From Hell to the Cross by Gerald W. Dupy

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ISBN Number 9780983798002

From Hell to the Cross by Gerald W. Dupy

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Smoke curled from the rough limestone chimney of a two-room log cabin, precariously perched on stacked stones, overlooking a dreary glade of cedar trees, miles from any other evidence of humanity. On this late April night, Norma Clinkenbeard Smith lay on her roughly-made bed in the back room of that cabin, in the final stage of childbirth. Notwithstanding the pain, Norma worried that the child about to be born would suffer the fate of her first-born, Virgie June. Norma had married Coy Smith while she was just 16. Before her 17th birthday, she was a mother. Within a week of Virgie Junes birth, Norma and Coy had laid the infant to rest. Now this child was coming several weeks prematurely, presenting an uncertain outcome for the child, its mother, or both. Death in the backwoods came as easily as life. And now, three years after Virgie Junes death, in this stark little cabin, with only a neighbor lady in attendance, Normas final labor pains began while Coy paced in the cabins front room. Outside, in the black of night, a gentle rain muted the yelps and blood-curdling howls of a pack of coyotes. Screech owls passed news among themselves in their own eerie language. And so begins the unlikely story of Ozarks-born Bill Smith, a native of Carroll County, Ark., who was born into poverty in 1941, took to gambling, music, and women at a very early age and went on despite his devil-may-care attitude to gain fame and fortune, only to throw it all away and start again many times over. The story of his life is told in a newly-released book, From Hell to the Cross, written by award-winning career journalist Jerry Dupy. Dupy says in the books preface, After nearly six months of interviews, both in person and by phone, Ive learned that Bill Smith is far more than meets the eye. He has escaped a childhood of poverty, a lifestyle of self-destruction and has found the path that led him, finally, to discover his faith. He has, by his own wits, created a whole new model for business and real estate dealings. And it just so happens that his guitar-playing prowess is hailed by some of country musics greatest stars. He actually is a legend in that world. The story will take the reader on the same death-defying joy ride Bill Smith traveled through most of his life. If life is a roller coaster, Bills has been more like a rocket ship ride with a madman at the controls. Despite his early Christian upbringing, Smith now admits freely that he refused to acknowledge the fact that a greater power was working to protect him though the many events when the natural outcome should have been his death. He escaped from crash after steel-rending car crash, usually unscathed; he looked down the barrels of many large caliber pistols aimed at his head and walked away to see another day; he lived through a deadly bus crash that killed his closest friend; and he lived to tell the tale of an armed attack when bullets flew and three men died. He even recounts an eerie event when he was visited by angels of Satan, who were trying very hard to convince him that if hed follow, theyd lead him to the paradise they called Hell. Through the urging of friends and family, and after finally having understood just how blessed a life hes lived, Smith said it was time to make amends by telling his story as a way to praise his savior, Jesus Christ. From Hell to the Cross is the result. I have had mixed emotions and a little pain in exposing this whirlwind journey to the Cross, Smith says. Nevertheless, I felt it was the only way to express my gratitude and amplify the awesome power of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the glory is His. Some great reviews have come from music greats Al Brumley, Jr., Moe Bandy, Tommy Overstreet, Wayne Carson, and Leona Williams giving praise to the book.

Title: From Hell to the Cross
ISBN: 9780983798002
Publisher: From Hell To The Cross Publishing
About the Author:
Gerald (Jerry) Dupy is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. He attended the Edward J. Meeman School of Journalism at Memphis State University and was hired as an editorial assistant at the now-defunct afternoon daily newspaper, The Memphis Press-Scimitar, at the age of 17. He advanced through the ranks at The Press-Scimitar to become assistant city editor before abandoning the city for the comforts of rural life in the Ozarks in 1973. His career in journalism continued, and he became editor or managing editor of five newspapers and editor of the regional magazine, The Ozarks Mountaineer. During his years in the Ozarks, he and his newspapers have garnered scores of Arkansas Press Association awards for editorials, features, photography and general content. Dupy retired in 2010 after 46 years in journalism. He and his wife, Paula, own a farm, ironically, not far from one of the schools this books subject, Bill Smith, attended in his early years in the little burg of Urbanette in northwest Arkansas. He is currently assembling a collection of his humorous essays and photos on life in the Ozarks and is researching Memphis in the late 1920s and 30s for an historical novel based on his grandfathers assignment to a special police unit charged with cleaning up a notoriously crime-ridden city.

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