Do not rush through these stories, Dear Reader, rather savor each. Reread them and you will understand even more deeply.-William Kenly, editor and author of The Dogs of Cancer and others
In Old Blue, Peggy Frailey introduces a quirky cast of characters going through major life changes and coping with grief, aging, illness, obsession, and other difficult circumstances. Each story allows you to empathize with her creations, no matter what walk of life they come from.
Frailey's titular story centers around a father grieving after the loss of his wife and son. He forms a strange friendship with a blue heron on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Through this relationship, he begins the first step to closure and notices the loved ones still surrounding him.
Other stories feature an American Indian caught between two worlds, a teenager battling hospitalization while swearing up a blue streak, a criminal who is a prisoner to his OCD, an older woman struggling to care for her ailing husband, and other characters you can't help but love and won't be able to forget.
About the Author: Peggy Frailey worked as an editor and reporter for newspapers in both Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Massachusetts. She later started a second career as a family therapist in Lancaster. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Pennsylvania State University and her master's degree in clinical psychology from Millersville University. She combined her journalistic instincts and psychological insights to create the stories in her new collection, Old Blue.
Two stories from Old Blue won awards in the Central Pennsylvania Writing Contest. Her work has also appeared in the literary journal PHASE.
Frailey lives with her husband, Gere, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They raised eight children together, spending many weekends on the family boat on Chesapeake Bay.
