Interviews, Profiles, and More
The Creative Nonfiction Podcast welcomes back Philip Gerard. Philip joined me nearly 120 episodes ago and it’s great to have him back to talk about his latest book The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina (University of North Carolina Press, 2019).
Philip Gerard And The Consequences Of Writing Cape Fear Rising
On this edition of CoastLine, we find out why Philip Gerard decided 25 years ago to uncover and document the secrets of the only known coup d’etat in the United States. We’ll find out why, despite warnings from his colleagues, he named names and forged ahead with the book, Cape Fear Rising. And we find out what he knows about the cost to him – and what he can only wonder about.
C-Span: Cape Fear Rising
Philip Gerard talked about his novel, Cape Fear Rising, about an 1898 insurrection in Wilmington, North Carolina. In the decades following the Civil War, Wilmington became destination for the middle class African American community, soon becoming the majority in the city and even holding public office. By 1898, the white minority in the city had had enough and planned a political coup d’etat.
C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2017 LCV Cities Tour” in Wilmington, North Carolina, from February 18-24 to feature the history and literary life of the community. Working with the Charter Communications cable local affiliate, they visited literary and historic sites where local historians, authors, and civic leaders were interviewed. The history segments air on American History TV (AHTV) on C-SPAN3 and the literary events/non-fiction author segments air on Book TV on C-SPAN2.
Philip Gerard’s Cape Fear Rising Reveals the Truth About the 1898 White Supremacist Coup in Wilmington, N.C
In today’s episode number 54, we meet Philip Gerard, author of Cape Fear Rising, the historical fiction book which was re-released this year on the 25th anniversary of its publication, because the truth in it remains a story that needs to be told, especially in a time when there are places in this world where white supremacists are still on the march.
CoastLine: Philip Gerard on why Civil War issues on race and civil rights are the seat of today's Great National Divide
Author Philip Gerard contends the incorrect and incomplete narrative surrounding the Civil War perpetuates the great partisan divide. Once the gunfire ended and North Carolina rejoined the Union, questions about civil rights and race should have been settled. But they weren’t. The battle still rages. How to move towards a more perfect union? Education, he says, is key.