Author Jim Minick recently visited Ferrum College to discuss his book “Fire Is Your Water”.
Professor of English Dr. Lana Whited invited Minick to campus to share his experience as an author with her creative writing students and the campus community. “They had assignments in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and Jim’s work is a great model for them because he writes in all of those genres. In addition to discussing his novel on Wednesday evening, he talked with the class earlier in the day about his nonfiction book Without Warning, which is the story of the most devastating tornado in Kansas history. I provided a sample from the opening section of Without Warning for students to read beforehand, and one student said she was disappointed when she reached the last page because she wanted there to be more. That student came to the event and bought the book,” Whited said.
Fire Is Your Water is a story about Ada Franklin, a young Pennsylvania Dutch powwow doctor who could remove warts and heal burns through sacred chants. The story is set in south-central Pennsylvania, an hour west of Harrisburg. One day, Ada’s faith is shaken when she loses her healing powers while rescuing animals from a burning barn. She meets Will Burk and his pet raven, Cicero, and her life changes completely. But Ada is faced with another fire, and she must overcome a difficult challenge once again.
Although Minick’s book is fiction, it’s based on the real life events of his family, and his great-grandmother named Ida. Throughout the presentation, he shared photos of his grandparents and also shared some of the powwows his great- grandmother wrote.
For one powwow, Minick talked about having terrible ear aches as a child. Ida wrote a chant for him, and his dad kept it in his wallet. “I take Jim Robert Minick’s aches and pains all away,” Minick recited.
He also recounted a time when Ida’s healing chant also worked on a sick, elderly cow. “She recited the chant over the phone, and it worked. I always thought that was a cool story,” he said.
Some of the chants that Ida wrote had common themes: use of biblical language, repetition, and the different commands that she used. “Ida only had an eighth grade education, so it’s likely that she took information from church and things that she already knew,” Minick said.
The title of the book comes from a poem. “I don’t know what it means, but I love it. I like that they can be so interchangeable. Both fire and water can heal or kill,” he explained.
Minick ended off his discussion by reading a poem from his latest book, The Intimacy of Spoons. You can learn more about his published works here.
