Part I in a series of stories celebrating the 150th anniversary of Reidsville.
Reidsville is home to a thriving literary community. Stroll through local boutiques and downtown stores such as the Reidsville Trading Post, and customers are sure to find a wide selection of books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry by area authors. Local establishments, such as Sip Coffee House, host authors nights, stores such as the Reidsville Trading Post hold book signings, and the Reidsville Library and other county libraries often hold Local Authors Nights, giving members of the community the opportunity to meet some of the area talent and learn more about the vast array of writings by local writers that are available in print.
“Our store is all about supporting North Carolina products,” said Amy Laster, who co-owns the Reidsville Trading Post with John Josewitz. “If we don’t support each other, no business is going to grow.”
People are also reading…
Some of the Reidsville and area authors who have published works available locally include Phil Link, who wrote several books with Reidsville as a featured location; Valerie Nieman; Grace Marcus; Teresa Frohock; Tabatha Carsus; P.T. Deutermann; Ginny Brooks; Laura Ellingsworth, and Jerry Bledsoe. Though not from Reidsville (he was a former News & Record writer), Bledsoe is best known as the author of the non-fiction crime tragedy “Bitter Blood”, which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The settings for much of the book is Reidsville and Rockingham County and recounts the real-life drama of three wealthy families connected by marriage and murder.
A former high school creative writing teacher, local author Tilda Balsley has written several children’s books, including “Soo’s Boo-Boos”, “The Queen Who Saved Her People” and “Oh No, Jonah!”, and Reidsville resident and former FBI agent Athena Varounis is author of “Franklin County Ghosts”, which includes her work and the work of 15 others who researched supposedly haunted locations in the county.
Another favorite local author is retired Reidsville police officer Guilio Dattero, who has written a series of four self-published crime novels: “Bloody November”; “Revenge, My Valentine”; “Silent Bullet, Deadly Bullet”; and “Death by Imposter”. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the FBI National Academy, Dattero served as a police officer, detective and captain with the City of Reidsville Police Department for 30 years until his retirement in 2011. He went on to serve as program director for Project SAFE Rockingham County and for the last five years has worked with AMENDS, a domestic violence intervention program. Dattero, who loved writing in high school and college, returned to his love of writing in 2005 and early 2006 while on medical leave.
“I had this seed of thought of this detective loosely modeled after my work, with a small-town perspective,” Dattero said. “Before I knew it, I had one chapter, then two, and then ended up writing four books in the series.”
The books chronicle the life of Lieutenant Clark Dickson and depict a progression of his work for the police department in the fictional town of Stuartsboro, which shares many of the same characteristics as Reidsville. Dattero even included the famous Pete’s Burgers in Reidsville as a crime scent in his last book.
“A lot of people can relate to him (Dickson), his failed marriage, etc.,” Dattero said, quickly clarifying that he is still happily married to his wife of 42 years, Cathy. “She was a teacher and my editor and has always been very supportive.”
Each book a “Who done it?” of sorts, the series is described by Dattero as police procedure/crime books with descriptions of the behind-the-scenes methods of police work, including resources of the FBI, DEA and other agencies.
“I tried to give readers a real flavor of what it’s like (working for a police department),” Dattero said. “I think I got sharper with dialogue, and the plots got better with each book.”
Dattero became a very popular literary figure around town, with people in Reidsville often coming up to him anxiously asking when his next novel would be available.
“Local businesses have been so kind to sell them, and I’ve really enjoyed speaking in schools about my books,” he said.
Asked if he has another book up his sleeve, Dattero said he thinks he is done.
“The fact that people actually bought something I typed was very gratifying and rewarding,” he said.
Stop by one of Reidsville’s many stores and boutiques, as well as the library, to enjoy works by the local literary community.