Authors Rich & Sandra Neil Wallace discuss Blood Brother

Jonathan Daniels, a white seminary student from Keene, traveled to Selma, Alabama, in 1965 to help with voter registration of black residents. After the voting rights marches, he remained in Alabama, in the area known as Bloody Lowndes, an extremely dangerous area for white freedom fighters, to assist civil rights workers. Five months later, Jonathan Daniels was shot and killed while saving the life of Ruby Sales, a black teenager. The public is invited to learn more about Jonathan Daniels and the latest book about his life on Wednesday, February 15th at 7pm at the Historical Society of Cheshire County following a brief annual meeting for the Society. In Blood Brother, authors Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace put their investigative reporting skills to the test. They located the teenagers who protested alongside Daniels, unearthed never-before-published photographs and journals, and uncovered the previously unknown roles Jonathan played in major civil rights events. They explore what led Daniels to the moment of his death, the trial of his murderer, and how these events helped reshape both the legal and political climate of Lowndes County and the nation. Blood Brother has earned a Parents’ Choice Gold Award, Booklist Editors’ Choice, and has been named by the Chicago Public Library a Best of the Best Nonfiction. Rich Wallace has written more than three dozen novels for children and teens. His first novel, Wrestling Sturbridge, was selected by the American Library Association (ALA) as one of the Best of the Best books for the twenty-first century. His recent nonfiction includes the acclaimed Babe Conquers the World, co-written with his wife, Sandra. Sandra Neil Wallace had a lengthy career as a news anchor and ESPN sportscaster. She broke a gender barrier in sports by becoming the first woman to host an NHL broadcast on network television. Sandra now writes historical fiction and nonfiction for young readers, and her titles have been named to state and national awards lists, including Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, ALA-YALSA Quick Picks, and Booklist’s Editors’ Choice. The Wallaces live in Keene, New Hampshire.