By By JURGEN BOEREMA
news@wdnweb.com
Contributing Writer
BELHAVEN — Wine &Words/Back Bay Café customers were treated to an informal presentation of a local author’s work Friday.
The Rev. Jim Lupton signed copies of and gave several readings from his book “Pilgrimage of Grace” while the listening audience drank English tea.
The book follows Roger Lupton, a ancestor of Lupton’s.
Roger was born in Sedbergh, England, in 1456, and lived until 1540. He was provost of Eton College for 31 years during his lifetime. Lupton was chaplain to King Henry VII and executor of his will. He also was involved in the coronation of Henry VII, developing a friendship with the monarch. However, that friendship dissolved when he spoke out against the king’s policies.
Lupton’s readings showed his ancestor looking back on his life and the various adventures he had during turbulent changes in medieval England.
Lupton read one passage that highlighted the stark political situation in the country during that time: “England is in a financial mess. The king likes yes men around him, and won’t start war with the French. Not only is the king’s mind failing, but his body is in bad shape. He doesn’t know how to be king and England is paying a terrible price.”
Lupton is the priest in charge at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Engelhard. He also serves as a supply priest at St. James Episcopal Church in Belhaven.
Lupton, a Washington native, was an architect for 25 years before he felt the call to the ministry. Lupton said that he had always been interested in the subject matter of his book. He lived near a monastery while completing a master-of-arts degree in theology at the University of Notre Dame. Dom Wilfrid Weston, OSB abott, of the Nashdom Abbey in England. assisted Lupton with medieval research in the 1970s.
Lupton self-published his book after many years of work with a professional editor.
He said the editor gave plenty of helpful advice.
“I was told in today’s market that it is almost impossible to get something bought by a company. So, it is better to self-publish. I’ve sold about 150 copies so far since early November.”
Lupton is working on a second book about Roger Lupton’s life that he hopes will come out in January or February. Roger Lupton’s adventures get more intense as he gets involved further in palace intrigue and politics.
The author is of the family line of Kate Middleton, Prince William’s fiancee, but he cautioned that he has never met the 28-year-old Middleton.
“The only connection I have is that the school in Sedgeburg sent me some information that she had some distant relation to me,” he said.
Lupton is a member of the Screw Iowa Writers Group unit in Belhaven and the Pamlico Writers Group in Washington. He said that two groups were helpful in critiquing his work.
James McKelvey, Wine &Words/Back Bay Cafe owner, said he wanted to host Lupton for a specific reason.
“I know the feeling of having to work on a book and try and get it finished. My book, “Simply for the Love of It,” was about the work I used to do providing support services for people with developmental disabilities. Jim knew that, and we would talk back and forth. When he was done, he brought in a card that announced that the book was being published. So, I thought it would be appropriate to have an event.”