BUZZ MAGAZINE – Cammie Corlas Quinn has been writing uplifting stories about small-town life for over twenty-five years. Now, those stories are part of a heartfelt collection.
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Going Home: Stories of Small-Town Central Illinois is a charming, nostalgic book about the joys, struggles, and love that Quinn experienced while growing up in rural Illinois in the 1960s and 1970s.
“I enjoy sharing stories of hope whenever possible,” said Quinn. “The book offers a positive lens from which to view life’s struggles, and to find glimmers of hope to keep walking.”
The book is available in paperback, hardback, and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. The hardback version with a dust jacket may also be ordered online from Barnes & Noble and Walmart.
Quinn, the oldest child in a family of eight, grew up in Auburn, 20 miles south of Springfield. During Quinn’s childhood, the population of the town was around 2,500. Her father worked for Sangamo Electric, while her mother was a correspondent for the Auburn Citizen and State Journal-Register in Springfield.
In 1977, Quinn earned a degree from Lincoln Land Community College. She then continued her studies at Illinois State University, graduating with a B.S. in 1979 and an M.S. in 1991. Her master’s thesis at ISU evolved into a highly regarded book, Lincoln’s Springfield in the Civil War, which remains a standard for area researchers.
Quinn and her husband, Kevin, raised two children in small-town Lexington, north of Bloomington-Normal, where she submitted stories to editor Laurie Sleeter for The Lexingtonian. One of her submissions, “My Favorite Christmas Present,” won first place for feature writing in the 2017 Illinois Press Association newspaper contest, and is now included in her new book, Going Home.
In 2023, Quinn released Follow the Wind Home, a compelling Civil War-themed novel drawn on her professional and personal experiences. As in her novel, Quinn’s thoughtful, well-organized writing style in Going Home: Stories of Small-Town Central Illinois inspires the reader to keep turning the pages and consider her words in relation to their own lives.
The 160-page work includes 28 real-life stories and eight poems, all with vivid imagery. Many of the stories were written by Quinn for newspapers, while some were especially for this work. All of the stories are based on the experiences of her youth in rural Illinois.
“The most comical story in the book is based on an incident at my grandfather’s farm in the 1960s, when a herd of cows chased my brothers and me,” laughed Quinn. “For decades afterwards, I had nightmares about cows chasing me.”
Quinn’s formidable writing skill is rooted in Christian beliefs, as well as love, family, and personal growth. Bible verses are sprinkled throughout the work, adding to its thought provoking themes.
Many of the snippets in Going Home describe simple moments with deeper meanings, ones that strike an emotional chord for both young and old alike. While warm and lighthearted on the surface, her stories and poems are infused with a quiet depth shaped by personal hardship, including the loss of her right eye to cancer in 2003. There are also four stories of fiction, some of which are based on actual events. One story is created from a true account of several prominent Auburn citizens, who were arrested and held at the Confederate penitentiary in Alton for helping a Southern soldier escape.
“Another fictional story was inspired by my grandfather’s family, who immigrated in 1909 from Marles-les-Mines, France to Auburn to work in the coal mines, as did several other Auburn families,” remarked Quinn.
Quinn’s words pen a loving portrait of gardeners, grandparents, teachers, and other often unappreciated people who shape their communities and the people who grow up there.
“The book is a tribute of gratitude to my hometown,” said Quinn, “and to the small-town people there who made a profound difference in my life.”
Going Home is adorned with a visually striking cover by artist Glen Wheelus and designer Eric Elder. Wheelus also created eight interior sketches based on photographs taken by Quinn’s mother in the 1960s and 1970s.
Quinn says the cover “symbolizes our universal pilgrimage; leaving home, passing the cemetery, crossing the bridge, and ascending into the radiant light of eternity.”
“I hope that readers of Going Home, whether they are longing for their hometown, grieving a loss, or simply seeking a deeper sense of peace, will find a quiet place to rest, remember, and look forward with hope,” reflected Quinn.
For more information on Quinn, visit her website at cammiecorasquinn.com.
This story originally printed in the December 2025 issue of The Prairie Land Buzz Magazine, http://www.thebuzzmonthly.com.
