Momentary Anger by J. David Woodard

About the book

This story is a fictional retelling of actual events that took place in Alabama in the early months of 1965. Cole Graham appears to be a successful journalist, but in the eyes of his wife he is far from the ideal of a husband, businessman and journalist. In part to satisfy her, and for his own satisfaction as well, Cole embarks on a crusade to achieve success in his career.

Cole's editor, mentor and father figure, Walter Lewis, assigns him to the local racial desegregation story. He watches as a young black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, is arrested at the lunch counter of a neighborhood Woolworth's store. For Cole the story is a kind of catharsis for his own childhood memories of growing up in Decatur, Alabama, and finding himself part of the problem Jackson is trying to rectify.

As Cole wrestles with his personal life he befriends Jimmie Lee's pastor, Amos Cottonreader, who is involved in a minor traffic incident with Cole's car. At the same time, he is assigned an intern by the editors of the Nashville Herald, the beautiful and brash Candice Monroe. He finds himself telling her about his past and future ambitions as they travel to cover stories. Cole is drawn to Candice because she encourages him in his ambition.

Cole follows Jimmie Lee through the wonderful and terrible events in Birmingham, Selma and Marion, Alabama. In Selma he witnesses the beating of a civil rights pastor, and attends a church service where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. exhorts his followers to seek nonviolent change.

Cole's personal and professional excitement is tempered when he discovers his wife's infidelity in his absence. He becomes more involved with Candice as a result, and begins to struggle with how to resolve his personal dilemmas in the midst of historic events.

The stories he must write in Alabama allow him little time for reflection. In a night march, he is assaulted by white vigilantes, and Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot, and later dies. Civil rights leaders want to take the body to Montgomery, to place it on the Statehouse steps, but the family will not allow it. After his death, Jimmie Lee's aunt asks Cole to write about the life of her nephew. Cole agrees, but leaves the newspaper to save his marriage.

Thirty years later, Cole is surprised to learn he has a daughter by Candice. His reunion with her encourages him to make good on his promise and close the door on a painful past. The meeting leads to his telling of the life and death of Jimmie Lee Jackson.

About the author

J. David Woodard (Ph.D. Vanderbilt University) holds the Thurmond Chair of Government at Clemson University, where he has taught political science for over twenty years. He has also held appointments at Auburn and Vanderbilt University. Besides being an author of books on political conservatism and American politics, with a special focus on the American South, he is a political consultant for candidates seeking elective office. This is his first fictional work.