A List of My Past Blog Posts with Updates on WWII Japanese-American Relocation Camps

 “The goal isn’t to live forever; the goal is to create something that will.”
(That’s what I have been trying to do with my writings
—to preserve them and pass them on to my progeny.)
—Chuck Palahnuik

“What are we but our stories?”
(And here are some of mine and others’.)
—James Patterson, Sam’s Letters to Jennifer 

As indicated by the title and the opening quotes above, what I have been trying to do over the past three years of my blogging is to preserve my writings and pass them on to my progeny and to any others who might feel an attachment to them and to their own lives and past.

Now it seems that due to my failing health and other personal concerns I may have to “take a sabbatical” from my blogging for a while. If so, hopefully I can resume writing new posts to a limited degree this fall.

Meanwhile, since I have now published about 113 posts on this blog I thought it might be helpful if I offered a list of the titles of the past posts along with the dates on which they were originally published.

For ease in locating and accessing these posts I have provided a link to each post. If you see a post that sounds interesting to you, just click on its title. If it does not open, simply go to your search window and type in “myokexilelit + (the title of the post)” and you should be taken to a list of entries among which should be the one you are seeking. If not, type in the nearest post title and when it opens click on the title you are seeking which should appear in the upper margin as the previous post.

At the end of this post is an addenda section of two works reviewed earlier on this blog about the WWII Japanese-American relocation camps in Arkansas. One is a film documentary titled Relocation, Arkansas, and the other is a book titled The Red Kimono. There is also a brief conclusion to the post and the blog.

Good reading and good viewing—until we meet again.

Jimmy Peacock

Titles and Dates of My Past Blog Posts with Links

1. My Story Begins (May 12, 2011)

2. My “Bucket-List” Trip (May 25, 2011)

3. My “Bucket-List Trip” II (May 31, 2011)

4. My Annual Tributes to the Clique (June 8, 2011)

5. The Passing of a Real Man (June 22, 2011)

6. My Cancer Car (July 2, 2011)

7. My Father’s Brand and Seal (July 6, 2011)

8. The Way We Were (July 13, 2011)

9. My Lifelong Attraction to Black Beauty (July 20, 2011)

10. Yo Recuerdo (I Remember) (July 27, 2011)

11. Thank God I’m a Country Boy (Aug. 3, 2011)

12. My Religious Conversion (Aug. 10, 2011)

13. My First Encounter with Elvis and His Music (Aug. 17, 2011)

14. Life Is Reg’lar/My Mother’s Bible (Aug. 24, 2011)

15. Selma Store Evokes Boyhood Memories (Aug. 31, 2011)

16. Facts About Marion Williams Peacock (Sept. 7, 2011)

17. Reader’s Digest-Type Humorous Anecdotes (Sept. 14, 2011)

18. Who Cares About Texas? (Sept. 21, 2011)

19. Bayou Bartholomew: Two Book Reviews (Sept. 28, 2011)

20. The Peacock Love Story/The Passing of a Friend (Oct. 5, 2011)

21. Dreams (Oct. 12, 2011)

22. A Gathering at the River (Oct. 18, 2011)

23. Three Significant Insignificant Events in My Life (Oct. 26, 2011)

24. A Summary of My Personal Spirituality and Pilgrimage (Nov. 2, 2011)

25. Keep Arkansas in the Accent (Nov. 9, 2011)

26. Memory and Memories (Nov. 16, 2011)

27. Reflections on My Birthday: Then and Now (Nov. 23, 2011)

28. Barbecue in the South (Nov. 30, 2011)

29. My Favorite Childhood Books/The Truth about Santa Claus (Christmas, Dec. 7, 2011)

30. The Missing Baby Jesus (Christmas, Dec. 14, 2011)

31. The Three Unwise Men: An Arkansas Christmas Memory (Christmas, Dec. 21, 2011)

32. Our Honeymoon Was No Honeymoon for Mari (forty-ninth anniversary, Dec. 28, 2011)

33. A Thing of Beauty Lasts Forever (Jan. 4, 2012)

34. Occupation in Exile, Deliverance in Time (Jan. 11, 2012)

35. Some Southern Stuff I: Self-quotes and Robert E. Lee’s Birthday (Jan. 18, 2012)

36. Some Southern Stuff II: Quotes on the South from Others (Jan. 25, 2012)

37. Thoughts for a Winter Day (Feb. 1, 2012)

38. Some Southern Stuff III: Are You Southern? (Feb. 8, 2012)

39. Some Southern Stuff IV: Do You Speak Southern? (Feb. 15, 2012)

40. Miscellaneous Tidbits of Personal Correspondence (Feb. 22, 2012)

41. Quotes on Writing and Writers: Mine (Feb. 29, 2012)

42. Quotes on Writing and Writers: Others’ (March 7, 2012)

43. St. Patrick’s Day Tributes and Trivia (March 14, 2012)

44. Some of My Favorite Irish Quotes (March 21, 2012)

45. Keiron’s Poems I: The Peacock Seed (March 28, 2012)

46. Keiron’s Poems II: Huntin’ Poems (April 4, 2012)

47. Is It Really True?/Requiem (April 11, 2012)

48. Some Southern Stuff V: Sense of Place (April 18, 2012)

49. Some Southern Stuff VI: Love of the Land (April 25, 2012)

50. Quotes on History and the Past (May 2, 2012)

51. Mother’s Day Tributes (May 9, 2012)

52. Quotes about Women (May 16, 2012)

53. Moments to Remember/Selma Methodist Church Update (May 23, 2012)

54. Tribute to a Female Friend and Mentor (June 6, 2012)

55. Wish I Was in the Land of Cotton, Part I (June 13, 2012)

56. Wish I Was in the Land of Cotton, Part II (June 20, 2012)

57. Additional Quotes about the Delta (June 27, 2012)

58. Reflections on the Fourth of July (July 4, 2012)

59. Arkansiana I: The Name of Arkansas (July 11, 2012)

60. Arkansiana II: Pronunciation of Arkansas (July 18, 2012)

61. Arkansiana III: Change the Name of Arkansas! (July 24, 2012)

62. Arkansiana IV: Arkansas’ French Connection (Aug. 2, 2012)

63. Some Additional Quotes on Arkansas (Aug. 8, 2012)

64. Strange Encounters at the Pink Palace and Beyond (Aug. 16, 2012)

65. “Days Gone By”: A Delta Passing (Aug. 22, 2012)

66. “Born in the Delta” (Aug. 29, 2012)

67. “During Wind and Rain” (Sept. 5, 2012)

68. Country Come to Town: A Youthful Trip to Dallas (Sept. 12, 2012)

69. Quotes about Home I (Sept. 19, 2012)

70. Quotes about Home II (Sept. 26, 2012)

71. Ben’s Report on Hernando de Soto (Oct. 3, 2012)

72. My Cousin Donald: His Early Years (Oct. 10, 2012)

73. My Two Brothers: A Humorous Pair (Oct. 17, 2012)

74. Ben and Levi Get Their Deer! (Oct. 24, 2012)

75. The Return of the Trumpet: A Ouachita Memory (Oct. 31, 2012)

76. Who’s to Blame?: Humorous Self-Quotes (Nov. 7, 2012)

77. “Return to the Arkansas Delta”: A Review (Nov. 14, 2012)

78. Thanksgiving and My Birthday (Nov. 21, 2012)

79. Humorous Quotes from Others (Nov. 28, 2012)

80. My Thirty-five Years as an Exiled Arkie of the Covenant I (Dec. 5, 2012)

81. My Thirty-five Years as an Exiled Arkie of the Covenant II (Dec. 12, 2012)

82. A Baptist Pastor in an Episcopal Christmas Service (Dec. 19, 2012)

83. Mari: Anniversary Remembrances (Fiftieth Anniversary, Dec. 27, 2012)

84. Three Southern Gentlemen and a Holy God (Jan. 17, 2013)

85. About Copyeditors: God’s “Noble Bereans” (Feb. 1, 2013)

86. Ash Wednesday: Home, Stumbling Blocks, and Psalm 119 (Feb. 13, 2013)

87. My Oklahoma Connections (Feb. 27, 2013)

88. Opening of WWII Japanese American Internment Camps Museum (March 20, 2013)

89. Camp Nine: A Book Review with Quotes about the Arkansas Delta (April 18, 2013)

90. The Red Kimono: A Book Review about WWII Japanese Relocation Camps (May 9, 2013)

91. Old Indian Church Burns to the Ground (June 6, 2013)

92. Maps That Show How Americans Speak Differently (June 20, 2013)

93. “Why Cain’t th’ Okies Teech Thur Childrun Howda Tawk Suthun?” (July 4, 2013)

94. Billie Seamans: Arkansas’ War Hero and Master Photographer (July 26, 2013)

95. Spiritual Vision and Renewal, Identity and Mission (Aug. 16, 2013)

96. Faith and Pilgrimage, Life and Growth (Aug. 30, 2013)

97.How the Words in Italics Changed My Whole Life (Sept. 13, 2013)

98.Some “Top-Five Lists” of a Few of My Favorite Things (Sept. 30, 2013)

99.A Few of My Favorite Things I: McGehee, the Mississippi River, the Delta/Cotton (Oct. 15, 2013)

100.A Few of My Favorite Things II: Arkansas, the South, Elvis Presley, Gone With the Wind (Oct. 28, 2013)

101.A Few of My Favorite Things III: Quotes and Excerpts on a Variety of Subjects (Nov. 11, 2013)

102.A Few of My Favorite Things IV: Women’s Issues and Conclusion to Blog (Nov. 25, 2013)

103.Addenda to Blog: Christmas and Our Fifty-First Anniversary (Dec. 18, 2013)

104.My Après-Blog Post: Saving Mr. Peacock (Jan. 9, 2014)

105. Dialect, the Delta and Mississippi River, Nostalgia (Jan. 27, 2014)

106. Black History Month: Reprint of a 1996 Article about Race Relations (Feb. 27, 2014)

107.St. Patrick and Other Irish Saints and Names (March 10, 2014)

108.Memory of a Selma Family Tragedy (April 4, 2014)

109.Memory of a Selma Family Tragedy II (April 21, 2014)

110.Updates: WWII Japanese-American Relocation Museum; Camp Nine; Relocation, Arkansas (May 12, 2014)

111.The Red Kimono and Other Month of May Updates (May 27, 2014)

112.Selma Methodist Church and Other Month of May Updates (June 10, 2014)

 Addenda to List of Blog Posts

 Relocation, Arkansas

“I want [the documentary film] Relocation, Arkansas to be a ‘love letter to the Delta!’”
—Vivienne Schiffer, author of book Camp Nine
and film Relocation, Arkansas

In two previous posts on this blog I have presented updates on Vivienne Schiffer’s book Camp Nine and her documentary film Relocation, Arkansas, both about the WWII Japanese-American relocation camps in Arkansas. (To view these posts, click on their titles: Camp Nine: A Book Review with Quotes about the Arkansas Delta (April 18, 2013) and Updates: WWII Japanese-American Relocation Museum; Camp Nine; Relocation, Arkansas (May 12, 2014)

Vivienne Schiffer and her family with former President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office (to magnify, click on the photo)

Here is a recent update from Vivienne on her film Relocation, Arkansas:

Thank you [to] everyone who has followed the progress of Relocation, Arkansas. We wrapped filming TODAY! I [will] spend the end of June in New Mexico with my editor, cutting the film, so we are on our way to a finished film. This has been a really great journey thus far, and it has turned out vastly different than what I thought it was going to be. But the story is touching, amazing, funny, and sad, all at the same time. Stay tuned, everyone, for premiers in Arkansas, California, and DC, among screenings in many other places. Can’t wait to get this film on the road, y’all!

Story editor Johanna Demetrakas and cameraman Pablo Bryant from Los Angeles, part of Vivienne’s crew filming Relocation, Arkansas (to magnify, click on the photo taken on June 11, 2014)

To view a very moving twelve-minute preview video of the film titled Relocation Arkansas, about the Japanese-American relocation camps in Arkansas, especially the one at Rohwer near McGehee, click here. 

To view a similar but updated video trailer with the same title made in 2014, click here.

The Red Kimono

“I appreciate all of your hard work in keeping the history alive
for this part of Arkansas [i.e., the Delta,
the location of two WWII Japanese-American relocation camps].”
—Jan Morrill, author of The Red Kimono
in recent email to Jimmy Peacock

On my blog I have also presented two updates on Jan Morrill’s book titled The Red Kimono, which is also about the WWII Japanese-American relocation camps in Arkansas. (To view these posts, click on their titles: The Red Kimono: A Book Review about WWII Japanese Relocation Camps (May 9, 2013) and The Red Kimono and Other Month of May Updates (May 27, 2014)

Jan Morrill with Star Trek actor and Rohwer camp internee George Takei at the WWII Japanese-American Internment Museum in McGehee, Arkansas (to magnify, click on the photo)

Here is a recent update on that book from Jan:

My latest update is that on October 11, 2014, I will be making a presentation titled ‘Wearing the Red Kimono,’ in which I will talk about what I learned about my family, my culture, and the history of internment while writing The Red Kimono. Also, I am continuing to work on the sequel to it.

In regard to the presentation “Wearing the Red Kimono,” Jan reports:

The Greater Kansas City Japan Festival will take place on October 11, 2014, at:

Johnson County Community College
12345 College Boulevard
Overland Park, KS 66210

For more information go to this link: http://www.kcjas.org/kcjapanfestival.

In addition to these links and my earlier posts, to learn more about Jan, The Red Kimono, and Jan’s other books, go to the Web sites below the photo of the book.

The Red Kimono

BOOK TRAILER FOR The Red Kimono: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etyg8feWCiw

BLOGS:
www.janmorrill.wordpress.com
www.theredkimono.com
www.haikubyhaiku.wordpress.com

 Conclusion

In a recent issue of the McGehee Times there appeared a photo of three people standing inside the WWII Japanese American Interment Museum in front of a wall display titled “AGAINST THEIR WILL: The Japanese American Experience in WWII Arkansas.” The photo carried this caption:

Clearwater Paper Corporation recently presented a $1,500 Community Giving grant to the WWII Japanese American Internment Museum in McGehee. Pictured are: (L-R) Clearwater Exec. Asst. Lynn Bliss, Museum Director Jeff Owyoung, and Clearwater Mill Manager Bill Horne.

Due to my failing eyesight (another reason I must take a leave from blogging for a while), I read that last name to be “Bill Home,” obviously a Freudian error! But what better word to summarize and conclude this post and indeed this blog than its theme word “HOME”!

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Selma Methodist Church and Other Month of May Updates

“But since Mari and I were able to visit with so many friends and family; enjoy the delicious catfish and barbecue meal; listen to live gospel music; participate in a fundraiser auction; and take photos of the church, my birthplace, and the Mount Tabor church and cemetery, it was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime, ‘bucket-list’ opportunity to ‘renew old memories.’”
—Jimmy Peacock, “My ‘Bucket-List’ Trip,”
May 25, 2011

As noted in the opening quotation above, the month of May marked the third anniversary of a “Bucket-List” Trip that Mari and I made in May of 2011 to my birthplace of Selma, Arkansas.

The purpose of the trip was to attend the reunion/fundraiser for the restoration and preservation of the historic Selma Methodist Church, right across the “branch” from the farmhouse in which I was born in November of 1938.

Selma Methodist Church, side view (to magnify, click on the photo provided by Scott Shepard)

To read about that visit and the event that motivated it, click on the title of the blog post (the second on my new post), dated May 25, 2011: “My ‘Bucket-List’ Trip: Part One: The Selma Methodist Church.”

A year after that trip on May 23, 2012, I published an update on the progress of the restoration of the church. To read that update post, click on its title: “Moments to Remember/Selma Methodist Church Update.”

Restored interior of Selma Methodist Church (to magnify, click on the photo)

Recently I received some photos and information about the church restoration from Scott Shepard who noted that “it was Scotty Howard with Elite Homes (theelitear@yahoo.com, 501-690-6095) who returned the church to the beautiful shape we see today.” He also noted that

“The descendants of the John Barrett family (Idelle and Lucile’s children) had the doors replicated and made by John Alexander of Ozone, Arkansas.”

Selma Methodist Church doors (to magnify, click on the photo provided by Scott Shepard)

To learn more about the Selma Methodist Church, contact Dorris Watson at: djwatson2001@yahoo.com.

My Father’s Death

“Any man who’s gotta consult his wife about his bizness
ain’t got no bizness bein’ in bizness.”

“You jus’ gotta take a deep seat in th’ saddle,
lock your spurs, and ride it out!”

—Arthur Peacock quotes on taking care of business,
and getting through difficult situations

On July 6, 2011, almost three years ago, I published a post titled “My Father’s Brand and [Corporate] Seal.” (To read that post with my poem about my father’s branding iron and the corporate seal of his livestock business, click on the title.)

In that post I recalled my father’s sudden death of a heart attack at the McGehee Livestock Auction in which he was a co-partner with auctioneer C.B. Walker. I noted that at the time of his death Daddy was forty-nine years old and I was fifteen and in the back of the barn penning cattle.

Arthur Peacock (on right in white hat) in ring of McGehee Livestock Auction in 1952 before his death in 1954 (to magnify, click on the photo)

I now tell Okies: “I started out life as a cowboy in Arkansas and came to Oklahoma as a French translator. Go figure.”

Me as a “cow-boy” up on Ole Blue in front of our house in Selma in the 1940s (to magnify, click on the photo)

Me as a visiting older Arkansas Razorback “cowboy” at our former family home place in Selma in the 1980s (to magnify, click on the photo)

Since my father died on May 25, 1954, it has been exactly sixty years since his death. This portion of this post, like the previous post in July 2011, serves as a remembrance of and a tribute to him and his life as a livestock dealer and a family man.

Daddy and the Peacock family (from left: Adrian, Joe, Arthur, Vivian, and me) in front of my birthplace in Selma, Arkansas, in about 1947 when I was nine years old (to magnify, click on the photo)

I hope he would be pleased with it and not tell me, “Son, I think you need to go back an’ lick your calf over agin.”

Our Younger Grandson’s Birthday

“You can take away my church but you can’t take away my God!”
—Ben Peacock’s response to his mother’s threat to punish him
by taking away his church’s youth night activities

As evident by the quote above, our younger grandson Ben has a sharp mind and a quick wit. He is also a sharp and quick learner in school. His report on the life and discoveries of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto is the second most popular post of the 113 that I have published on my blog. (To read “Ben’s Report on Hernando de Soto,” published on October 3, 2012, click on the title.)

Ben with a “finally finished” sticker on his face after completing his science fair project for which he won first place (to magnify, click on the photo)

Born in Tulsa on May 31, 2002, Ben turned twelve years old this past month. In addition to his sharp mind and quick wit, he is also adept at mastering all the latest electronic gadgets that interest so many youngsters these days. In fact, whenever his grandmother and I have any kind of computer problem, before calling our computer geek in Tulsa we always say, “Let’s ask Ben what to do to fix it!”

Ben also loves board games and puzzles, and shines in arts and crafts, making full use of his nimble fingers and active imagination to create all kinds of interesting and useful objects from yarn, rubber bands, paper, small pieces of metal, and other ordinary household items. He has made us all colorful and attractive items such as bracelets, necklaces, potholders, coasters, artistic robotic mantelpieces, pencil and pen holders, etc.

As further evidence of Ben’s creativity, as a young child he taught himself to make Power Point presentations and composed one for each member of the family on their favorite subjects. For example, his brother Levi’s was on hunting; his father’s was on the military; his grandmother’s was on pink flowers (her signature color); and mine was on (what else?) Elizabeth Taylor! (See my earlier blog post titled “My Lifelong Attraction to Black Beauty.”)

And what was the subject of Ben’s own Power Point? It was about what he used to call when he was a youngster “putty gulls,” with his favorite being Marilyn Monroe. Hmmm. I wonder where he got that boyish fascination with pretty girls?

But his interests and skills are not limited to academics, electronics, games of skill, arts and crafts, and Power Point presentations. He also enjoys biking and skateboarding, as well as hunting and fishing with his father and brother, and recently killed his first deer. In addition, he enjoys the indoor activities of his church’s youth program and the outdoor activities of an annual summer camp for the offspring of military personnel, especially archery, rappelling, and balloon water fights with other campers.

Ben after killing his first deer (to magnify, click on the photo)

Ben is also a star player on local basketball and soccer teams. Although small in size and short in height, he is so fast and energetic that he always manages to match the skills of older, bigger, and taller kids his age.

So as seems evident in this post dedicated to Ben’s twelfth birthday, we are proud of the gifts, talents, activities, and creative works of our young Thomas Benjamin Peacock, a name he inherited from his great-grandfather.

Happy Birthday, Ben! And don’t let anyone take away your God who gave you all those marvelous gifts and talents!

Ben Peacock at age twelve (to magnify, click on the photo)

My Family’s Move to Oklahoma in May 1977

“I moved to Babylon (Oklahoma) from the Holy Land (Arkansas) in 1977 (“the year that King Elvis died,” see Isaiah 6:1) to take a much-needed job in religious publication. If ever a man put his hand to the plow looking back, it is me. I only miss home two times—night and day!”
—Jimmy Peacock

In several different previous posts I have written or quoted sayings of mine about what I have called in biblical terms “My Oklahomian Exile Literature by an Exiled Arkie of the Covenant.”

One of the most prominent and descriptive of these exile sayings is the one above about my moving from my beloved Holy Land (Arkansas) to Babylon (Oklahoma) in 1977. (See for example the earlier post titled “Occupation in Exile, Deliverance in Time” on this very subject.)

However, the fact is that since my wife was teaching elementary school and our two sons were attending that same school in our hometown of McGehee, Arkansas, when I was offered the job of a French-English translator in Oklahoma, I had to leave my family behind and move to Tulsa all alone in February of that year.

My family in McGehee before my move to Tulsa to start a new job in 1977 (Mari’s mother in back, left rear; me and Mari in right rear; and our sons Keiron (third boy from left in front wearing a yellow shirt; and Sean, second boy from right wearing a reddish shirt; to magnify, click on the photo)

In keeping with the title of this post about “Other Month of May Updates,” I did not move my family up to join me in Tulsa until school was out in McGehee on Memorial Day 1977: thirty-seven years ago this past Memorial Day weekend.

The house in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, which we bought and moved into on Halloween Day in 1977–an omen of our thirty-seven-year “Oklahomian Exile”? (to magnify, click on the photo)

That involuntary move—and my more than three decades-long unsuccessful attempt to “go home again”—have been the inspiration and impetus for all of the writings in this blog. As I so often quote myself: “I had been writing for twenty-five years before I realized that the theme of all of my writing is  . . . loss!”

And the crux of that loss has been the loss of home, which I call “the most beautiful word in the English language.”

Thus, each year I commemorate that fateful day in May so long ago when I moved my family from my beloved and sorely missed home state of  Arkansas to join me in my ongoing and seemingly unending “Oklahomian Exile.”

Me and our younger son Keiron standing under a “Welcome to Arkansas” sign on one of our “semi-annual pilgrimages to the Holy Land” over the past thirty-seven years of our “Oklahomian Exile” (to magnify, click on the photo)

 

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