New non-fiction book is on sale now on Barnes and Noble.

The Lonely Grave - How a Homestead Murder in South Dakota Brought Closure 100 Years Later by Sue Speck, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

The Lonely Grave: How a Homestead Murder in South Dakota Brought Closure 100 Years Later

A brutal murder.

A community shocked.

A suspect proclaiming his innocence.

To the homesteaders who settled this untamed land of Dakota Territory, what affected one of them, affected all of them. And the motive shook them to their core.

As the years slipped into decades and then into a new century, new questions arose, spurred by the unusual placement of a grave on the outskirts of a cemetery. Who was this woman and why was she buried so far away? So lonely.

My investigation opened the doors that led to the answers to multiple questions that family members and the community had been asking for years. 

The Lonely Grave is the true story of an old murder that still makes people gasp and the continuing compassion of a community that never stopped caring.

The non-fiction book brings modern relevance to a murder from the pioneer days. It also examines the psychological effects that the harsh conditions of homesteading had on the pioneers. 

Authors Note: 

I covered many big city murder cases and trials in my career as a television reporter in Houston, Texas, but an old murder case in a tiny country cemetery is equally as compelling. And with more layers added by time.

I first heard about the case when I was young because my father grew up just a few miles from where the murder happened. (Albeit decades later.) I asked my dad about it a few years ago when he was well into his 90's. He didn't know much about the details, but the 90-year-old gentleman was able to guide me directly to where I needed to go to get the answers. And that's a story itself.

My investigation led to answers to questions that family members had been asking for years. I'm humbled and honored to bring closure for them. 

All those years of covering crime and murder trials in Houston provided an excellent foundation for researching and writing this book. Some of the high-profile murder cases and trials I covered include the Andrea Yates multiple murder case, the Clara Harris murder case and the Railcar Killer serial murder case. 

The Lonely Grave - How a Homestead Murder in South Dakota Brought Closure 100 Years Later by Sue Speck, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

Sue Speck is also the author of another non-fiction book. The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter is the story of Porter Sculpture Park.

The Depth of Porter Sculpture Park: The Sculptor is also a Poet

A Poignant Mix of Poetry and Sculptures:

Many people see whimsy and fun in Wayne Porter's sculptures. And there's certainly plenty of that. But there's also a deeper side to the man and his art as you'll see in the following video featuring one of his poems. 

The story behind the sculptures, which I detail in my book, reveals a level of depth that surprises many people who usually just see his affable exterior. Wayne is also a poet and his poem "American Gothic - Shepherd's Dream," written to go with the sculpture, exemplifies that intensity.

The full, poignant story behind the poem and the sculpture is in my book, "The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter," which is on sale at the Barnes & Noble website. 

The poem featured here named "American Gothic - Shepherd's Dream" is displayed on a sign near the corresponding sculpture at Porter Sculpture Park near Montrose, South Dakota.

Tourism season for Wayne's sculpture park runs from May 15 to October 15. There is a sculpture index in the book that you can use as a reference to get details on the art when you take a self-guided tour. 

    

The Power of the Bull Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter: The Story of Porter Sculpture Park by Sue Speck, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter - The Story of Porter Sculpture Park

A true story about audacity, tenacity and the American Dream

The Power of the Bull Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter: The Story of Porter Sculpture Park by Sue Speck, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

Video

Wayne Porter is a small town, self-taught sculptor who had no art world experience or connections when he launched his sculpture park by planting his massive sculptures on the South Dakota prairie. It was the beginning of a journey that would eventually lead to national and international acclaim.

It wasn't easy.

How did he overcome the odds and get the grit to land on the list of America's top roadside attractions? "The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter" tells the story of Porter Sculpture Park. As you read through the pages of my book, you'll find in-depth insight into Wayne's his life, his art, his art processes, his influences and inspiration, his business planning and how he first had to overcome himself. 

When you think about the improbability of someone starting from where he did and ending up as a known artist and art entrepreneur, it's both astonishing and inspiring. My book takes you through the steps of his artistic and business journey in detail: the ups, the downs, the funny moments, and even the scary moments. 

There's a sculpture index in the book that you can use as a reference for details about the art when you visit the sculpture park and take a self-guided tour. Wayne is on-site at the park but is greeting all visitors so he can't venture far from the welcome center to give individual tours. However, he does like to chat with all the visitors.

An authorized art biography with 50 photos, the "Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter" is available now on the Barnes and Noble website. 

Sue Speck is also the author of another non-fiction book: The Lonely Grave: How a Homestead Murder in South Dakota Brought Closure 100 Years Later. 

The Scale at Porter Sculpture Park: Just how big is that horse?

                                 

Most people would wager that Wayne Porter has the biggest horse in South Dakota, maybe in the nation. I might even put it up at against any horse in the world.

Weighing in at about 40 tons, the horse sculpture is 40-feet-tall by 50-feet-long. His bull's head centerpiece in the park is even bigger at 60-feet-tall. For perspective, that's as big as the faces on Mount Rushmore, which is located in the western part of South Dakota. (The sculpture park is in the eastern part of the state on Interstate 90 about 30 minutes from Sioux Falls, SD and on the way to Mount Rushmore as you travel South Dakota.)

In above photo, with Wayne sitting on his hammer, the hammer looks taller than the horse because I shot the picture with the hammer in the foreground. But the hammer is tall too. It's 28 feet high.

One of the questions visitors to the sculpture park often ask is: How could one man create such large sculptures by himself? My book answers the how, the why, and what he had to overcome.

"The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter" is available now at Barnes and Noble. 

The Power of the Bull Inside the Head of Sculptor Wayne Porter: The Story of Porter Sculpture Park by Sue Speck, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

Who am I and why I hope you'll enjoy my books

Everything I've ever done came together when I wrote my first book: The Power of the Bull: Inside the Head of Wayne Porter. I'm a writer, a photographer and an artist so it makes sense that I would write a book a photo-filled book about a sculptor.

Most of my journalism career was on-air in television news, but I've also done radio news and began my news career as a writer-editor on the national desk of an international news wire service. So I'm kind of a hybrid author: a mix of print and broadcast news who knows how to artfully blend words and images. "The Power of the Bull" contains more than 40 photographs.

What also qualifies me to write a book about Porter Sculpture Park is not just because I know something about art because I'm an artist, but because I also know Wayne Porter. That means I wrote the book with inside insight. We grew up in the same small community so I've known him since I was four or five-years-old when his mother was my baby-sitter: two little kids playing in his backyard oblivious to how our lives would diverge and then re-converge in this book.

After I moved away from South Dakota to do big city news, my parents kept me posted about what Wayne was creating at his father's blacksmith shop back home. They and my brother always took me to see Wayne's work when I came home for visits.

When I returned to South Dakota for several years to help my elderly parents, I took a fresh look at Wayne's work and decided it was time to share his art and his life through my words and photography.

So, yes, everything I've done prepared me for who I am now and what I do now: seeing life though a different lens with much more life experience and the fresh perspective that growth brings.