Author & Appleseed Supporter John Ross - RIP

[Maximum Ordinate]

It's with sadness I share that John Ross passed away on April 29th of natural causes.

Along with being an author, gunsmith, and pilot, Mr. Ross was also a strong Appleseeed supporter.  He hosted Appleseed events at the quarry on his property in Alton, Illinois, which was one of the first Designated Appleseed Ranges (DARs).

Many outside of Appleseed knew John as firearms expert and a afficianado of large bore revolvers.  Ross once collaborated with Smith and Wesson on a John Ross edition .500 Magnum revolver.

Still others knew him from his historical fiction novel, Unintended Consesquences.  His novel, viewed by some as controversial, introduced many to American gun culture and the continual threats to our 2A rights.


I learned of this today.  There will be services in University City, MO tomorrow.  Details are in his obituary here.  https://www.luptonchapel.com/obituary/john-ross

In Liberty,
MO

[Roswell]

He was one of my favorite authors and will be truly missed. He had been working on the sequel to "Unintended Consequences" at the time of his death. Hopefully, it will be published posthumously. If you didn't read his first novel, I HIGHLY suggest doing so.

[FiremanBob]

He was a really great American and his book is a valuable contribution to anyone who wants to understand our country. I hope he unfinished second book is published asap.

A quarry at his home? I had no idea of the extent to which he actually was Henry Bowman.

[Cmdr of Flying Saucer X-2]

Reading reviews of Unintended Consequences, I went to my go to online book seller to get a copy although no availability. I then went to the more popular book stores as well as dug back pretty far in search engine results looking for smaller book stores. It seems that due to the book being out of print for quite a while, you can't touch a copy for less than a Franklin.

I did find it in pdf for no charge: https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/129/Media/Unintended_Consequences.pdf

I truly would prefer to buy the book and support Mr. Ross (or in this case his family(?), however $100 is a bit too steep for me. If Mr. Ross is looking down, I hope he will be happy his message is getting out.

[FiremanBob]

X-2: Ross placed his book in the public domain in 2009. It has been out of print for a long time. Even if you find a copy, there would be no royalty on a second-hand sale. So feel free to download the pdf version.

[Roswell]

If you do want a physical copy "Unintended Consequences" and his other books are for sale through his publisher for $44

https://stlccw.com/product/unintended-consequences-softcover/

[300berg]

I finished reading Unintended Consequences and can very much recommend it.  If you can imagine Jeff Cooper and Tom Clancy collaborating on a book it would read much like his.

Excerpt: Jews in the Warsaw ghetto discussing resistance against Nazis, page 62 of the PDF above:

"A bunch of farmers said no to that army. They said they would not be ruled by a king. They said they were
going to determine their own destiny. Those farmers fought that world-class army, and they drove it all the
way back into Boston. The men in that world-class army who were still alive hid in Boston and were afraid
to come out because those farmers would kill them as soon as they did." He paused again and tried to make
eye contact with every man in the room.

"And that is why a famous American poet called it 'The Shot Heard 'Round the World'. It took a long time
for the sound of that shot to reach France, and Germany, and Italy, and Asia, but reach them it did. Do you
think there would have been a French Revolution if the Americans had not shown that it could be done?"
Most of the men in the room shook their heads involuntarily.

"In some countries, the people have not yet been able to wrest control of their destiny from tyrants. That is
why America has become the adopted home of many of the world's oppressed people.