eventually to freedom through the events that shaped our nation. Although the book is based on real history, the characters are all fictitious.
While working on the book, Vetters did his homework, traveling extensively throughout the South to research the locations mentioned in the narrative: to Fort Negley in Nashville, Tennessee; and to Mobile and Fort Henderson in Athens, Alabama. He recently learned, through an article in The New York Times, that an ancestor of Meghan Markle, who married England’s Prince Harry in May, fought in the battle of Fort Henderson.
Vetters’ book is available on Amazon in a paperback edition, on Kindle and through Audible.com as read by Vetters’s son, Jesse Vetters.
The younger Vetters, a member of the Screen Actors Guild in New York City, had experience recording audiobooks through the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), which made him an easy choice — and an easy hire — to narrate “Freedom Spring” for the audiobook version.
“It was a fun read and really well-researched,” Jesse Vetters said of his father’s latest literary creation.
But Amazon and Audible.com aren’t the only places to find Vetters’ books. Because they are historical fiction, his novels can also be found in museum stores and battlefield visitors’ centers throughout Alabama and Tennessee.
Vetters is both proud and honored that the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute recently reviewed the book and decided to carry it in its museum store, but he has an objective beyond just selling books.
“My goal is that I want young African-Americans to read this and know that their people had a profound effect on history, and they have a lot to be proud of,” Vetters said. “But I also want 75-year-old white guys to read it and know that even though they’ve considered themselves Civil War buffs all their lives, they were not exposed to a large, important chunk of history.”
