ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702240108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
CIVIL WAR BUFFS DROVE FROM NEAR AND FAR to get their Stonewall Jackson biographies autographed in Blacksburg.
A small army of devotees rallied at Virginia Tech's Volume Two bookstore Saturday to buy copies of a new Stonewall Jackson biography and have them signed by the author, Tech professor James I. Robertson Jr.
Some drove for hours to attend the event. Others lined up outside before the store opened. Toting several copies of the 1,104-page, three-pound book, they queued up patiently and waited for a brief audience with the noted historian.
For three hours, Robertson sat at a mahogany desk, receiving his public like a benevolent king while he enscribed personal messages beneath the book's frontispiece.
By day's end, all but 40 of the 1,025 books originally stocked had been sold at $40 apiece. Afterward, Robertson said he planned to go home and stick his hand in a bucket of ice.
Asked to explain the hoopla surrounding the national release of "Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Solider, The Legend," Robertson fans said it's a Virginia thing - that others might not understand.
"We're Virginians. We like history. We always have," said Joe Hubble, speaking for his wife, Susan, and many others.
The Hubbles, who live in Goodview, are teachers at Staunton River High School. Joe Hubble is a former student of Robertson's and a history instructor himself.
Joe proposed to Susan on a Civil War battlefield, so they said making the trip to get the Jackson book was a natural.
Elizabeth Patteson came from Richmond just to buy a copy of "Stonewall Jackson," signed and stamped to certify that it was purchased at the "official debut."
"I was really excited," she said. "It's history, right or wrong. It's our past. I don't think that history should be forgotten."
"It's a great day for Dr. Robertson and a great day for Virginia Tech," said Garry Calhoun of Roanoke, who was toting several copies of the book.
"Stonewall Jackson" won't be available nationally until March 7. But the publisher, Macmillan USA, allowed the book to be released early in select locations. Blacksburg, where Robertson has lived and taught a popular Civil War class at Virginia Tech for 30 years, was the first.
The premiere became a celebration of his career, as hundreds of friends, family, colleagues, former students and fans of Robertson's other Civil War books turned Volume Two into Stonewall country for an afternoon.
Macmillan is gearing up for a national publicity campaign to promote "Stonewall Jackson," said Catherine Carter, the book's editor. "We see this indeed as a very important book."
Carter and others believe Robertson's book is the most thoroughly researched study of the Confederate general's life ever published. The author said he attempted to strip away the myths surrounding Jackson without diminishing his stature.
"I'm a reader of biography, and it's a wonderful book," Carter said.
After seeing the lengthy line, Virginia Tech President Paul Torgersen decided to have his copy of "Stonewall Jackson" signed by Robertson on another day.
He said the publicity generated by the book will draw positive attention to the university. "The reputation of an institution rests on the reputation of its faculty. And they love him. I hope he sells a ton."
Robertson told the crowd that his book is the 37th biography of Jackson, a frontier orphan who rose to become a Southern commander and died in battle at the height of his renown.
After eight years of researching and writing Jackson's life, Robertson said, he was "amazed" at the information he had uncovered about Jackson that had never been publicly revealed.
"I can't tell you how thankful I am," he told the crowd.
Before he sat down to sign, Robertson announced that the movie rights to "Stonewall Jackson" have already been sold. "We're going to start talking next week about who is going to play Jackson," he said.
That revelation caused a buzz of speculation about which actor might play the part.
"Maybe we can all be extras," said Bea King of Christiansburg.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS STAFF. Virginia Tech professorby CNBJames I. Robertson Jr. signs for Blacksburg dentist Wallace Huff,
who bought several copies of Robertson's latest book. The 37th
biography of Stonewall Jackson is considered by some the most
comprehensive. color.