Joe James has always been interested in local history. The 20-year-old has authored and published two books on local history and signed copies of both recently at Barnes & Noble Booksellers on Lexington-Springmill Road, Mansfield.
“I was really interested in it growing up,” said James about the impetus for his first book, “The Ohio State Reformatory: an Overview.” “Growing up as a kid, I always wanted to learn more about it but there was never a book and it almost got to the point where it was frustrating. So I thought ok, if nobody else wants to write a book about it, I will,” said James.
James said a friend came to visit him and wanted to see where “The Shawshank Redemption” movie was filmed. He said he looked all over for a book concerning the 19th century built building but there was nothing.
The first book James wrote was made through Shutterfly.com with a soft padded cover. He sought out and received permission from the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society to take pictures and tour the historic facility located at 100 Reformatory Road in Mansfield.
“When I showed this to people, they said, ‘Wow this is really nice where can I get a copy?,’” he said. But with the cost of the book at around $50, James said the cost was too much for resale. and decided to go a different route. This was in July 2010 and by August 2010, James had his first book published by AuthorHouse Publishing.
“I wanted to get this done for him and send it to him so he could learn a little bit more about it, but it never got up to him,” he said. “Everybody kept it down here for a while and they were asking me who published it and how do they get a copy.”
James said that someone who doesn’t know anything about The Ohio State Reformatory can learn all about it after reading the book in just a couple of hours.
In 2013, James self-published his second local history book called, “Louis Bromfield and His Malabar Farm.” As as self-published venture, James said he got complete control of the art and layout of the book.
The cover of the second book sums up Louis Bromfield’s life in what we now know as Lucas, Ohio.
“In the first picture, he’s sitting on what looks like a rural landscape with some kind of journal in his hand, the middle one, he’s up sitting on his counter with the fridge door open feeding his four boxers and then in the last picture, he’s sitting with some kind of scotch and with his hair slicked back in a suit,” he said. “This just totally sums him up. Especially with the research I’ve done–that’s so him.”
James said the most interesting fact he found out through his research about Bromfield was that he worked with Albert Einstein. “He worked with Congress too,” he added.
The 2012 Clear Fork High School graduate said the wheels of his mind are turning on what to write about for a third book. “I think I’d like to work with somebody and turn their dream into a reality.”
Mansfield resident Therese Remy bought a book from James and said she met Louis Bromfield as a little girl.
“My grandmother knew him and we had gone out to the farm to get some water…and he was coming out of the barn down the big hill and I don’t remember him at all. I just remember the big boxers and me hiding behind my grandmother’s skirt,” she said.
James’ books can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Main Street Books, Holly’s Book Rack, and the Genealogical Society.
If readers would like to share comments about the two books or make suggestions for a third book, email James at osrbook@yahoo.com.
