The release date of Memories of a Colonel is Friday, November 4, 2016. Written by James H. Phillips, a retired United States Army colonel, the original manuscript was completed in 1984 and placed in an album, where it remained until its discovery in the spring of 2016. The Colonel and his wife, Agnes, asked if I would be interested in transcribing the manuscript and editing it for publication by my then-new publishing business. Of course, I said yes, and on April 1 I began typing the first sentence, which was in the foreword: This text is dedicated to my wife, Agnes, and our three sons Jim, Ray, and Doug.
By October 1, I had ordered the final edit copy, and as of right now, that book is in the Colonel’s possession as he reads over my edited version of his words. So far, he and Agnes have liked what I have done with his memoir. Agnes, I have known, or known of, for many years; her husband was someone I had heard of but never had met formally. I can remember speaking to him only once before this spring, and that was in the late 1990’s when my mother and I walked into their sunroom, where the Colonel was watching a football game while his wife entertained the Chicot Trace Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in their parlor. He immediately jumped up, but we told him not to get up on our account, we were just looking to see the rooms in the beautiful home we always had admired. He was cordial, and I was a little in awe of this man who I had been told was a colonel. It was fifteen or more years before I would speak to him again. As someone who enjoys getting to know people, not just what they present superficially, but learning who they are, it has been gratifying that this door opened wide to me into the Colonel’s world.
Colonel Phillips, along with his wife, Agnes, will be at the reception honoring veterans at the Dallas County Museum on Sunday, November 6, following the Veterans Day ceremony at First Baptist Church at 2:00 pm.
The books will retail for $20 and will be available at the Dallas County Museum in Fordyce, Arkansas, as well as through Turtlehull Publishing. Proceeds from the sales will benefit the Dallas County Museum.