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www.shelbyinfo.com Our 41st Year • Issue No. 9 • February 29, 2024
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Clev. Co. writer shares Grandparents’ World War II love story in new book By Jean Gordon
members exchanged letters with their sweethearts back home. World War That beautiful perspective II changed set in the midst of a fearful the lives of war is the focus of a new book most people titled “Wherever You May Be: on earth at The World War II Letters of a the time, Soldier and his Sweetheart,” says author penned by Tessnear. The book Matthew is available from Amazon Tessnear of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). C l ev e l a n d About 15 years ago, County. The Matthew Tessnear Tessnear, who is a 2007 war led to graduate of Gardner-Webb death and University with a degree in jourdestruction for millions who nalism, first read the letters his faced dangerous conditions grandparents, the late Harry almost unimaginable today. and Lois McCombs Tessnear But the time period also of Mooresboro, exchanged resulted in new life through during his grandfather’s time in the numerous romances that the U.S. Army. blossomed as brave service “I fell in love with the letters and with my grandparents’ story from the start,” Tessnear said. “I’ve always been interested in studying war through the lens of the human experience and its impacts on the home front. These letters took that interest deeper as I realized my own connection to World War II. It’s such a gift knowing what my grandmother and grandfather were thinking, feeling and seeing in the 1940s.” The letters in the book Matthew Tessnear’s book “Wherever You May reveal day-toBe: The World War II Letters of a Soldier and day life and the his Sweetheart,” is available from Amazon feelings of an Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). American sol-
The late Lois and Harry McCombs Tessnear of Mooresboro. (Photos Contributed) dier, as well as what people were doing and thinking locally in Cleveland and Rutherford counties during the war. It also weaves in a few cultural references to the time period and includes a section of photographs to help readers connect faces with the names mentioned in the passages. “For me, these letters are so full of history and life,” Tessnear said. “I have long been interested in genealogy, learning about my ancestors and preserving their surviving artifacts. I also knew that I wanted to put these priceless documents into print and I just needed the right time and opportunity. I am thrilled to finally be sharing them with others to read and treasure.” Tessnear independently produces the manuscripts and cover artwork for each of his books, drawing on a variety of
skills and experiences from a decade-long career in print journalism. “I wrote and edited thousands of articles, took numerous photos and designed many pages for newspapers and magazines, and I continue to use many of those same skills in authoring books,” Tessnear said. “I appreciate the freedom of self-publishing because I can decide what to choose and omit, how I want everything to look, and every detail cover to cover. In this book, I realized my grandparents told each other multiple times that they’d stay together and love each other ‘wherever you may be.’ I knew that had to be the title, and it really brings everything in this beautiful story together.” Tessnear lives in Kings Mountain with his wife Molly and dog daughter Charlotte.
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He is also the author of the mental health memoir Eating Me Alive: How Food, Faith and Family Helped me Fight Fear and Find Hope, also available from Amazon; and a children’s book, The Monkey and the Bear. His great-great-great grandfather Joel Joseph Tessnear served in Company I of the 56th North Carolina Infantry (the Rutherford Rifles) in the Civil War. (He did not make it home alive, dying in 1864.) Matthew has great-great-great grandparents buried at Walls Baptist Church in Ellenboro. Grandpa Harry and Grandma Lois lived in Mooresboro and Matthew’s parents Terry and Chris now live in their former house.
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