JOURNEY TO HONOR is the story of sex, race and identity told through the fictionalized life of the black mountain man, James Pierson Beckwourth. His father married his mother and slave, but he refused to free her and their 13 children.

Jim's life is marked by luck and daring.

I discovered Jim by luck. 

JOURNEY TO HONOR's 26 chapters are published in installments.

While a reporter at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, I covered education. In one story, parents of 12- to 14-year-olds researched and wrote a black history supplement for their children's middle school. Jim's name was listed as one of the American West's explorers.

Since Rochester, New York, I have lived in California and Europe. I grew up in New York City, and I now live in central Portugal growing grapes and olives.

Read more from me.