Books – Harry Knickerbocker

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Fighting The Shadow Warriors
A Marine In Vietnam

“Fighting the Shadow Warriors: A Marine in Vietnam” by Harry Knickerbocker provides a gripping, personal account of a Marine’s experiences during the Vietnam War. The story begins with the protagonist’s arrival and delves into the daily challenges faced by soldiers, including interactions with locals, ambushes, and the psychological toll of guerrilla warfare.

The author vividly describes the harsh terrain and intense operations, highlighting the moral dilemmas and brutality of the conflict. Through a series of personal anecdotes and critical moments, Knickerbocker portrays the resilience and camaraderie of the soldiers while critiquing the war’s senseless violence and lasting impact.

This book is both a tribute to the soldiers’ strength and a poignant reflection on the war’s profound effects.

SUNRISE OVER THE GRAND CANYON: A Love Story

An old white man is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Seeking a last bit of freedom, he decides to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. He has no living relatives, and his wife is dead. Along the way he meets a young black woman at a truck stop who is working as a prostitute. Although they spend the night together, he pays her to simply be with him…not to have sex. In the morning, he hires her to be his companion. He is a Vietnam vet, an ex-Marine, and he has acquired lot of wealth from a successful career as a statistician. They share stories about their lives with each other and, gradually, they begin to trust and depend on each other. He knows his time is limited, and his close proximity to death changes his perception of life.

Who's Afraid Of The Pharaoh?

This book is a memoir of my life in North Carolina in the late sixties and early seventies when the Jim Crow laws were beginning to fade away. I worked as a photographer for a daily newspaper in Wilmington. I cover several race riots, the first one beginning the day that Martin Luther King was assassinated. All of the characters in the book were real people, including an Episcopalian Priest who was an alcoholic. The two of us decided to create a theater in the basement of his church. My job was to paint a large mural. In addition to working as a news photographer, I was also an art student at UNC-W. Eventually, I quit photography in favor of becoming a starving artist. I went through a horrible divorce. My mother in law was a local writer for the paper and she went on the war path. She, and many of the people I worked with, had Klan sympathies. Members of their families were members of the Klan. The church was burned down late one night. Not many days later the Priest left town and never returned. After an attempt on my own life I to hit the road.

THE CIRCLE GAME: GOODSLAYER DROPS IN

Out of curiosity Goodslayer ends up in a jungle village populated by a tribe of warriors. They play a lethal game that pits small teams from one tribe against another.The casualties are buried in a communal cemetery and a vine is planted on their graves. The leaves from this vine then produce a tea that gives the women of the tribe special powers. Goodslayer becomes a reluctant warrior. He thinks the game should be stopped. But in the end he chooses to fight out of love for a woman. The book deals with the tension between individuality and losing one’s self to a greater cause. Goodslayer learns to play the Circle Game.