To Stand On Solid Ground: Author Event and Book Discussion

Authors G. Keith Parker and Leslie Borhaug will discuss their newest book, “To Stand On Solid Ground,” in the Transylvania County Library’s Rogow Room, Wednesday, August 30, at 12 p.m. Authors will be available after the reading to sign already-owned books. A small number of copies may be available for purchase at the event.

Published in 2020, the book has earned the Independent Press Award 2021 Distinguished Favorite, as well as the North Carolina Society of Historians 2020 Award of Excellence.

Based on real people and real events, “To Stand on Solid Ground” brings to life an unusual relationship between Confederate loyalists and Union sympathizers. More than merely a report of historical events, it transports the reader back in time to face the profound need to support each other in a time of intense polarity. It offers insight, lessons and hope fitting to modern-day political divisions.

Leslie Parker Borhaug attended Berea College, Kentucky, where she received her teaching degree. She taught sixteen years in North Carolina, half of those years with at-risk students, following her desire to positively impact struggling students. During this time, she was recognized as Transylvania County’s Teacher of the Year. Borhaug also received her Master’s in Reading and Literacy. Borhaug has published high-interest level, low-reading level books under the pen-name L.B. Tillit and established My Easy Read Books, LLC as a platform to promote reading fluency through providing engaging literature.

Keith Parker was born in Polk County, N.C. during the Great Depression while his family members were working at the Tryon Toy Makers. The current Transylvania County was home for the family over 200 years. He graduated from Brevard High School, Berea College, Southern Seminary, The C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland and did post-graduate studies at UNC Chapel Hill, The University of Heidelberg, Germany, in the Netherlands and the U.S. He holds B.A., B.D., Ph.D. and Dipl. Analytical Psychology degrees and served as a U.S. Naval officer in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD). He has published numerous articles in English and German in History, Church History, Psychology, Cherokee Studies and local Transylvania history. Two of his published books won awards from the North Carolina Society of Historians: Seven Cherokee Myths and Sons of Mercy and Justice: A Transylvania Story.