Local Authors Featured at Moon Lake Library in November

The Rev. Roy G. Pollina, Author of “Justified by Her Children: Deeds of Courage Confronting a Tradition of Racism”

On Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m., Father Roy Pollina will discuss his book “Justified by Her Children,” the story of the struggle to desegregate an Episcopal Church camp in Virginia in 1958. When the bishop declared that the camp would admit all races, there was resistance in some local congregations. However, the teenagers of Christ Church in Martinsville, backed by their young priest, pushed for all races to be admitted to camp, despite being dismissed as naive and told to leave such matters to the adults. The book was awarded the Illumination Christian Book Award in 2022.

Since the time Roy Pollina was chosen to lead the prayers at his kindergarten graduation, through the years as a choir boy and an acolyte, he dreamed of becoming a priest. After receiving his B.A. at Northern Illinois University in 1973 and his M.Div. (master of divinity) from the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in 1985, Pollina was ordained a deacon in that same year and a priest in 1986 by the bishop of Louisiana. After 30 years of leading congregations, he retired from Christ Church in Martinsville, Virginia. His first book, “To Bless a Child,” was published by Morehouse Publishing, in 2009.

He and his wife, Susan, have two grown children, a daughter, Amity, a son Roy, and twin teenage grandsons, Matthew and Dominic. Roy and Susan enjoy their 6.5 heavily wooded acres in the mountains of northern Georgia.

He continues to do Sunday services for local parishes when needed, including St. Joseph’s on-the-Mountain.

Jerry Ellis, Author of “Quote the Raven on the Ferris Wheel”

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m., Jerry Ellis will discuss his latest book, “Quote the Raven on the Ferris Wheel,” which debuted as a #1 New Release in Native American Religions and Spirituality. The story/book, a thriller, is being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

A Fort Payne native of Native American heritage, Ellis was the first person in the modern world to walk, in reverse, the 900-mile route of the Trail of Tears from Oklahoma to Alabama. His resulting book, “Walking the Trail: One Man’s Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears,” was nominated by Random House for a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Published in three languages, it has been read by almost 1 million people.

Ellis has lectured about his life-altering trek in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States. The book is required reading in some schools in the U.S. and Germany. Having written 10 books, the author has been published in “The New York Times” and has had five plays produced.

Ellis is also a Native American folk artist who makes masks, pipes, blowguns, and tomahawks. His creations have been displayed in galleries from Maine to Oregon, and some of them will be displayed for sale at the book signing.