Meet the Author: Gail Combs Oglesby

Please join us in welcoming Gail Combs Oglesby to the Port Huron Museum for a discussion, reading and signing of her most recent novel “Her Last Full Measure.”

Set in the Port Huron, Michigan area, Millicent is enjoying life on the farm with her husband and children, but when Abraham Lincoln is elected President, her world is shaken in ways she never imagined. Their lives are turned upside down when her husband follows his values and ideals and enlists in the army to support the abolitionist movement.
This decision leads to a string of events occurring whereby Millicent is truly tested to her core as she and her children face many challenges. Millicent’s endurance throughout all these trials and tribulations is nothing short of heroic. This sentiment is captured beautifully when Leo, the husband of one of Millicent’s friends, states, “You know Millie, your husband is not the only one who has been heroic these many months. You have been as well. You have faced many difficulties during his absence. Dealing with each of these things was your own act of valor and courage. It is easy for one to lie down and simply give up when life overwhelms you, but you did not do that. You fought back, for yourself and your children and you, my dear, are to be commended.”

This statement could not be truer. Moreover, it does justice to the suffering and hardship that many women went through during this time, even though they were not on the battlefields themselves. They still had to work, care for families, earn money, run businesses all during a time when this was not the primary role of women. They were forced to adapt to an entirely foreign lifestyle with little preparation or assistance.

***A limited number of books will be available for purchase at the event. “Her Last Full Measure” is the third book in The Centenary Chronicles by Gail Combs Oglesby, and has received five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company. The author has noted that the books are stand alone with small spoilers for the prior book, as each one follows a female descendant from the book before. Her books are also available through Amazon and Ingram.

About the Author:
Gail Combs Oglesby was born and raised in Westland, Michigan where she graduated from John Glenn High School. She also and lived for many years in California and Texas. She now calls suburban Nashville, Tennessee her retirement home which she shares with her husband and fur kids. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of San Francisco in Human Resources, as well as a Doctorate in Business Administration from California Coast University. For over thirty-five years, she worked in leadership roles in the Human Resources function in a variety of industries and from that experience published, HR Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Finding and Getting a Great Job which can be found on Amazon. When not working, the passion that has bewitched her for the last fifty years has been genealogy. Originally the spell was cast while trying to solve a family mystery, which took nearly forty years to uncover. Today, access to online databases and DNA has helped her, and thousands of others to make those connections to the past and Gail can often be found helping others with their search. Through that work, she deeply admired what our ancestors, especially the women, have endured so that we could be here today. Her mission is now to bring their experiences to life through her writing and celebrate the ordinary women whose accomplishments were anything but ordinary.