Peach still blossoming in Franklin

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.