Coming Home: A Stranger in The Smokies

While reporting on the manhunt for terrorist Eric Rudolph in the Smoky Mountains of Appalachia, journalist John Christensen becomes fascinated by people in a town hard hit by economic misfortune. His initial assignment is complete. He returns often over the next eighteen months to document their passion and resilience.

In a region famously suspicious of strangers, he visits with a soulful country singer, a converted New Yorker, a "hick" from Ohio, the scion of the leading family, and a shotgun-toting hermit.

Over coffee and meals, in their homes and businesses, even at a secret hideaway, he witnesses kindness and generosity, humor and hope, scandal and forgiveness, death and renewal.

But after losing his job in a corporate layoff, he sets the project aside.

He is in his 50s. At an age when his peers are retiring, he must start over at the worst of times. His industry is shrinking. He must contend with the dot-com meltdown, the Great Recession, a pandemic, and yet another recession, all while haunted by self-doubt, failure, and depression.

When he finally revisits the Appalachia manuscript years later, he discovers something that had escaped his notice before, something that could change his life. But there's a catch: he must include a story he never thought he'd have to tell - his own.

"Coming Home: A Stranger in The Smokies " is an upbeat and uplifting story with a message of hope for those who refuse to give up.