Journeys | Jody Ferguson Blog

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.

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

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

For millennia Istanbul has sat at the crossroads of civilizations, religions, empires, trade routes, and vital sea lanes.

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

It is a book that leads the reader down a path leading to closed doors and blind alleys.

St. Petersburg is a jewel of a city. Its history is fascinating, beginning with the modernizer Peter the Great’s attempt to build a “Window

Reading (pronounced like the color 'Red') is a small town nestled in the Allegheny foothills of southern Pennsylvania.

Enjoy this Spotify companion Soundtrack to Above the Water

In the first half of the 20th century Shanghai was one of the grand destinations for luxury travelers. Of course, in those days before inter