Journeys | Jody Ferguson Blog

John Graham Patterson was a great uncle on my mother’s side. He was affectionately known by most as “Uncle Johnnie.” Johnnie was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1912. A Harvard graduate, he was on his way to a successful career in advertising when America was drawn into the war. Despite being thirty years old and a father, Johnnie answered the call and joined the Navy, receiving an officer’s commission in 1942. He commented to his wife Betty in a letter about his colleagues, “I

Benn Steil wrote this timely piece about the magnanimous, yet strategically astute, European Recovery Program, known popularly as the Marshall Plan. Not wanting to associate himself fully with the program, Truman coined the term after his senatorial Secretary of State, retired General of the Army, George C. Marshall. Truman made the fateful decision to aid anti-communist forces in Greece and Turkey as those two nations were plunged into vicious civil wars in the chaotic month

Well researched and well-written account of the attempt by Harry Truman to bring peace to China in the years after WWII. Unable to comfortably repatriate large numbers of US troops who occupied large swathes of northeastern China at the war's end, Truman dispatched America's foremost soldier George C. Marshall to try to bring the warring sides together. Marshall, who had recently led the United States to its greatest triumph over Germany and Japan, had retired from the Army o

While recently watching the Netflix series “The Crown” I was delighted to see a segment where Queen Elizabeth, in a Christmas address to the British people, reads a passage from the book “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” The book, written in the 17th century by the Englishman John Bunyan, is a fantastic account of Heaven, written as an allegory. The main character of my novel, Above the Water, is a young man named Harry. He is drawn to “The Pilgrim’s Progress” thanks to the influence

If you read any of my other blogs connected to the Mediterranean you know that when I get around, I want to see the history of the region...

One of the unique lost treasures of old Austin was the baseball diamond known as Clark Field that sat directly across the street from DKR...

At the beginning of baseball season each year in April there are no shortage of tributes to Jackie Robinson...

For well over three hundred years the currency of choice in East and Southeast Asia was the Mexican Silver Dollar...

In the opening pages of my novel, Above the Water, the protagonist Harry engages in dialogue..,

The USO tours that Bob Hope undertook during three consecutive American wars in the mid-20th century...

After the Russian Revolution and the subsequent civil war ended in 1922, large numbers of pro-Tsarist Russians fled abroad to escape...

A painter that I greatly admire is Tom Lea, a native Texan who lived all his life in El Paso.

Austin author, Jody Ferguson will be speaking about his novel, Above the Water at the March 2, 2021 Headliners Book Club

Holiday traditions are what make Christmas special. Every year growing up, we knew where we would be, who we would see, and what we would be

Seventy-six years ago in December 1944, during one of the coldest winters in recorded European history, U.S. service men and women hunkered down under greatcoats and tried to make the best of a difficult Christmas far from home. The Germans began a bloody offensive on Dec. 16 in Belgium, culminating in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. In the Pacific theater of war, Marines, sailors, and soldiers celebrated Christmas as best they could while continuing offensive o

Tomorrow will mark the 121st game between Army and Navy on the gridiron. They have met every year since 1890, apart from two separate two-year breaks during World War I and in the late 1920s. This year they will play at West Point, in spite of the global pandemic. Even at the height of World War II, the game was played. The game on Dec. 2, 1944, will go down as one of the most momentous college football games ever to take place. No. 1 Army vs. No. 2 Navy. Army was undefeated

This weekend will see the renewal of a heated college football rivalry dating back to 1894. The Texas Longhorns travel to Fayetteville to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. I will be traveling with a group of Texas fans to see the game in person this year. During my childhood I was witness to many epic games between the two at Memorial Stadium here in Austin, including the last game coached by two legendary coaches Darrell Royal and Frank Broyles in 1976. Royal and Broyles were on

For most Americans the day WWII began is December 7th, 1941. While the attack was one of the most devastating to ever occur on American soil

it is amazing how much Roman infrastructure has remained in use for two thousand years.

Dalmatia is littered with Roman ruins (including one of the world’s largest Roman colosseums), Italian churches, Medieval walled