Why "Grip Hands"?
The phrase comes from a poetic hymn written by West Point Chaplain H.S. Shipman around 1902. The hymn expresses how the current cadets gather strength from their predecessors. It is sung at graduations, memorial services, funerals, and alumni gatherings.
"Grip hands with us now though we see not, grip hands with us strengthen our hearts. As the long line stiffens and straightens with the thrill that your presence imparts. Grip hands tho’ it be from the shadows."
By pulling together this collection, presenting it to the West Point archives, and preparing a catalog, the author hopes these accounts of fictional West Pointers will inspire future West Pointers to firmly "grip hands" with their predecessors.
Selecting Books for the Collection
The initial criteria were straightforward: The book had to be fictional with a plot featuring West Point, the cadets, or a graduate. Any novel by a West Point graduate also qualified for inclusion. That held for the vast majority of works in the collection. However, gray areas soon arose.
How about memoirs by the wives of graduates who endured and recorded Army life and times, particularly in the 19th century? They were added as were books describing Army mascots and other animals, as well as novels and stories on the paranormal, supernatural, and futuristic. Then I discovered many West Point related stories in comic books and the pulp fiction magazines from the first half of the 20th century. Poetry, drama, and film could not be denied.
The collection grew steadily. “Mission creep,” you say? I suppose so, though let's think of it as “securing a better perimeter.”
West Pointers:
Imagine a copy of Grip Hands sitting on your coffee table! A curious guest cannot resist leafing through it...which will lead to a vibrant conversation on any of a dozen of your favorite topics!
As one reader commented: "I may need a bigger coffee table."
Designing the Catalog
From the Chapter "Army Aviation"
A Literary Buffet
Challenge: How to best present the collection so that a reader will see it as more than “a large pile of old books?” Displaying them alphabetically by author leaves the reader with little more than a card catalog with pictures...and not much insight. A chronological presentation based on publication date would give the reader some sense of the evolution of writing style and the significant events that motivated their writing, but no more absorbing that the alphabetical approach.
I found a “literary taxonomy” in grouping books with a similar plot focus together. Fortunately, the history of West Point and artistry of those who wrote about it provided an abundance of primary topics – from cadet life to the Civil War, winning the West, Army life and Army wives, and then the mascots and the supernatural. I am thankful for the many authors who put their minds to work, their pens to paper, and scratched out so many stories for our reading enjoyment and historical enlightenment.
Catalog Facts
Chapters
1. The Cadet Experience
2. The Cadet Series of Books
3. West Point Romances
4. Army Sports
5. Mascots & Other Army Animals
6. Paranormal, Supernatural & Futuristic
7. Women at West Point
8. Army Life & Army Wives
9. Soldiers of Fortune, Paladins & Rogues
10. Mystery, Crime & Intrigue
11. Army Aviation
12. Army Medical Service Corps
13. Revolution, War of 1812 & Thayer
14. Manifest Destiny
15. The Civil War
16. The World Wars
17. General Officers
18. In the Far East
19. The West Point Legacies
20. The Cold War & Global War on Terror
21. Poetry, Drama & Film
22. Remembering the “Old Corps”
23. West Point Candidates & Ex
24. Other Books by West Point Authors
Some of the Authors
Twenty writers authored 30% of the works in the collection.
John Wesley Howard (31)
Lt. John T. Hopper ** (18)
Charles King ** (17)
Jason Kasper ** (12)
P. G. Allison (11)
Jeff Shaara (11)
Brian Haig** (9)
Janet Lambert (8)
Russel Reeder ** (8)
Robert Sidney Bowen (7)
W.E.B. Griffin (7)
John M. Vermillion ** (7)
Henry “HAP” Arnold ** (6)
William Chamberlain ** (6)
Lt. Frederick Garrison (6)
Beverly C. Gray (6)
Ed Ruggero ** (6)
Paul Malone ** (6)
Richard H. Dickinson ** (5)
Tom Willard (5)
** West Point graduate
Visitor's Souvenir Post Card circa 1920
Some Statistics
Items in the Collection 645+
Authors 348
West Point Authors 83
Female Authors 70
The Catalog
Pages 516
Chapters 24
Items in the Catalog 635
Pictures/Illustrations 709
Examples From the Catalog
From Chapter 9:
Soldiers of Fortune, Paladins, Miscreants & Rogues
From Chapter 6:
Paranormal, Supernatural & Futuristic
From Chapter 20:
The Cold War and Global War on Terror
And there are over 600 more in Grip Hands Thru the Shadows.