The Second Mile

"The Second Mile" provides a country boy's view of war--a view unlike any seen in literature before. What's it like to go through training camp and strive to hew to the inherent decency of your upbringing? (Book I) What's it like to be caught in a net of sexual circumstances that upbringing has never prepared you for, but your decency knows just what to do about? ("A Lady of Quality") What's it like to return home from war to that same community, knowing things no one else does nor would you want them to? (Book II) Erwin A. Thompson structures three compelling narratives based on vital moral choices.

Erwin Arthur Thompson was born November 9, 1915 in Schuyler County, Illinois. He is a poet, novelist, fiddler, noted folk artist, and hoe-down square dance caller. He has lived on the bluffs of the Mississippi River for nine decades in the house that his grandfather built in 1863 and named Evergreen Heights.

Erwin is a combat veteran of World War Two. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge, and was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries sustained near Stohlburg, Germany. He also received the Silver Star for "Gallantry in action above the call of duty," in this same contact with the opposing forces.

Erwin has been writing poetry, family history, music and lyrics to original songs for three-quarters of a century. He furnished music for local square dances,the National meeting of the Kaiser-Fraiser Club at the Museum of Transportation in Saint Louis, the re-enactment of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Alton, the annual Calhoun County Antique Quilt and Car Show, the Alton Historical Society, church socials, and local nursing homes.

Erwin's poems have been featured on two radio programs, and are well-known to an informal network of admirers. They cover his rich heritage, his sensitive response to life experience, and express his phioosophy and love of life.

Erwin was named a folk trasure by Arts Across Illinois, featured on their TV broadcast, and website.

The letters he documents for his mother and father and extended family network archived at the University of Illinois illuminate the living history of the early 1900s. They are considered by the collectin curator as an invaluable resource for researchers of that time period. They supplement and interlock with the written history of that era.

Erwin's poems, songs, and stories provide deep links to the past while telling timeless tales of loss, love, struggle and triumph.