William R. Truran

The life of an author

Hello, reader, let me tell you about myself.

I have spent half a century as an

engineer and technology professor. Making order out of chaos has been a

calling for me, my job and career. After getting my Ph.D., I wanted to

alter my viewpoint to explore the depths of history. In particular, my

area of Sussex County, New Jersey has its own unique history—as does

any area in the world. For me, I could see the “minerals, mining, and miners” aspect of my

county. I have had the good fortune to be the Sussex County Historian for a few years now,

and to help guide our young people, and older ones too, to our heritage.

One lifelong aspiration was to honor our school tree—The Old Oak Tree—now well-labeled and

celebrated. I helped to get the local mineral to be honored: Franklinite is the New Jersey State Mineral.

We worked with students in the local schools to write to the state legislators and “get‘er done” so

they could see that they could make a difference, as Margaret Mead said,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;

indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Another important commitment I find is to partner

with the Smithsonian Institution to bring the Franklin area to national recognition as a place

where poor locals and ragged immigrants came from around the world to find a good home for

their families.

In addition to bringing artifacts and landscape to life through

identification and writing, I see deeper meaning to be had with my

work. While science and technology—my career—

helps to make order out of chaos and helps relieve basic burdens

from our lives, understanding history and our heritage can make our

quality of life more attractive and interesting. Writing with depth on

a journey into one’s head might give insight to how we tick and what

might ease the mind of its own internal burdens. How? How might I

be able to help make the world a better place?

Perhaps I can make a difference by providing examples on how

these local Revolutionary War men thought and reacted in their

human ways might give others guidance and meaning to their own

actions. This I try to do through the American Decision Series.

Perhaps I can by documenting the immigrant miners’ dangerous jobs

and earnest work ethics that gave value to themselves and their

families. This I try to do through working with the Smithsonian

Institution and several books and videos I have done.

Perhaps I can by teaching the youth. In the last couple of years, I

have had the great fortune of working with local school kids to help

them gently remind legislators of good stewardship and this

succeeded in getting the local mineral Franklinite to become the NJ

State Mineral. Judge Ogden making the right choice in his deadly

dilemma. These can be examples, portraits in character if you will,

that can help make the world a better place.

Perhaps I can through highlighting good qualities of people I have

known, encountered, or read about. These I call, on my Substack

Inspiring History site, as Portraits of Character. These projects

represent a passion that I possess to help make the world a better

place through exploring, identifying, writing, and interpreting during

my time on this planet.