Overview

Situated on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Cape Charles was once a vibrant railroad town, serving as a vital hub for troop movements between the northern and southern states during World War II. Its placement on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, along with its fleet of ferries and fishing boats and its position among the farming communities of the Eastern Shore, made it a town of plenty in the lean times of rationing that occurred during the war-and a perfect place for a child to grow up. Glimpses of a Town takes the reader on a nostalgic, invigorating journey through Cape Charles with a child's-eye view-from playing in a swamp to jumping the railroad's coal chute to fishing the barrier islands that line Virginia's oceanfront. In this collection of vignettes, Patricia Parsons portrays life in Cape Charles during World War II and beyond. Using her own childhood memories and her family's life as a powerful touchstone, she follows the town's period of prosperity into a period of decline that transformed it from a bustling commercial center to a forsaken backwater-and back again. Recently, this historic town has experienced revitalization, rising from its own ashes to become a family-style tourist destination. Today, Cape Charles beckons you to explore-and see why it truly is a memorable town.

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9780578859811

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Reviews

In Glimpses of a Town, Pat Parsons reflects with warm nostalgia on her experiences growing up in a lovely and proud Victorian bayside village on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Her delightful portrayal of daily life during WWII, and of Cape Charles's struggle to survive the changing times, provide valuable insight into the history of the area. John M. Barber, Fellow, American Society of Marine Artists Pat Parsons's new book, Glimpses of a Town, speaks of her youth growing up in the Chesapeake Bay waterfront/railroad town on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Parsons's straightforward approach to storytelling and marvelous memory capture the very essence of small-town American life during the decades of the 1940s and 50s. Her tales make the reader long for those wonderful, simple days of youth. Although specific to the town of Cape Charles, her well-written stories will interest those near and far as her life memories are a reminder for many of their own lives growing up in small town America. . . . [W]ell worth reading! Larry Chowning, author of Harvesting the Chesapeake: Tools and Traditions; Chesapeake Legacy: Tools and Traditions; Chesapeake Bay Buyboats; Deadrise and Cross-planked; Barcat Skipper: Tales of a Tangier Island Waterman; and other books on the Chesapeake Bay

Author Information

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Patricia Joyce Parsons moved to Cape Charles, Virginia as an infant when her father's employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad transferred the family to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Growing up in Cape Charles, Pat experienced the carefree lifestyle of a small town juxtaposed against the hustle and bustle of wartime efforts flowing in and out of the Chesapeake Bay and the nearby Norfolk naval shipyards. Like many of her contemporaries, Pat left Cape Charles as the town began to dwindle in the post-war period. She attended Radford University, and subsequently found employment in Washington, DC, at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Air Transport Association. In 1963, Pat married Boston-born lawyer George Parsons, and together they moved to Richmond, Virginia as their family began to grow and the desire for a less complicated life began to emerge. In Richmond, Pat raised five children and has been a real estate agent for over twenty-six years. In her spare time, she has volunteered as a French teacher for the Lifelong Learning Institute of Chesterfield County and served on the boards of the Oxford Civic Association and the Richmond Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters. Pat has always had an interest in writing. She was published in the 'Radford Review' and periodically contributes to civic publications, but somehow, the business of raising a large family left little time to write. She considers herself an accidental author. Beginning with a memoir for her family (which she had no intention of publishing), Pat stumbled across the idea for her first published book, 'Glimpses of a Town.' In returning to her hometown to research her original memoir, Pat realized through conversations with current residents that she possessed a historical memory of Cape Charles that had never been published. She decided to use her vivid memories to bring the town and era of her childhood to life through a colorful collection of vignettes depicting daily life from a unique perspective. Pat plans to continue her writing in the same vein as 'Glimpses of a Town.' She feels she has found her niche with a charming, personal, yet historically based style. Hugh Harris is a Richmond, Virginia artist and retired pastor who has lived in several Chesapeake Bay communities and painted Bay subjects over many years. He is also an author, having published three novels in his 'Dinkel Island' series, set in Virginia's Northern Neck, a region of the Chesapeake Bay.

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