Bill Peach
had a long and distinguished career in the retail apparel business, but through
his years as a writer, he’s never labored to fit his words to the fashion of
the day.
Peach, whose
fifth book, “The Eye of Reason,” is forthcoming, describes himself as a liberal
democrat and a rational Christian, and his books of essays on wide-ranging
themes reflect that turn of mind. His abiding interests are best summed up in
the title of one of those tomes: “Politics, Preaching & Philosophy.”
One of
Peach’s favorite subjects is the Humanist movement of the late Middle Ages, led
by Erasmus, Descartes, Pascal and a handful of other thinkers, that helped
dispel the darkness of religious superstition. He sees a kindred revolution
afoot today, one aimed at rescuing the Bible from the fundamentalists.
“A lot of
people, especially young people, want spirituality and moral teaching without
necessarily a church affiliation,” he says. “And moral teaching can be
retrieved (from the Bible) if we break away from dogma.
“I feel compelled
to defend the moral aspect of Christianity.”
Bill Peach
dropped out of college halfway through his senior year, but what was past was
prelude. He went to night school while working days at a men’s clothing store
on the square in Franklin. He finished the 15 hours needed for his
undergraduate degree at MTSU night school in 1988. (He bought out the store’s
owner in 1981.) He took undergrad courses in philosophy at Lipscomb in 1998,
2008 and 2010. All told, his career as a student spanned seven decades, which
he reckons must be some sort of record.
Peach knew
early on that he needed to read in order to learn, but it wasn’t until he was
nearing 30 that the writing bug bit him. He wrote a Letter to the Editor, in
1964, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Franklin,
which won him some fans and convinced him he could write. In 1971, he wrote a
one-act play, “To Think as a Pawn,” which got performed locally and received
good reviews.
His family
urged him to write a memoir, which he did, of sorts. “The South Side of Boston”
was a story seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old boy, whose inability to
understand Southern culture, including its religion and mythology, “gave it its
illogic,” Peach says.
Peach closed
his store in 2003, and since then he’s devoted himself to writing and to
encouraging other local writers. He’s just reached a milestone (200 posts) on a
blog he started over two years ago, “Bill Peach’s Random Thoughts: Politics,
Preaching & Philosophy” (Bill Peach's Random Thoughts), from which the
essays for his soon-to-be-released “The Eye of Reason” have been culled. (The
title is from Ben Franklin: “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of
reason.”)
He’s the founder of Authors Circle, a group of local writers that
meets to swap ideas and share work. (See Authors Circle)
Most any day, he can be found
at his unofficial “office,” Merridee’s Breadbasket on the square. (Maybe his table
should be called the Peach Basket.)
Authors
Circle will be sponsoring a book signing this Saturday, June 30, at The Factory
in Franklin, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thirteen local authors will be present. And
Authors Circle will have a booth at this year’s Southern Festival of Books. For
more info on these and other events and about Authors Circle, contact Bill
Peach at billpeach@att.net or
615.306.1731.
