New Book by Dr. Brent L. Kendrick Identifies Lost Colonial Essayist Alexander Gordon

Dr. Brent L. Kendrick’s research identifies Alexander Gordon as a pioneering Southern satirist, restoring a lost chapter of U.S. literary history.

EDINBURG, VA, UNITED STATES, November 6, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- EDINBURG, VA – November 2025 — After years of literary sleuthing, Dr. Brent L. Kendrick, former English and Humanities professor at Laurel Ridge Community College, has solved what is perhaps the greatest literary mystery in American literature. His new book, Unmasking The Humourist: Alexander Gordon’s Lost Essays of Colonial Charleston, South Carolina, identifies the long-unknown author of a remarkable series of eighteenth-century essays—works now recognized as being on par with the wit and insight of Benjamin Franklin.

Meticulously researched and richly written, the book links pseudonymous essays from The South-Carolina Gazette (1753–54) to Alexander Gordon—a Scottish-born antiquarian, Egyptologist, and Clerk of His Majesty’s Council in South Carolina—reclaiming a brilliant and worldly voice in early American satire and journalism.

“Gordon’s essays provide a rich and new dimension to the Colonial American essay tradition,” Kendrick said, “and offer, for the first time, a Southern voice that equals Benjamin Franklin’s.”

Beyond his scholarly pursuits, Kendrick spent 25 years at the Library of Congress, earning its Distinguished Service Award, and 23 years as a Professor of English at Laurel Ridge Community College, where he inspired more than 7,000 students. His teaching excellence has been recognized with numerous accolades, including being named one of Virginia’s top twelve educators by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (2008), receiving the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence (2010), and holding the distinction of Chancellor’s Professor (2012–2014). As the inaugural recipient of the Susan S. Wood Professorship for Teaching Excellence (2016), Kendrick’s classroom became a space not just for instruction but for transformation—a period that allowed him to delve deeply into Gordon’s lost writings and ultimately solve America’s greatest literary mystery.

All proceeds from Unmasking The Humourist benefit The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, supporting student scholarships across the Commonwealth.

The book was launched at the Charleston Library Society on October 1, 2025, and is being praised by scholars and readers alike for restoring a long-lost chapter of American literary history. The discovery offers a groundbreaking addition to the canon of Colonial American letters and introduces a satirist whose insights remain surprisingly modern.

Unmasking The Humourist is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and select independent bookstores.

About the Author

Brent L. Kendrick, Ph.D. is a literary scholar, biographer, and essayist whose work bridges scholarship and storytelling. He is the author of The Infant Sphinx: Collected Letters of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and Green Mountain Stories, which restores the original framing of Freeman’s A Humble Romance and Other Stories (1887). Kendrick is currently completing Dolly: Life and Letters of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, a two-volume biography and letters project.

His creative nonfiction collections—Foolin’ Around in Bed, More Wit and Wisdom, and The Third Time’s the Charm—blend humor, reflection, and humanity. He continues to write and conduct research from his home in Edinburg, Virginia.

Contact

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