This has not been a good spring for me, health-wise. I shouldn’t complain, as it is only bad allergies that went into an upper respiratory infection, but it almost sidelined me for a month. Losing one’s voice is definitely a detriment to a tour guide. I am feeling better now and am moving forward on my project.

Here’s what I have in the works:

• Maps of Spotsylvania through Cold Harbor– Is off to the printer. I doubt whether we will see it until 2023, but I think you will like it when it finally arrives. It is my eighth map book.
• The Antietam Paintings of James Hope– This full-color booklet featuring a study of James Hope’s wonderful Antietam panorama paintings (five) is now at the printer. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it comes out well.
• Maps of the Second Bull Run Campaign- I am back to this project. Believe it or not, the fighting on August 29 along the unfinished railroad cut may have been the most confusing and difficult of all of my map books.
• Lee’s Retreat/Meade’s Pursuit book- This will be Linda and my second volume in the Emerging Civil War Series. This one still needs a name, though. The text is complete (at least the first draft). Now, I am working on the tour and Linda is handling the illustrations. Dean Shultz, the Gettysburg icon, will be taking me along on a day-long journey following in Lee’s and Meade’s footprints. I hope my 72 year old body can keep up with Dean, even though he is a decade my senior.

Stay well and enjoy the nice weather!