FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Charlottesville, VA – Monday, March 5, 2007.  Many people mistakenly assume that colonial America began in New England, but an older and richer story lies under the woods and meadows of Jamestown, Virginia.  As the 400^th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown approaches this May, it will be a banner year for the study of America’s first colony.  Until now, the viewpoints on what happened there are divided between those who celebrate Jamestown as a triumph of human endeavor and those that lament it as the beginning of the end of North America’s Indians.  In a spectacular book by Avery Chenoweth with images by famed photographer Robert Llewellyn, EMPIRES IN THE FOREST deftly strikes a balance between these two views and reveals a more intimate portrait of the legendary Jamestown characters than has ever before been seen. 

Using a strong foundation of historical research, Chenoweth takes an unusual psychological approach to tell the story, exploring the mindsets of figures like Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, and Opechancanough.  Chenoweth writes, “While scholars provide facts and dates, and journals conspiracies and temperaments, the interior lives of the Powhatan and English will always remain mysterious...Those were the people that Bob and I tried to find and understand….Empires in the Forest is our attempt to present them as living individuals in their moment.”  Accompanied by breathtaking photographs of Tidewater landscapes and of re-enactments of the signal events in Jamestown’s founding, what results is a unique work that mixes fact, informed speculation, and insightful psychoanalysis.

A story of empires, EMPIRES IN THE FOREST discusses the Powhatan nation, which covered much of present-day Virginia, and its paramount chief, a man known, fittingly so, as Powhatan.  Chenoweth expertly explains Powhatan’s role as the peace chief of the nation, and that of his kinsman Opechancanough, who served as war chief.  Together, they oversaw a confederation that stood united against various warlike tribes.  The second empire is that of English.  Again, Chenoweth vividly outlines how they maneuvered successfully against the Spanish for a colonial foothold in North America and how Captain Smith was surprisingly similar in temperament to his nemesis Powhatan. 

In addition to presenting a full, panoramic view of the two forces that were destined to collide at Jamestown, EMPIRES IN THE FOREST also makes an unprecedented exploration of the complicated relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas, and of Pocahontas herself, in particular.  Focusing on a largely unknown thread in the Jamestown story, Chenoweth delves into Smith’s fear of losing his mind, his experience of being kidnapped and almost being killed by his own men, and many other seminal experiences to create a riveting portrait of a man very different from the swashbuckling explorer with whom America is familiar.  EMPIRES IN THE FOREST also reveals in Pocahontas a fascinating young woman who repeatedly inserts herself in instances of extreme violence to act as a peacekeeper.  How these two isolated and extraordinary people interacted with each other and with those around them, and how history hinged upon their actions, are things that Chenoweth examines in great depth and vivid detail.  

While John Smith, Pocahontas, Rolfe and the others have now become American legends, EMPIRES IN THE FOREST reminds us that they were people first, humane and inhumane, torn with conflict. Almost a motion picture in stills, this exceptional collaboration between author Avery Chenoweth and photographer Robert Llewellyn takes the reader on a journey in time and empathy, to the edge of history where America began — and then back, with a new perspective on how the American Identity became what it is today.

A conversation with…

Author Avery Chenoweth and photographer Robert Llewellyn

 

 Question: This May marks the 400^th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.  What are your thoughts on the celebration planned and the visit by the Queen of England?

 Answer: “Now is a great time to realize that, in fact, America is a coalition culture – not a melting pot.  As evidenced clearly at Jamestown in 1607, we are a country built upon cultures in conflict that find a way to work and make something new together.  I also think it’s a mistake to call this a celebration.  The English settlers at Jamestown survived against tremendous odds, but also at a great cost to the Powhatan people.   

 

Question: Jamestown is an elemental part of Virginia’s inheritance, but why is it important to the rest of the country?

 Answer: “In 1606, 13 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, 108 English settlers landed at Jamestown to establish the first colony.  This spectacular – and often tragic – endeavor marks the beginning of the American story.  More than four centuries later, the famous people of the Jamestown story, namely John Smith and Pocahontas, have become American legends.  They inspire books and movies, myth and entertainment.  But they were people first.  Knowing more deeply who they were…rebellious, volatile, tenacious, rugged, depressed, fiercely individual, loyal, and forgiving…allows us to better know our American Identity.        

 

Question: The story of John Smith and Pocahontas is familiar.  Or is it?  Is there something new about this story that we have not heard?

 Answer: “Most people know Smith as a swashbuckling explorer, and Pocahontas as a young Indian girl who saved him from execution by her father by laying her head on top of his.  They also are familiar with the story that the Powhatan, Pocahontas’ tribe, brought food to the settlers and saved them from starvation, only to be decimated several years later.  What is not widely known is that Pocahontas met Rolph, the man she would marry, while in captivity.  And very few know that John Smith’s own men tried to kill – twice.  Smith’s intermittent violence towards the Powhatan was thought too risky by the men, who were hanging on to survival by a thread.  In their paranoia, they also worried that he was plotting to conspire with the Powhatan to kill them and become the King of Virginia. 

 

 Question: Though her name is as familiar as Martha Washington’s, very little, in fact, has been said about Pocahontas.  What did you learn about her while writing this book?

 Answer: Pocahontas is a fascinating psychological subject.  My research led me to believe that not only did she very likely save John Smith from execution, but it also appears that she saved 15 to 20 other people during her lifetime as well, both Indians and settlers.  She constantly interfered in the violence as a peacekeeper.  This really moved me.   

 

Question: Your psychological approach to Jamestown’s story is unique.  Why made you decide to do this?

 Answer: “Initially, we set out to write a book about the 400 years of Virginia’s history.  Of course, a critical part of our research entailed Jamestown.  As I dug deeper into the archives and documents, I found a part of Jamestown’s history – hair-raising history, at that – that, unbelievably, had not been told.  Documents show that both John Smith and Pocahontas were, at different times, kidnapped.  But in all my research, it appeared that scholars had underestimated the pure fear associated with this kind of experience.  For the first time, I began to think of Smith, Pocahontas, Rolfe, and Pocahontas’ father as real people.  I became intrigued by whom they actually were as men and women…what they thought about, what motivated them, and what they loved, hated, and feared.  I deeply believe that knowing them better, gives me (and hopefully, our readers) a better understanding of an important part of our American Identity.”

 

Question: What did you do to walk around in their shoes, so to speak?

 Answer:  “In addition to pouring through historical material on Jamestown, I felt it was key to go there and try really to separate myself from my own life.  I remember one day in late August when I was alone on Jamestown Island.  It was quiet, and the landscape was lush…even sensual.  I left my clothes on the beach and swam by the shore.  At that point, it became clearer to me than ever before what it must have been like to for both the Powhatan to live, worship, eat and bath there everyday.  What also came into focus was how foreign, delightful and frightening the land and its native people must have been to the English settlers.  For me, it was sort of a baptism into life at Jamestown.” 

 

Question: These photographs that Bob Llewellyn shot make it look like you went back in time to the 1600’s.  How did he get these? 

 Answer: “The Indians that you seen in the story are actually descendents of the Powhatan people from Jamestown.  It seemed only right for them to portray their ancestors.  The images of Smith, Pocahontas, Rolfe and the others are re-enactments of the signal events of the Jamestown founding.  Most important to us, was for the images to evoke what the mood must have been like during these seminal moments.  One very bizarre coincidence happened shortly after the shoot.  The actor playing John Smith was killed in motorcycle accident on the same day that Smith was to be executed.  It was tragic.  Just thinking about it gives me chills…”

 

 Question: As a writer, how do you navigate the line between fact and fantasy in this book?

 Answer: “With extreme care. No one gains anything if I blur the line, and so throughout the book I take pains to point to every different path in the story—this way lies myth, that is what the scholars think, and this is what I think based on what I’ve read, and as a step into psychology that way invariably entails making assumptions.”

 

Question: What do you hope people will carry away with them from reading your book? 

 Answer: “My hope is that people will see beyond the Jamestown legend and find a deeper understanding of the mindsets of these people.  The connection, as frustrated and unrequited as it was, between John Smith and Pocahontas is heartbreaking and moving in the extreme…and history hinged on this.