Plowman: Harvest of Grain and Innocence by Charles Bruckerhoff
War has been a fixture of human existence for as long as we’ve existed on this planet, and as difficult as it is to admit, this will probably never change. Conflict is inevitable, and over the course of American history we can clearly see the scars it has left behind. As with any phenomenon, however, there are always those looking to profit off it, and to do that, narratives are rewritten and circumstances reframed until these horrific conflicts are justified and glorified.
Thankfully, however, counter to these narratives is Plowman: Harvest of Grain and Innocence, a poignant story of war and the carnage it leaves in its wake written by author Charles Bruckerhoff. We got a chance to talk with the author about how his own military service influenced the novel, and what he hopes readers learn from the main protagonists, who represent far more than what readers might expect.
Q: Plowman is quite a departure from your other books, in particular your children’s books series, Adelyn’s Adventures. What inspired this shift in your writing?
A: While writing a novel was on my mind for many years, children’s books seemed like a good entry point, a genre as challenging as any, but without great length and wide-ranging depth across characters and time. I began writing the Adelyn’s Adventure series to give children interesting, fun and uplifting stories to read. Childhood, family life, wonder and belief in yourself and God are the prevailing themes.
Q: How did your own time in the military influence the story of Plowman?
A: At this point in time, all of my closest buddies from Vietnam have passed away. I knew their wives, children, parents, and remained in touch with them throughout the years. We never talked about our wartime experiences. Yet, for all of us, wondering what to make of our riveting, formative life together in the Vietnam war was a shadowy nightmare — day and night — ever since. Some veterans suffered terribly. Writing Plowman was not a therapy course for me, but a thoughtful journey through time and space endeavoring to make sense of America and our leaders’ continuing wrong wars. I came to the conclusion that these wars can only be understood in the framework of greed, power and arrogance.
Q: Let’s talk about your main characters, Stella and Hana. What made you choose people outside the realm of military service to be the main characters of this story?
A: Stella actually served as a helicopter pilot, but that’s later in the story. You’re correct, they are outside the realm of military service, on purpose. I created Stella and Hana as two devoted friends from childhood, with beautiful, close families, and living in their wholesome community. They represent the love, caring, honesty, fun, dedication, faithfulness and seriousness of American youth and family life. But real life is not a fairy tale. The girls become women, marry, bear children of their own, and know the incredible joy of human being, and also the horrible sorrows. They represent America’s future, and the best of her past.
Q: An important setting of the story is Stanton Academy for Humanity, renamed by the students as Sustainable Farming on Steroids. What significance and symbolism does plowing, harvesting and cultivation have in your story?
A: They are the bedrock of civilization. Neglect, disregard and ridicule of the “plowman” degrades human being, contaminates our soul, imperils our civilization.
Q: What do you hope readers learn from Plowman?
A: That readers think about family values, truth, honesty, the innocence of childhood, belief in a superior being, the Constitution of the United States and hold our leaders accountable for law and order.
Q: Do you have an upcoming project in mind? Is it closer to Adelyn’s Adventures, Plowman or something else entirely?
A: Yes, there are a couple projects in mind, in line with Plowman.
Charles Bruckerhoff started life in Augusta, Missouri in 1947, in a small clapboard house on the bluffs above The Big Muddy. He spent many days exploring the hills and valleys, fields and streams of the Ozark Mountain foothills.
At 19 he joined the United States Army and served in Vietnam. Returning to the USA in 1969, he went to college, studying English, literature, philosophy and research methods. In 1995, he created a firm, Curriculum Research and Evaluation, Inc. (www.creus.com) focused on the social and cultural life of poor children. He believes the best way to gain personal knowledge, social skills, moral behavior, spirituality and healing for children and adults is the real world, out the back door with friends.
Currently, Charles works as the author and publisher of Sequoia House Books. He also devotes time to shepherding the firm, now run by his lovely wife, Theresa, and to family life with four sons, six grandchildren, friends and neighbors. His hobbies include community service, artisan bread baking, gardening, traditional quilting, and studying American history, the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. He places no limit on new adventures.
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