“Time is not what you think it is.”
When John, a nine-year-old boy from 1966, hears his own voice whisper in his head, it ultimately leads to a psychotic break and the truth behind the visions in his mind.
Meanwhile, Edward, another nine-year-old boy from 1914, is trapped by the tragic circumstances of his family’s secrets.
Somehow, their lives are linked by tragedy, redemption, pain, and triumph in a109 year-long journey that will take a toll on them both, teach them about a bond stronger than time, and change the future for so many others along the way.
This was my life, and these are my memories of it, real and imagined. Sometimes the line between them gets so indistinct as to be meaningless. It is a ghost story set in the dying shadows of old St. Joseph, Missouri’s glory days, where no fences divided the airstrip lawns of imagination for children’s feet to tread. The summer of 1966 would change me, and by fall, I would not be the same child. Adventure does that to you, and sometimes it leaves scars.
The Childgrove is set against two eras of change in the Midwestern city of St. Joseph, MO, and the real people and events that linked them together. This greatly expanded edition combines the original novellas ‘The Childgrove’ ‘and ‘Edward,’ plus all-new dramatic content told in echoes that lead to startling secrets and an emotional conclusion.
“This story exquisitely captured the impact of the decisions we make, the importance of sharing our hearts and souls, and leaves no doubt we are all grander than time! I loved it! Imaginary… or real- read it and decide for yourself.” Amazon reader
The Novels
On a beach in a pre-industrial British village, two small children appear, that everyone sees, but no one remembers. Lost traditions play themselves out on the stage of the seasons, as the villagers live their stories of love, loss, healing, humor, and adventure: an old woman brews and bottles hope, peace, and truth. A miller’s daughter finds unwanted drama in suspicious newcomers. A young boy becomes embroiled in a quest of elderly mystery lovers. A roof thatcher is haunted by a straw fox and a tragic puzzle. A little girl spins tales for the forest creatures. A widower who lives in a tree writes it all down.
The villagers of Withe and Stone tell their tales, without realizing just how different their world is from ours, where the traditional faiths of pagan Europe stayed dominant, evolving into a peaceful agrarian society, and where two small children whom everyone sees, and no one remembers, read the spell of the world, and use their magic to keep this universe from slipping away. John Goldsberry presents a world co-created with his late wife Jan, to tell stories without villains, epic struggles, torrid romance, or violence. Rather, these are the experiences of everyday people, facing what life deals to us all, and what could be if we woke to see the magic that we really are.
Music
Over 50 songs in the BMI Catalogue
43 years of Albums
Commercial Street; written with the late Bill Hilburn based on his encounter with a child in the poor part of town.
Theater
If all the worlds a stage, who is watching?
“Chaos is the harbinger of change, and change, though we often fear it, is what sets us on the paths we need to be. Sing the song, Mrs. Foster. Trust the magic. Trust the chaos. Trust your son.”
The Tent of Stars has been working its magic for nine hundred years, giving everyone who shelters under its protective roof a second chance, hope for the future, and a shot at real and lasting happiness. We of the Astrolabe Theater Company believe in the magic of chaos. We break all the rules; we break down perceptions, and we plant seeds in our wake.
Right now, it’s Alex we protect. He’s 12 and all alone. He sells popcorn in our show and dances a bit in some acts. He’s funny; he’s heartfelt and loyal to a fault. He’s also hiding. He has been abused and abandoned because he’s transgender. His new friend Lincoln Foster doesn’t know that yet, but the chaos the two of them generate together will change everything.
We have traveled for centuries. We have one goal. It’s modest. It’s simple.
Change the world.
That’s the point of theater, after all.
The Phoenix
An odyssey through the span of human existence that questions the point of reality.
Told through the mythologies past, present, and future.
The faun, the spring, and the long vanished race of beings mentioned are bound in cross cultural history
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14. 67 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
“[Rheia summons rustic-spirits to the army of Dionysos for a campaign against the Indians :] The rock dwellers came also from their self-vaulted caves, bearing all the name of Pan . . . all armed to join the host; they have human form, and a shaggy goat’s head upon it with horns.
Twelve horned Panes there were, with this changeling shape and horn bearing head, who were begotten of the one ancestral Pan their mountain ranging father . . .
With these were two other Panes, the sons of Hermes, who divided his love between two Nymphai (Nymphs); for one he visited the bed of Sose, the highland prophetess, and begat a son inspired with the divine voice of prophecy, Agreus, well versed in the beast-slaying sport of the hunt; the other was Nomios, whom the pasturing sheep loved well, one practised in the shepherd’s pipe, for whom Hermes sought the bed of Penelope the country Nymphe. Along with these came Phorbas (Fear) to join their march, savage and insatiate.”
When the Ichthyophagi showed wonder at the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if they had bathed in oil- and a scent came from the spring like that of violets. The water was so weak, they said, that nothing would float in it, neither wood, nor any lighter substance, but all went to the bottom. If the account of this fountain be true, it would be their constant use of the water from it which makes them so long-lived.
Hebe was the Greek mythological goddess who represented youth, and she was also the cupbearer of the gods on Mount Olympus. Since she is the goddess of youth, she is also associated with early tales concerning a water source that some believe is the fabled Fountain of Youth.
Testimonials
“What a squirrel.”
Barbara
Barbara
John’s sister & Profesional Go-Go Dancer
“There’s nothing you couldn’t fix about that boy that wouldn’t be solved by a daily trip to the woodshed,”
Redacted
Fourth Grade Teacher
“Yes, dear, if you think so,”
Jan
Jan
John’s late Wife
Contact me:
info@johncorbingoldsberry.com
Contact me:
info@johncorbingoldsberry.com