Title: For Such a Time as This
Subtitle: The Life of Senator James Forrester And His Fight for Marriage in North Carolina
Author: Mary Frances Forrester
Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
ISBN: 978-1647734114
Pages: 345
Genre: Memoir / Biography / Christian Living Book
Reviewer: Barbara Bamberger Scott

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Author Mary Frances Forrester has constructed a bold, admirable account of the accomplishments of her late husband, James Summers Forrester, Sr., who served as Brigadier General for the North Carolina National Guard, as a surgeon and physician and as a North Carolina State Senator. During his military career, Forrester participated as a surgeon for soldiers on evacuation flights from Viet Nam.

Born in Scotland, at age eleven he became, with his mother, an immigrant to the United States. Settled in Wilmington, North Carolina, the boy became a US citizen and would obtain college degrees in Medicine, Public Health, and Disease Prevention. He and the author had three daughters, and, evident of his familial priorities and love for his spouse, he once surprised Mary Frances with a wedding gift, a new home. As his medical career began to blossom, his spiritual principles, underpinned by his military service, came to the fore, as he insisted despite much resistance in the complex medical system, to pay for treatments for patients who had little or no financial support. His deep-seated sense of morality and his notable qualities of respect for religious understandings played a major role in his position in the North Carolina Senate. Beginning in 2004, he would become the initiator and driving force behind a campaign for a constitutional amendment, Senate Bill 514 banning same-sex marriages. His struggle to empower his state legislature to pass that amendment was firmly based on the belief that marriage between and a woman should be “the only domestic legal union.” The bill passed in 2011.

Forrester demonstrates her powers as a wordsmith in this vibrant portrait honoring her late husband, drawing discreet attention to her own accomplishments as she and her family worked diligently to support her husband’s efforts. She became the founder of the North Carolina Chapter of Concerned Women for America (CWA-NC) and has served in a multitude of civic and religious causes. Her account brings zest, structure, humor, and human interest to the unique qualities that her spouse plainly demonstrated throughout his life. Her efforts are supported by freelance writer and editor Rebecca Anthony. Their work offers elucidation regarding a heroic American citizen as he diligently pressed for what he considered high moral principles, while remaining humble and purposefully maintaining family cohesion.

Forrester’s historical, biographical memoir will doubtless attract a readership across a wide spectrum, providing focus for group discussion and individual aspirations. For Such a Time as This examines Senator James Forrester’s commitment to his faith and his efforts surrounding the issue of marriage in North Carolina. His journey raises important questions about conviction, perseverance, and the responsibility to remain faithful to one’s principles.