Leah Paulos
banner
leahpaulos.bsky.social
Leah Paulos
@leahpaulos.bsky.social
Book publicist. Founder PressShopPR.com, helping authors get high-profile media coverage. Founder BookPublicitySchool.com, leading book PR workshops. [email protected]
He later captained the very boat he took and, after the war, became a Congressman.

This incredible story is powerfully told and richly illustrated in DEFIANT, which is published this week!
June 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Smalls, along with seven other enslaved crew members and their families, had run the blockade. Smalls’ heroism, and material aid for the Union, made national headlines and influenced Lincoln’s decision to accept Black soldiers into the Union Army.
June 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
He disguised himself as a captain and, in the dead of night, commandeered the ship he worked on and sailed it to freedom. By the time Confederate soldiers realized what was happening, it was too late.
June 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
A quick rundown of this staggering story of bravery, determination, and genius: At the height of the Civil War, on May 12, 1862, Robert Smalls—an enslaved harbor pilot in Charleston, South Carolina—carried out one of the most courageous and cunning acts in American history.
June 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
He argues Deliberative Polling—where people literally come together in a mediated space to consider evidence, discuss issues, decide on a plan—holds the key to healing our politics. He draws on decades of applying his work around the world & offers a roadmap to positive change— which we need badly!
June 4, 2025 at 3:49 PM
James is a political scientist & Director of Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab; his new book CAN DELIBERATION CURE THE ILLS OF DEMOCRACY? (bit.ly/4jFh5LB) will publish in July w/ Oxford University Press.
June 4, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Shelley is a Mark Twain scholar; her book JIM: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn’s Comrade was published in April as part of Yale University Press’s Black Lives Series bit.ly/4kRtOvI Here’s an Axios piece that just posted about it: bit.ly/3Te9FUx
June 4, 2025 at 3:49 PM
We’re thrilled to be working with an incredible group from Legion M Entertainment (an innovative fan-funded movie production company) who led the charge to get this story told in book form — they will be producing the film down the road.
May 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Smalls, along with seven other enslaved crew members and their families, had run the blockade.

It is impossible to hear this story without thinking to yourself, This should be a movie!

Well, soon it will be!
May 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
At the height of the Civil War, Robert Smalls, an enslaved harbor pilot in Charleston, South Carolina, disguised himself as a captain and in the dead of night commandeered the ship he worked on and sailed it to freedom. By the time Confederate soldiers realized what was happening, it was too late:
May 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Leah Paulos
Tell Congress to protect library funding and the communities it supports: bit.ly/ProtectLibraryFunding
March 21, 2025 at 4:55 PM