NEW BERN, N.C., March 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- During the days of the Wild West, gunslingers roamed the rugged frontier and made a living rooted in lawlessness. Stolen from a foreign land and shackled to a plantation, one man now walks among the outlaws while searching for his freedom in Ben Watford's new novel, A Man and a Mule (now available through AuthorHouse).
The novel opens in Africa decades before the Civil War. Jumo Gumasaka is just a boy when evil slave catchers capture him and ship him across the sea into slavery. He grows up on the Latimore Plantation. Although Jumo is forced to work, he never accepts his plight and constantly strategizes how he can escape to freedom. When the nation fractures under the weight of the Civil War, Jumo joins a black regiment and fights his way to freedom.
After the war, he heads out west, obtains a Colt .45 revolver and discovers an uncanny ability to wield the weapon with deadly accuracy and speed. Along with his friend, a mule he affectionately calls Nellie, he roams the Old West and makes his living by taking the lives of others. Along this aimless path, Jumo and Nellie encounter numerous adventures and make friends with American Indian tribes and random recluses. His life begins to wear on his soul, however, and Jumo's ability makes him a target for young gunslingers looking to make their mark.
A Man and a Mule is a gritty western that offers a classic story retold for a whole new generation of armchair cowboys and outlaws.
Born in North Carolina, Watford earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Howard University and a master's from Tuskegee University. He taught high school chemistry in New York before teaching science techniques and elementary mathematics at Long Island University. A potter, he has exhibited his pottery throughout North Carolina. He has published one other novel, The Coming of the Comet.
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