Display features Jay County writers

Jim Waechter, one of the founders of Museum of the Soldier, is always on the lookout for artifacts as he searches through antique stores, flea markets, garage sales and the internet.

One day, he came across a book called “Out There: The Story of a Soldier’s Quest to Find Himself in the World War I Front Lines.” Not surprisingly, he was intrigued. 

The surprise came when he opened the book to discover its author, Charles Whitehair, was born and raised in Redkey. Not only that, the book was published in Jay County. 

Thus started a collection of books by county authors, part of which is on display for the first time this week in the Marian Orr Women’s Building at the Jay County Fair.

“Jay County has so many different things that people aren’t aware of,” said Waechter. “I had the opportunity right now to suck some of (those things) out of the woodwork and make (them) available to people.”

Waechter, who has read about half of the works on display, has a special attachment to Whitehair’s book.

“His style of writing was very reminiscent of Ernie Pyle, very folksy,” he said, referencing the famed World War II journalist from Indiana.

An Amazon review says, “This gripping memoir tells the story of Whitehair’s journey from the trenches … to the depths of human resilience.”

“Out There” is one of the older books in the exhibit, but Waechter also has included more recent works.

Recently, he ran across an online reference to Jay County native Douglas Laux, formerly with the CIA. That’s how he learned about “Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” published in 2016.

But Waechter doesn’t limit his collection to military history.

“I think one of the neat ones (in the exhibit) is Debbie Shreeve,” said Waechter. Shreeve writes under the pseudonym April Decton. “Her books are online, on Amazon, all over.” 

Shreeve/Decton has created a series about a married couple and the challenges they encounter. According to goodreads.com, her most popular work is “This is Us,” published in 2022.

Twenty-two Jay County authors are featured in the display, and Waechter keeps hearing about more.

Just since the fair started, “I found out about three more (writers),” he said. 

And he learned that one writer, Jeanine Poole, has a new book that will be added today.

“There’s been a lot of interest in (the exhibit),” said Waechter. “I’ve been surprised.”

Jay County native Sabra Jackson and her husband, Jeff, looked through the display along with Sabra’s mother, Shelba Chenoweth. All were impressed by the number and variety of books included.

Sabra’s advice for fair visitors?

“You absolutely should see this,” she said.