March to the Sea, Sherman’s March told by the soldiers that fought it | paperback 280pp, $24.99 | published November 2022

Robert W. Rudy of Cleveland, Ohio, was an ardent Civil War enthusiast and amateur historian who relished this lifelong passion, having gotten the bug when he met an aging veteran as a small boy. He spent many vacations touring battlegrounds with Jane, his good sport wife of 45 years. Bob knew soldiering. He enlisted in the Army at 17 and served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne during WWII, opting for an extended stay in Italy at war’s end. In the late 1990s he enjoyed serving as a host on AOL’s Mason-Dixon chat room where he sparked as many lively discussions as he made good friends. It was then, during retirement, that he began writing this story.

Carol Rudy Ludwick is a certified Lifecycle Celebrant (custom ceremony creator) and actor living in Evanston, IL with her husband, David, and their tabby cats, Merlin and Arthur. She has been a practicing storyteller for nearly 20 years, honing her craft through writing, acting and photography. Her father so savored the process of writing this book that he was reluctant to finish it. She used to chide him that he better hurry up, she didn’t want to have to do that for him posthumously. Doing so, however, has been a privilege and she is deeply honored to have been his collaborator.