In a Small Pond

About the Book: A sweeping saga of historical significance including ethnocentricity and the philosophy of the struggle to attain a lifetime dream. A man's life and times from the years 1870 to 1961 is narrated. Charlie Stevens, an Anglo-Saxon, persuades an African-American friend to join him on his journey to California to escape the poverty and prejudice of East Tennessee. For five years they work their way westward; the journey often humorous and sometimes fearful of the Ku Klux Klan. Their ambition is to form a partnership to purchase the cheap land Los Angeles advertised during that period. Disappointed when they find their savings would purchase only a few acres, they both take jobs, Charlie as a Los Angeles fireman and Reuben goes to Bakersfield to work in the oil fields. They learn of some desert property they can afford in Fresno, they acquire it and plant a small vineyard. In spite of personal hardships; divorce, betrayal by employers, and prejudice against Reuben and his Mexican wife, they become one of the largest vineyard owners in California. This is an epic of love and friendship that transcends race, religion and politics; a wonderfully entertaining novel.