Avatar, is now adding writer to his résumé.
The 68-year-old actor is getting ready to release his first book,
“The Wheatfield,” which is based on a true encounter between soldiers of opposing sides during the Battle of Gettysburg.
The book tells “the true story of James Jackson Purman, a Union Lieutenant, whose life was
saved by a Confederate soldier during battle.”
Stephen said in a statement, “What was so compelling to me about the story was the fact that, after he was severely wounded in bloody fighting in The Wheatfield, Purman was saved by a Confederate soldier, Tom Oliver, while the battle still raged. Was this an enemy? A friend? Or can one be both? It struck me that in a personal and intimate way this was the story of the entire war. I felt that it would be challenging and useful to tell the story in a way that young people could understand because the themes or lessons of the story are both simple and beautiful: that no matter what our differences may be, no matter what divides us, there is a far deeper and more profound spirit of compassion and solidarity that binds us together as human beings, a lesson that we are never too young or old to learn. The fact is that a man reached out to ease another man’s suffering despite wearing a different colored uniform. It is the living embodiment of Abraham Lincoln’s words: ‘We are not enemies. We must not be enemies.’ The relevance to current events is obvious.”