Carl Sandburg Home volunteer John Quinley has his first book published on legendary poet

Having lived just minutes away from Carl Sandburg's childhood home in Illinois and his final residence in Flat Rock, Illinois native John Quinley has been inspired by the famed poet for most of his life.

The current Asheville-Buncombe Technical College professor had so much knowledge of Sandburg, he decided to put it all down on paper, and the finished product is his new book "Discovering Carl Sandburg: The Eclectic Life of an American Icon." Although he's had some of his works published in other books, this is his first published complete book, he said.

"I have written chapters for several books. These were all associated with my career as Director of Planning and Institutional Research in several community colleges, including Central Piedmont in Charlotte. This is my first complete book," he said.

Quinley grew up in Maywood, Illinois, which was a few blocks from Sandburg's childhood home in Galesburg that he has visited many times. After making the move to Hendersonville in 2004 and eventually becoming a volunteer at the Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock, he said he had visitors asking where they could find out more about Sandburg.

"I was amazed to learn of Sandburg’s eclectic achievements. I experienced the same reaction from visitors I later led in house tours," he said. "When some asked what they could read to learn more about Sandburg, there were limited choices in the bookstore. I was inspired to share the Sandburg story and fashioned my book to be accessible to everyone."

E.M. Rickerson, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus at College of Charleston wrote a review of the book and called it "a must-read book for those of us so near to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site or anyone else with an interest in Sandburg."

"Alas, despite his amazing legacy, Sandburg is rarely mentioned in the 21st century. We are indebted to 'Discovering Sandburg,' therefore, for bringing him back to the public eye," Rickerson wrote. "While for some of us (of a certain age) the book may be a re-discovering, keep in mind that little has been published about Sandburg for close to thirty years and there is a generation of readers for whom his achievements are totally new, a revelation. For the rest of us, who may have known him from our youth, what we discover is the persona of the man and the breadth and variety of his work.  It is the astonishing range of Sandburg’s genius that is the core of Quinley’s book."

Quinley said he was first introduced to Sandburg's works back in the 1960s,when he in high school.

"Nearly 60 years later, I was given the chance to take college students to visit the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site in Western North Carolina.

"My first visit to the Sandburg Home transported me back to the 1950s and 1960s, when the Sandburg family lived there. After Sandburg’s death, the family literally left nearly all their belongings behind — everything from cigar butts to Pulitzer Prizes. I began to better appreciate Sandburg’s works as well as his core beliefs about life and art," Quinley said.

While the book's title is Discovering Carl Sandburg, Quinley said it's really a re-discovering.

"Although there are two autobiographies, 10 biographies, three memoirs and nine books written about specific aspects of the Sandburg legacy, there is little readily available today and nothing is recent," he said.

Quinley has worked at several colleges in different states but said he always gravitated back to North Carolina, where his children lived most of their lives.

"My wife and I moved back to North Carolina in 2004 so she could be closer to her aging parents. When we both retired, there was no question that we would stay here — just a few miles away from Sandburg’s North Carolina home," he said.

At the Carl Sandburg Home, he served as a house guide and as an assistant in programs for school children.

"I felt most rewarded when I helped visitors to discover or re-discover the amazing legacy of Sandburg and his family," he said.

And now he's getting to do that through his book. It is currently available on Amazon, and Quinley said he's hoping other bookstores will soon carry it.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Carl Sandburg Home volunteer has his first book published on legendary poet