Lecture and book review intrigue RCC audiences

On February 23, former Secretary of the Army John Marsh spoke to both Rappahannock Community College campuses, as well as a class at Mathews High School, on the subject of the technological issues now facing this nation.
The talk explored a number of interesting ideas, including the generation gap between young people who have been familiar with computers all their lives, and older persons who have had to deal with the challenge of learning and re-learning the technology. Marsh also addressed the issue of legal provisions for technology use, which have had difficulty keeping up, he says, with rapidly shifting current conditions. He sees increased communication between the government and private citizens as a key factor to ensure a balance between freedom and fairness; quoting a young Army major who once told him that the American republic is like a half-burnt match in a deep, dark cave, he said, “I agree with that statement, but I believe that with that half-burnt match we can kindle the flame of freedom.”

After his lecture, Marsh moved from RCC’s Warsaw Campus interactive video classroom to the library, where he gave a review of A Reluctant Rebel, the third and latest of Dr. John Harding’s books. Harding, the chair of RCC’s College Board, is a lifelong Northumberland resident, and was a successful dentist for 31 years until his retirement: “Many of us have been his friends and patients for a long time,” said RCC president Dr. Elizabeth Crowther (also a Northumberland resident) in her introduction to the review, “and we are pleased to be joining Jack Marsh to celebrate this book.”

“An individual who probably knows the Northern Neck better than any of us” is how Marsh described Dr. Harding. All of his books have had a Northern Neck theme, and this latest one tells the story of one of his own ancestors, William Harding. It is classified as historical fiction, but only because not all of Dr. Harding’s sources are on paper; his original inspiration for the book came from stories told to him by his father and a cousin. “I had heard about him all my life,” says Harding. But, as Marsh affirmed, “Everything in the book represents something that actually happened.”

A Reluctant Rebel depicts a fair and generous man torn between his conscience and his extensive holdings in business interests, land, and slaves. “He was sold on the idea that something could be done about slavery,” Marsh reported, “but he was torn as to what could be done. He foresaw that the Confederacy couldn’t survive, and he wanted Virginia to stay in the Union.” The Civil War reduced his holdings considerably, but he was still better off than most of his neighbors, and when they looked to him for help, he did his best to respond.

Marsh’s review evoked warm applause from the audience, and attendees crowded around Dr. Harding, asking him to autograph copies of his book, as the meeting closed.