AKRON, Ohio – Local author Jonathan Walter will discuss some of the real legends and mysteries that inspired his novel, “The Towpath” on Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Richfield branch.
It’s the first novel for Walter, a longtime Akron resident and St. Vincent-St. Mary High School graduate. The 360-page novel is written for an adult audience, and draws from both Walter’s own childhood and the legends and mysteries of the Cuyahoga Valley and Great Lakes areas, including the lost shipwreck of Le Griffon, the Beaver Wars and the legend of Mary Campbell.
These legends serve as the backdrop for “The Towpath,” a time-travel thriller that chronicles the story of a woman named The Redeemer. When The Redeemer learns about an ancient medallion that will allow her to travel back in time to prevent her teenage daughter’s suicide, she and her band of seventeenth-century Iroquois warriors embark on a mission to recover it.
“I got inspired to write this book from an experience my dad had. When I was very young, he went to the Gorge Metro Park fishing. When he came back home, he said he felt like he was being watched there. But when he turned around, there was nobody there. And that story just stuck with me,” Walter told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. “My dad was always interested in the history of the Cuyahoga Valley and the people who once lived there. So in my younger brain, I wondered, ‘what if somebody was watching you and what if they were from another time?’ And that’s how the story came together.”
Walter credits John Fadden, who helped found the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota, New York, as key to helping him review the book for historical accuracy.
“John passed away at the age of 82 a couple of years ago. And before he passed away, he graciously gave me some of his time, and he reviewed the book. He gave me some ideas on how to depict the Iroquois in the Six Nations from the past. So when I bring up the Beaver Wars in the book and that time period, it was very intentional just to kind of give some concreteness to what people see,” he said.
Walter lives in Broadview Heights with his wife and two sons. He is working on a sequel to “The Towpath,” he said.
The book talk is free to attend, but registration is required. Those interested can purchase a copy of the book at the event or purchase a copy or eBook from one of the following retailers: Walmart, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google and Hive.