Rebel Correspondent by Steve Procko is the true story of a young man who joined the Confederate army just days after his eighteenth birthday and served bravely for over two-and-a-half years until the war ended. Wounded twice, he emerged a changed person. But he wasn’t just a returning veteran; he was also a writer. Thirty-six years later, he would tell the world about his experiences.

Minute 9, Trailer of Rebel Correspondent
www.RebelCorrespondent.com
Minute 11, Interview resumes
Minute 27, Trailer of Captured Freedom (new book)
www.CapturedFreedom.com
Minute 29, Interview resumes


“Last Saturday morning my right arm was paralyzed again and I will try to write with my left hand so you can read this—it being my first effort. The cause is the result of a wound the Yank officer gave me at Campbellsville, Tenn., on Sept. 5, 1864. He had on a red sash. He shot me twice and killed my horse and I shot him or at least my aim was on him and he was shot as could be easily seen, so close were we.”
A.F. Shaw, December 5, 1901


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Procko never thought of himself as a Civil War history buff, let alone a biographer. He does love history, however, particularly learning about the small, everyday events in the lives of little-known people and the small towns they lived in.

A documentarian and cinematographer, Steve was sleuthing stories for a documentary series he has developed, “There’s History Around Every Bend,” currently available on YouTube, when he came across the writings of Private Arba F. Shaw.

The down-to-earth accounts of the everyday life of a lowly private just struggling to survive one of the greatest events in American history fascinated Steve. As he read the series of articles, mostly unread since they were published in a small, north Georgia newspaper in 1901-1903, he began to realize that this was a remarkable cache of history.

A native of Florida, Steve, with his Lauren and their dog Rigby, splits his time between a mountain log cabin nestled next to Stanley Creek near the town of Blue Ridge, Georgia, and a home in Ocala, Florida.

He opened a commercial film production company with a partner in 1984. In 2003 the company became Steve Procko Productions (SPP). His Emmy-award-winning financial literacy program Talkin’ Money Minutes is available on over 100 Public Television stations nationwide. SPP has also won three additional Emmys over fifty Addy Awards, Telly Awards, and two Promax awards.

When he’s not behind a video camera or researching the archives for his next documentary or book, Steve explores remote areas throughout the United States and Canada as a fine art photographer. He has had work displayed at The Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, as well as solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States.

Steve’s second book, Captured Freedom, another Civil War story about nine POW Union officers and their amazing escape, will be published in 2023. He also plans to develop documentaries about The Rebel Correspondent and Captured Freedom.