Blue Bicycle Books

Join us Fri., Feb. 15, 5 pm as Adam Parker will be here to discuss his new book Outside Agitator (Hub City Press, pb., 240 pp., $18).

In 1968 state troopers gunned down black students protesting the segregation of a South Carolina bowling alley, killing three and injuring 28. The Orangeburg Massacre was one of the most violent moments of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, and only one person served prison time in its aftermath: a young black man by the name of Cleveland Sellers Jr. Many years later, the state would recognize that Sellers was a scapegoat in that college campus tragedy and would issue a full pardon.

Outside Agitator is the story of a Sellers’ early activism: organizing a lunch counter sit-in as a 15-year-old in the tiny South Carolina town of Denmark, registering voters in Alabama and Mississippi, refusing the Vietnam War draft, serving as national program director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and working alongside 1960s civil rights icons Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr., H. Rap Brown and Malcolm X. It’s also the story of his lifelong struggle to overcome the Orangeburg incident and his slow crawl to justice. Adam Parker’s incisive biography is about a proud black man who refuses to be defeated, whose tumultuous life story personifies America’s continuing civil rights struggle.

Adam Parker earned degrees in music, then spent a decade in the business world before going back to school to earn a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. He taught journalism as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston and soon landed a job at The Post and Courier. At the newspaper, he worked as a copy editor, metro editor, general assignment reporter, restaurant critic and religion reporter, arts writer and more. A long-time student of the civil rights movement and race in America, he has written extensively about the African-American experience. Outside Agitator is his first book.

Join us Sat., Feb. 2, 5 pm as Mickey Dubrow will be here to discuss his new novel American Judas (SFK Press, pb., 344 pp., $17).

American Judas is a dystopian tale about a young couple’s life after opportunistic U.S. politicians abolish the wall of separation between Church and State. Seth and Maggie Ginsberg do their best to navigate an oppressive theocracy where fundamental Christianity is the only legal religion, and abortion, homosexuality, and adultery are outlawed. When a co-worker outs Seth as a Jew, Seth escapes to Mexico, while Maggie is sent to a Savior Camp. American Judas mixes political satire, suspense, and family drama.

Mickey Dubrow is passionate about telling stories with fresh, entertaining perspectives. He wants readers to feel excitement, sympathy, amusement, joy, and maybe even a little anxiety when they read his novels. In American Judas, he explores, among other possibilities, lost faith in America and what this might mean for the freedoms we cherish so much. As a freelance writer and producer for television, Mickey’s clients include CNN, Cartoon Network Marketing, and SRA/McGraw Hill.

Join us Tues., Jan. 15, 5:30 pm as Chris Covert will tell us the story behind his new book Never Missed (Warren Publishing, pb., 254 pp., $16), about his father Mark, a world-class long-distance runner who ran every day for exactly forty-five years.

What started as a hobby quickly became a life’s passion and a legacy for Mark Covert, holder of the second-longest running streak in history. He covered an astonishing 159,000 miles during the 16,436 consecutive days he kept The Streak alive. From his first national championship, to competing in the 1972 Olympic trials wearing the first pair of Nike shoes, Mark’s story is one of toughness, perseverance, and unwavering dedication to the sport of running.

Chris has spent fifteen years working with collegiate and professional athletes. A graduate of California State University, Fullerton and a student of Ken Ravizza, he has worked with athletes in High School, the NCAA [baseball, softball, football, soccer, cross country, and track & field], MLB, PGA, and NFL. As a former Head Coach at the NCAA level, he has worked with over 175 First Team All-Americans and over 250 All-Conference Athletes, along with being named a 9x Conference and Regional Coach of the Year. Chris now lives in Charleston and works as a motivational consultant.

Join us Thurs., Jan. 17, 5 pm as renowned architect Frank Harmon discusses his new book of sketches Native Places: Discovering a Way to See (ORO Edition, hb., 168 pp., $25).

Native Places is a collection of 64 watercolor sketches paired with mini-essays about architecture, landscape, everyday objects, and nature. The sketches relate the delight found in ordinary places. The short essays, rather than repeat what is visible in the sketch, illustrate ideas and thoughts sparked by that image and offer a fresh interpretation of ordinary things.

The goal of Native Places is, in part, to transform the way we see. Through its pages, barns become guidebooks to crops and weather; a country church is redolent of the struggle for civil rights and human dignity; and a highway rest stop offers a glimpse of egalitarian society.

Frank Harmon, FAIA, has designed sustainable modern buildings across the Southeast for 30 years. A graduate of the Architectural Association in London, Frank is a professor at the North Carolina State University College of Design. He has also taught at the Architectural Association and has served as a visiting critic at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Auburn University’s Rural Studio.

Join us Sat., Oct. 27, 12 pm for lunch at Halls Signature Events (5 Faber St.), as Patti Callahan discusses Becoming Mrs. Lewis (Thomas Nelson, hb., 416 pp., $26).

Tickets are $32 for the three-course luncheon, or $60 to add a signed copy of the book.

Get tickets here.

At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story. When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.

Patti Callahan (Patti Callahan Henry) is a New York Times bestselling author. Patti was a finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, has been an Indie Next Pick, twice an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year. Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work and Georgia State University for her graduate degree. The mother of three children, she lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband.