#WhatsYourStory Featuring Larry Cavender

Larry Cavender is a retired high school English teacher and a former broadcast journalist, with stints as a radio disc-jockey and news reporter as well as a cable television sports play-by-play and color commentator. He is also a veteran having served twenty-four years with the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia and later at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia. The retired Technical Sergeant was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for service in southwest Asia during Operation Southern Watch in 1998, and also received the Georgia Commendation Award for volunteer service during the great middle Georgia floods of 1994. In 1984, Cavender graduated with high honors with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education from Kennesaw State University and was twice named to Who's Who in American Universities. In 1981, he was named the Cherokee County, Georgia, Business Person of the Year. He is now a part time news reporter and features writer for the Pickens County Progress newspaper in Jasper, Georgia. Before publishing his latest book, The World Turned Upside Down: A forgotten man's view of our fractured and upturned world, he wrote and published two other books of local history, A Patchwork Quilt and Another Patchwork Quilt. Cavender's latest book is available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for $14.99. E-book versions are also available for $5.99.

---

The only thing that separates the human race from animals, I have often thought, is our ability to read and write. I have always enjoyed putting pen to paper, and in fact, when I was a teenager, I always kept a pen and notepad in the nightstand by my bed and often fell asleep at night starting many an unfinished novel.

I dedicated my life to three challenging yet very rewarding careers, and because of that, I was unable to find much time to write. Although I sometimes dabbled in writing, penning an occasional poem or short story, I found most of my writing to be in the form of news copy or red ink notations on high school student's essays.

When I retired from teaching five years ago, I was lucky enough to have been hired as a part time news reporter and features writer by a former student, Dan Pool, who is now the Editor of the Pickens County Progress newspaper in Jasper, Georgia. The feature stories I wrote about my hometown that were printed in the newspaper led to the publication of my first two books, which were collections of those feature articles. Those books proved to be very popular with the local audience.

With my latest book, The World Turned Upside Down: A forgotten man's view of our fractured and upturned world, my targeted audience shifted from local to national readers. Recently, I have been troubled with the changes I see taking shape in the United States. Tiring of all of the hate, intolerance, and vitriol, I decided to address many of the changes I have seen in the course of my lifetime that I think may prove detrimental to my beloved nation. As I state in the book, "In our nation, where once scholars roamed the halls of academia, we now have socialists, anarchists, and even avowed terrorists donning professor's robes...Where people were once innocent until proven guilty, they are now found to be guilty, despite their innocence, by the prosecutorial mainstream media and in the court of public opinion...Where the anti-establishment of the 1960's and '70's have now become the establishment of the past three decades...Where once policemen and servicemen were revered and honored and criminals, thugs, and enemies were reviled and abhorred, now the reverse is true...Where we now have people who kneel during the playing of our national anthem, yet fewer and fewer people are kneeling in prayer in our houses of worship...Where once the Judeo-Christian principles on which our nation was founded were valued and protected, our principles are being demeaned and attacked. Is this not the world turned upside down?"

In my speaking engagements, I always recognize the veterans in the audience for their sacrifices. I am proud of my military service, but nowhere near as proud of my dad and his service. Dad landed at Omaha Beach, fought in the bocage of Normandy, the Falaise Gap, the Hurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. That is why I dedicated my new book to "...Sergeant Roger W. Cavender, my dad and real-life hero, and all those like him who have worn the uniform in the service of our country. Whether you have worn the uniform of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, or any law enforcement agency, fire department, or emergency medical services, this book is dedicated to you."

Because of the terrible changes sweeping over the United States, I pray that the sacrifices of my dad and all those like him will not be in vain. This is the reason why I wrote, The World Turned Upside Down: A forgotten man's view of our fractured and upturned world.

The World Turned Upside Down

Why is the World Turned Upside Down?
In our nation, where once scholars roamed the halls of academia, we now have socialists, anarchists, and even avowed terrorists donning professor’s robes....Where people were once innocent until proven guilty, they are now found to be guilty, despite their innocence, by the prosecutorial mainstream media and in the court of public opinion....Where the anti-establishment of the 1960s and ‘70s have now become the establishment of the past three decades....Where once policemen and servicemen were revered and honored and criminals, thugs, and enemies were reviled and abhorred, now the reverse is true....Where we now have people who kneel during the playing of our national anthem, yet fewer and fewer people are kneeling in prayer in our houses of worship....Where once the Judeo-Christian principles on which our nation was founded were valued and protected, our principles are being demeaned and attacked. Is this not the world turned upside down?

---

Where to Buy The World Turned Upside Down

Amazon