Discover here the joyful, authentic, artistry and seasoned insight from a gentle Renaissance man. Author Richard Rouse has survived and thrived over nine decades with his clear-eyed optimism and generosity of spirit. Some memoir, some fiction—all infused with Obi-wanKenobi wisdom, Zane Grey romantic justice, and Dave Berry humor. Enjoy and grow with each short story.

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In Praise of The Fairy Ring

“Sometimes flamboyant, often suspenseful, yet never predictable, Richard Rouse’s stories are newly-minted folk treasures from the hills of Virginia.”
– Paul Salstrom, author, Appalachia’s Alternative to Mainstream America: A Personal Education

“Engaging characters, playful prose, and insightful reflections left me filled with a sense of ‘what if ’ about the world around me. Rouse’s stories stimulate the imagination while touching the heart.”
– Stephan Martin, author Cosmic Conversations

“I just finished reading “The Curse of the Pewter Candlesticks.” What a great idea for a story and a wonderful tradition, ritual, and legacy!”
– Lisa Verni, LCSW Psychotherapist, Writer, and Deeptime Leader

“Just like Old Man River my dad just keeps rollin’ along…having the interest, drive and capability of writing a second entertaining book at age 93 is pretty amazing. “The Reluctant Gunfighter” takes me back to our working the farm dressed like cowboys. Don’t deny it, Dad, I have pictures! Thank you for sharing these great stories!”
– Steve Rouse, author and Farming Comedian

The Welcome Home Door

Lighthearted, humorous storytelling from a seasoned traveler firmly grounded now in rural Southern Appalachia. With a love of character and community, Richard Rouse delights readers with subtle details of relationships, adjusting to country life, the wisdom of nature and the landscape of domestic negotiations. Americana with a twist. Regional yet global. Snapshots and slices of life.

Stories include Appalachian tales of family and community, suburban humor of picking out Mother’s Day presents, a Who-Done-It with a lady sheriff solving the crime and porcine humor— from an encounter with a flying pig to getting a stray piglet tipsy! Characters are wise, clueless, young, old, eager and reluctant. Clever and delicious, tender and thoughtful, read these aloud or enjoy the wisdom and humor alone.

About the Author

Born in Syracuse, NY, Richard Rouse spent his early years with his siblings playing in the cabbage barns and truck farm fields of peas and potatoes near Preble, New York.  His father joined the work of rebuilding a nation after the Great Depression finally settling the family in far northern NY. 

Always engrossed in a project to build or study, while still in high school young Rouse built a boat, a garden for the family, telescopes, radios, model airplanes, sculpted with iron and wood, and flew light aircraft at the local airport. He later built an astronomy observatory attached to his house.

He became a journeyman carpenter working summers and after school with his father’s growing construction business. Following his father into the field of industrial construction and structural steel fabrication, Rouse successfully rose through the ranks and led the company for a number of years to record achievements.

After adventures exploring the west, rock-hounding, living on the sea, and in New Orleans, he dreamed of settling in a location where he could renew his childhood interests in honey bees, natural food systems, and self-sufficiency. 

A child of the Depression, he found entertainment in the natural world, inspiration from overcoming hardship, and humor from the human condition. Tales of home, adventure and delight began to form into creative writing in his seventh decade. As a lifelong avid reader, lover of Gilbert and Sullivan music, and keen observer of people, at the age of 88, these tales coalesced into his first volume in print, The Welcome Home Door and Other Stories.

His travels eventually led him to settle in rural Southern Appalachia where he resides with his wife, writing, gardening, growing woodland mushrooms, and tinkering with renewable energy systems.

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