| ______________________________________________________________________________________ Purchase Books By JAMES RADA, JR. _____________________________________________________________________________ |
| October Mourning |
| Between Rail and River |
| The Rain Man |
| Canawlers |
In October 1918, World War I was winding down, but the world had yet to face the deadliest killer
known. Spanish Flu would devastate the world.
In Cumberland, Maryland, Dr. Alan Keener, a young doctor fresh from medical school, suspects the flu
has reached Allegany County. He wants to take steps to prevent its spread, but he is met with resistance
from old-school doctors who believe that the flu’s deadliness is overblown and easily treated.
They soon learn differently as the flu begins to spread throughout the county. No one is safe from its
effects.
A street preacher named Kolas aids the flu’s spread. During the delirium caused with his own bout with
the flu, he believes he was anointed as the wrath of God and must spread to the flu to bring God’s
retribution on the world.
As Alan races along with other doctors trying to find some vaccine that works, he must deal with
overwhelming sickness in the county. Nearly half of the residents have the flu and many are dying.
Nurses and doctors are already in short supply because many are serving in the war. It becomes a critical
shortage now as many fall sick with the flu themselves and those left have a workload that would be
overwhelming even if there had been no shortage.
The fight becomes personal for Alan as his daughter and then his wife fall victim to the flu. Can he find a
treatment to keep them alive or will they become one of the millions who are dying?
Read the reviews for October Mourning here.
known. Spanish Flu would devastate the world.
In Cumberland, Maryland, Dr. Alan Keener, a young doctor fresh from medical school, suspects the flu
has reached Allegany County. He wants to take steps to prevent its spread, but he is met with resistance
from old-school doctors who believe that the flu’s deadliness is overblown and easily treated.
They soon learn differently as the flu begins to spread throughout the county. No one is safe from its
effects.
A street preacher named Kolas aids the flu’s spread. During the delirium caused with his own bout with
the flu, he believes he was anointed as the wrath of God and must spread to the flu to bring God’s
retribution on the world.
As Alan races along with other doctors trying to find some vaccine that works, he must deal with
overwhelming sickness in the county. Nearly half of the residents have the flu and many are dying.
Nurses and doctors are already in short supply because many are serving in the war. It becomes a critical
shortage now as many fall sick with the flu themselves and those left have a workload that would be
overwhelming even if there had been no shortage.
The fight becomes personal for Alan as his daughter and then his wife fall victim to the flu. Can he find a
treatment to keep them alive or will they become one of the millions who are dying?
Read the reviews for October Mourning here.
$15.95
trade paperback
170 pages
trade paperback
170 pages
As the Fitzgeralds struggle to make it through the winter of 1862-1863 after a poor year of boating on the C&O
Canal, the Civil War draws ever closer to being fought aboard the Freeman. George Fitzgerald’s unexpected
return from the battles of the Civil War pits him against David Windover, an ex-Confederate spy, who now
works and lives with the Fitzgeralds
.
Alice Fitzgerald struggles to hold her family together as a vindictive sheriff and a haughty doctor’s wife work to
tear them apart. Tony, the street urchin from Cumberland, has found a life aboard the Freeman, but Sheriff Lee
Whittaker has other ideas for the ex-thief. Elizabeth is growing older and finding herself torn between the canal
and becoming a lady.
Together, the Fitzgeralds have met every obstacle, but how will they fare if the divisive forces around them
separate them?
Read the reviews for Between Rail and River here.
Canal, the Civil War draws ever closer to being fought aboard the Freeman. George Fitzgerald’s unexpected
return from the battles of the Civil War pits him against David Windover, an ex-Confederate spy, who now
works and lives with the Fitzgeralds
.
Alice Fitzgerald struggles to hold her family together as a vindictive sheriff and a haughty doctor’s wife work to
tear them apart. Tony, the street urchin from Cumberland, has found a life aboard the Freeman, but Sheriff Lee
Whittaker has other ideas for the ex-thief. Elizabeth is growing older and finding herself torn between the canal
and becoming a lady.
Together, the Fitzgeralds have met every obstacle, but how will they fare if the divisive forces around them
separate them?
Read the reviews for Between Rail and River here.
$17.95
trade paperback
295 pages
trade paperback
295 pages
The rain began on March 16, 1936, and with it came the pain.
Raymond Twigg hates the rain because it gives the Rain Man Power. It is a power to bring Raymond to his
knees or drive him to deadly action.
As the March 1936 rains bring the St. Patrick's Day Flood, the worst flood ever seen in Cumberland,
Maryland, it also unleashes the power of the Rain Man on the citizens of Cumberland.
While most of the police force is diverted trying to deal with the flooding in the city and the problems it is
causing, Sergeant Jake Fairgrieve is called out to investigate a murder. Murders are unusual in Cumberland, but
this one is more unusual than most. The dead man's head has been crushed on the left side with no apparent
weapon and the body is laid out on the street as if it was in a casket.
Jake throws himself into tracking this murder with no motive. The search keeps him from having to deal with
his own fears about the approaching flood until he comes face to face with the Rain Man.
With Jake trailing him, the Rain man turns from hunted to hunter. He kidnaps Jake's girlfriend, Dr. Chris
Evans. In order to save Chris, Jake will have to face his own fears and the Rain Man in the flooded streets of
Cumberland where the Rain Man is at his most powerful.
Read the reviews for The Rain Man here.
Raymond Twigg hates the rain because it gives the Rain Man Power. It is a power to bring Raymond to his
knees or drive him to deadly action.
As the March 1936 rains bring the St. Patrick's Day Flood, the worst flood ever seen in Cumberland,
Maryland, it also unleashes the power of the Rain Man on the citizens of Cumberland.
While most of the police force is diverted trying to deal with the flooding in the city and the problems it is
causing, Sergeant Jake Fairgrieve is called out to investigate a murder. Murders are unusual in Cumberland, but
this one is more unusual than most. The dead man's head has been crushed on the left side with no apparent
weapon and the body is laid out on the street as if it was in a casket.
Jake throws himself into tracking this murder with no motive. The search keeps him from having to deal with
his own fears about the approaching flood until he comes face to face with the Rain Man.
With Jake trailing him, the Rain man turns from hunted to hunter. He kidnaps Jake's girlfriend, Dr. Chris
Evans. In order to save Chris, Jake will have to face his own fears and the Rain Man in the flooded streets of
Cumberland where the Rain Man is at his most powerful.
Read the reviews for The Rain Man here.
$14.95
trade paperback
156 pages
trade paperback
156 pages
Hugh Fitzgerald proudly calls himself a “canawler.” He works on the C&O Canal transporting coal nearly 185
miles between Cumberland, Maryland and Georgetown. For nine months a year, he and his family live on their
canal boat, working hard to get them through the lean winter months.
The year 1862 was a hard year to live on the canal, though. The Civil War was in full swing and the canal, which
runs long the Potomac River, marked the border between the Union and Confederacy. To this point, the
Confederacy has stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the offensive and take
the war into the north.
Not only are the Fitzgeralds’ lives endangered by the increased activity of warring army and raiders on the canal,
but the Fitzgeralds’ secret activity as a stop along the Underground Railroad only endanger their lives all the more.
Then fate takes Hugh away from his family, leaving his wife, Alice, to hold the family together. With the help of
her children Thomas, George and Elizabeth; Tony, an orphan from Cumberland; and David Windover, a
disillusioned Confederate soldier, they will face the dangers presented by the war, nature and the railroad together.
Read the reviews for Canawlers here.
miles between Cumberland, Maryland and Georgetown. For nine months a year, he and his family live on their
canal boat, working hard to get them through the lean winter months.
The year 1862 was a hard year to live on the canal, though. The Civil War was in full swing and the canal, which
runs long the Potomac River, marked the border between the Union and Confederacy. To this point, the
Confederacy has stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the offensive and take
the war into the north.
Not only are the Fitzgeralds’ lives endangered by the increased activity of warring army and raiders on the canal,
but the Fitzgeralds’ secret activity as a stop along the Underground Railroad only endanger their lives all the more.
Then fate takes Hugh away from his family, leaving his wife, Alice, to hold the family together. With the help of
her children Thomas, George and Elizabeth; Tony, an orphan from Cumberland; and David Windover, a
disillusioned Confederate soldier, they will face the dangers presented by the war, nature and the railroad together.
Read the reviews for Canawlers here.
| Out of Print |
| Looking Back: True Stories of Mountain Maryland |
How much do you know about life in the Maryland mountains?
Do you know that a Russian prince once worked as a priest in Cumberland?
Have you heard the story about the German POW camp near Flintstone during WWII?
Do you know about the mining wars that were fought to try and unionize the coal mines in the Georges Creek
Region?
Do you know the story about Cumberland's only lynching?
Have you heard the story about the baseball game played between the Cumberland Colts and the New York
Yankees?
These are the stories of Mountain Maryland that have been told over the years in James Rada, Jr.’s award-
winning Looking Back column in the Cumberland Times-News. Now, in this first collection of history articles
from Rada, you’ll get not only his Looking Back columns, but articles from Allegany Magazine and other
publications. Some of them have been updated with new information that Rada uncovered since their initial
publication.
Read the reviews for Looking Back here.
Do you know that a Russian prince once worked as a priest in Cumberland?
Have you heard the story about the German POW camp near Flintstone during WWII?
Do you know about the mining wars that were fought to try and unionize the coal mines in the Georges Creek
Region?
Do you know the story about Cumberland's only lynching?
Have you heard the story about the baseball game played between the Cumberland Colts and the New York
Yankees?
These are the stories of Mountain Maryland that have been told over the years in James Rada, Jr.’s award-
winning Looking Back column in the Cumberland Times-News. Now, in this first collection of history articles
from Rada, you’ll get not only his Looking Back columns, but articles from Allegany Magazine and other
publications. Some of them have been updated with new information that Rada uncovered since their initial
publication.
Read the reviews for Looking Back here.
$14.95
trade paperback
154 pages
trade paperback
154 pages
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