Fatherless

When a father suddenly disappears from the life of a young boy, a new role is carved out for Arthur as he struggles through life's challenges. Growing up as the eldest male child in a family destined to support themselves by sharecropping on a cotton plantation during the Jim Crow era, Arthur daydreams about the day this daddy will return.

In the meantime, his colorful, hard-working mother is focused on keeping her four children fed, clothed and protected from the likes of people who murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till in a community not too far from the Hobbs Plantation where Arthur came to know the life of sharecroppers. As Arthur's family moved from shotgun house to shotgun house, the personal stories of characters in and out of their lives are painful at times and joyous and funny at other moments.
Nicknamed Bird, Arthur finally figures out how to fly above poverty, pain, many injustices, and a seemingly hopeless longing for the love of his father.

If young Arthur could write well, he would have written this book. However, it's 1955 and school is a special treat reserved for those who can't physically work in the cotton fields or who are not from poor black sharecropping families. In the Deep South, the 1950s were thick with down-home blues, racism, sweat, cotton, tobacco, and mosquitos with just a touch of tenderness. To Arthur, none of that was the most important matter in his life. Every day that his sharecropping mother went to work was a day for him to ponder the impacts of being the man of the house and more time to explore and become frustrated about why is father was missing, when he would return and just where in God's name was he!

Fatherless is not the typical sob story of a child who grew up without a dad. In Fatherless, author Larry McCoy takes us on a journey through the day to day existence of a sharecropping family in the Mississippi Delta. He does so through the eyes of an abandoned child and manages to stay true to the dialect and authentic culture of the time. Peppered with stories of humor, history, pain and life lessons, Fatherless reveals the private thoughts of a young boy as he grows in coping with loss and begins to focus on hopes and opportunities of each new day .
About the Author: Larry McCoy is a retired businessman and public servant. He continues to live in Mississippi where he was born and raised. He has traveled the back roads of the magnolia state capturing photographic records of remains of its iconic blues and juke joints. Listening to stories of elders throughout the Delta inspired his creative efforts to write. McCoy often carries his passion for karaoke to music joints and events to small towns throughout Mississippi. His other works include The Last of the Mississippi Juke Joints. Pending book releases include The Love Family Reunion, The Robbery on the Pee Vine Track, Done Got Over and The Trial.Tracarris is a veteran graphic designer and illustrator. He has designed covers for a number of books, including autobiographies, self-help books, novels and children's books, His works include a variety of media.Jessie is a veteran writer and accredited communications practitioner. The former magazine and business guide publisher has authored numerous news articles, editorials and other works. She has published two of her own books, ghostwritten, and edited several books and publications for other authors.