WINCHESTER AUTHOR Brigid Murphy Stewart and her friend and illustrator from Monteagle, Cheryl Lankhaar, have written and illustrated the children’s book “The Monteagle Assembly, Kinsley’s Story.” Published in June 2021, the book is about a fictional 11-year-old girl named Kinsley who enjoys attending the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (MSSA). Kinsley’s family and many of her friends’ families have come every summer for seven generations.
The MSSA is a religious and cultural community that has held its annual eight-week session of religious, cultural, and educational seminars for individuals and families since 1882. This historic community consists of 161 cottages nestled on Monteagle Mountain. Families from 23 states have come each summer for 140 years to hear speakers from all over the world.
Stewart and Lankhaar were so impressed with the history of the MSSA and the beautiful Queen Anne, Folk-Victorian, and Craftsman-style homes that they decided to create a children’s book about it.
As the story begins, Kinsley’s teacher asks the class where they will spend their summer vacation. Kinsley, without hesitation, responds, “My own special paradise — The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly.” Cradled on a Monteagle, Tennessee mountaintop, the Assembly is where Kinsley can spend time with her friends and loved ones and truly feel a sense of childhood freedom. It’s her own magical kingdom.
Author Brigid Murphy Stewart grew up in Nashville in a family of writers, journalists, and storytellers. She and her husband, Kevin, married and lived in Nashville for a few years, where she worked as a copy editor at The Tennessean before moving to Memphis. She became the editor and writer for the Cordova Beacon/Bartlett Express newspapers there. When her husband, Kevin, a full-time member of the Army National Guard, was transferred to Winchester in 1999, she served as a state correspondent for The Tennessean. She eventually became the director of Religious Education for the children’s programs at Good Shepherd Catholic Church until 2013, when she left to focus on writing.
Meanwhile, artist Cheryl Lankhaar settled in Monteagle in 2011 after living in California, Indiana, and Nashville, where she married Dr. Joe Wehrmeyer and raised their daughter. She had an unwavering passion for art throughout her 40-year professional career as a nurse practitioner.
In addition to children’s portraiture over the years, she began painting the beautiful architecture and landscapes in Sewanee and Monteagle.
When she discovered the MSSA community, she asked Stewart to help her create the book. Lankhaar’s ability to paint people, landscapes, and architecture perfectly matched Stewart’s ability to write a heart-warming children’s story that would give life to her illustrations.
She knew the long-time writer could perfectly depict with words what she expressed using illustrations.
The two began working in 2019. Lankhaar began illustrating after a trying recovery from breast cancer, just as the COVID-19 shutdown started in early 2020. Both Lankhaar and Stewart found it essential to take this opportunity to pour their hearts into creating an enchanting story, not just about the MSSA, but much more than that.
“We wanted something that unified people instead of all the division we saw,” Stewart said. “We wanted to write about childhood, the joy of faith and love handed down in families, and hope. Something that speaks to everyone.”
Lankhaar said, “We felt like we were trying to put something good out into the world when, in many ways, the world was kind of a scary place at that time.”
While Lankhaar’s illustrations are vibrant and appeal to children, the book’s content is for people of all ages. It includes maps of Franklin County and the surrounding area, from Cowan Station to the Mountain Goat Trail, and a game for children.
Stewart said, “It might be a children’s book, but it’s also for those children at heart.”
All who are interested can purchase books in Sewanee and Monteagle area stores. Signed books and prints are available on their website: https://TheAssemblyBook.square.site or by emailing them at Rememberedmyway@gmail.com. GN
