Author Name:
Richard D. Templeton
Book Title:
Across the Creek: Black Powder Explosions on the Brandywine
Link to book page on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Across-Creek-Powder-Explosions-Brandywine/dp/1735107905/
What is your book about?
The book tells the stories of the 235 men, women, and child who perished in the more than 290 explosions at the DuPont gunpowder plant in Northern Delaware, the first DuPont business in America. The searing stories tell of the tragedies of the workers who made the DuPont empire what it is today.
What inspired you to write your book?
As a tour guide/demonstrator at the Hagley Museum and Library, which is the original gunpowder mill of the DuPonts, I became enthralled with the stories of the workers who lost their lives in the production of gunpowder, which was the first business the DuPonts operated in America. I was drawn to the stories of the French, Irish, Italian and other families who populated the mills on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. Where they were from, how they got to America, and their lives, and deaths, as they produced the dangerous product that put the DuPont Company on the map.
What is a typical day like for you?
Lots of research online and in the Hagley Library, the local LDS family history center, local universities, and farther-flung repositories, coupled with writing/editing for a new book.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
Research. As a former police officer, I enjoy the detective work of finding nuggets of interest to use in my current efforts.
What are some favorite books you’d recommend to our readers?
Highly recommend anything by Erik Larson, especially Devil in the White City. I have just read Do Not Write a Book … Until You Read This One, an excellent manual for the novice or veteran author on how to write, edit, publish your own book. Also, I very highly recommend Daniel Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, which gave me the idea for the book I’m presently writing.
What advice do you have to offer our readers?
Read, read, read. Research everything you can find (within reason, of course!) on your subject matter, then focus on writing, then edit, edit, edit.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I was a Normal kid. Capitalized because that’s the name of the Illinois town where I grew up. Also, I call my career my ‘checkered past,” in that I have been (either paid or volunteered to be) a police officer, fire fighter, telecom analyst, pyrotechnician (who sets up fireworks shows), radio announcer, museum tour guide, chauffeur, warehouseman, and have jobs in several other professions.
What’s next for you?
I am currently researching and writing a book about Wayne Bidwell Wheeler, a major spokesperson and manager of the Anti-Saloon League in the early 20th century.
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