MANSFIELD — Mark Sebastian Jordan’s second book with The History Press will be released on Sept. 18.
“The Witch of Mansfield: The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise” delves into the folklore of north central Ohio to find the truth behind the legend of Mansfield’s witch.
The infamously eccentric Phebe Wise cut a memorable figure in Mansfield history, making impacts that in time became known worldwide.
Jordan’s previous book, “The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm,” was a featured selection of the Ohioana Library, was presented on WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland in an extended Halloween segment with Leon Bibb, featured on the podcasts Most Notorious and The Squeaky Door, as well as in several media features throughout the region.
Jordan, the history columnist for Knox Pages, has spoken throughout Ohio as a storyteller, historian, and poet. He has won awards from the Ohio Arts Council and numerous writing prizes.
He has written program notes and presented music appreciation programs for the Mansfield Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, Mid Ohio Civic Opera, and the Knox County Symphony.
The new book is now available for pre-order through major retailers and at ArcadiaPublishing.com.
The back cover blurb:
“Meet one of Richland County’s most colorful citizens.
“There are those who thought Phebe Wise was a witch. More thought that the cranky old lady was “tetched,” meaning crazy. And she was crazy — like a fox. An eccentric who outwitted violent robbers, a mad stalker, and a society that expected her to marry and raise children, Phebe alternated between dressing up in men’s clothes and strutting to town in an antique ball gown, the trail dragging behind her in the dirt.
“If anyone had the gall to stare, she’d cuss them out. She was in touch with a different world, and she used it to help launch the career of a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Louis Bromfield. Local author and historian Mark Sebastian Jordan unravels the myth and history of Phebe Wise.”
Mark Jordan will be selling and autographing copies at Malabar Farm State Park’s Ohio Heritage Days fall festival on Sept. 23 & 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. He will also be debuting The Buckeye Bookery, his curated collection of Ohio-related used books, priced to sell as a project to promote Ohio history and culture.