John Ehle is the author of seventeen books--eleven fiction and six nonfiction-- including Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. His novel, The Land Breakers, first published in 1964 by Harper & Row, was the first in a seven-book series that begins with the settling of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina.
Mr. Ehle is a member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, and has received the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Thomas Wolfe Prize and the Lillian Smith Award for Southern Fiction. He is also a five-time winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. He has been recipient of the Mayflower Award, the Governor's Award for Meritorious Service and the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities. Mr. Ehle holds honorary doctorates from UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Asheville, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Berea College.
April 4, 2006 – Press 53 Signs John Ehle to Reissue 1964 Classic Novel The Land Breakers
Press 53 will reissue John Ehle's classic novel, The Land Breakers, which tells the story of the first pioneers to settle in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. The Land Breakers was first published by Harper & Row in 1964 and went on to become a best-selling novel and winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award. Press 53 will release the novel in late June under its new imprint, Press 53 Classics.
June 3, 2006 – Harper Lee Praises John Ehle and The Land Breakers
Harper Lee, renowned author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, sent a personal, hand-written letter to Press 53, praising John Ehle's talent as a writer, and his novel The Land Breakers. In part, she wrote: "John Ehle’s meld of historical fact with ineluctable plot-weaving makes The Land Breakers an exciting example of masterful storytelling. He is our foremost writer of historical fiction." Press 53 will publish Ms. Lee's comments on the cover of The Land Breakers, along with comments by Robert Morgan, Pinckney Benedict and Ron Rash.
