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Contributors of the Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel Literary Journal will visit City Lights Bookstore at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 3, to share their featured work.
The journal focuses on Appalachian writers with the most recent volume being co-edited by poet Pauletta Clark. Other featured authors include Jennifer Barton, David Wayne Hampton, Brenda Kay Ledford, Chrissie Anderson Peters, Elizabeth Swann and Dana Wildsmith.
828.586.9499.
Rutherford County resident and New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper will visit regional bookstores this week to read from her new book, Haven.
Hooper will appear at Blue Ridge Books and News in Waynesville at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 3 and at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva at 4 p.m. Aug. 4.
Haven is a new thriller of a young woman’s homecoming to a town of menacing whispers, bad dreams and dangerous secrets.
Call Blue Ridge Books at 828.456.6000 or City Lights at 828.586.9499.
The Haywood Friends of the Library‘s Annual Book Sale will go into the second week on Aug. 3-4.
On Friday, Aug. 3, all books left from the first three-day sale will be half price. The following day, there will be a $5 bag sale of the remaining books.
The book sale is at the Waynesville branch of the library on Haywood Street in the lower level. Friday’s sale runs from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.; Saturday’s sale runs from 9 a.m. until about 2 p.m.
828.627.2370.
To the Editor:
Albert Einstein, who was a genius both in mathematics and in understanding human motivation, said the following: “... Leaders came to their power not by their ability to think and to make decisions, but by their faculty to impress, to persuade and to use the shortcomings of their fellow beings.”
That insight seems to fit Barack Obama. He is a very glib, persuasive, snake-oil salesman who knows how to garner votes. He gives benefits and money to illegal aliens and phony welfare recipients. Please notice the emphasis is on the word phony; genuinely disabled people and those trying to earn a living but who lose their jobs certainly deserve welfare help. But, Obama helps all the people who are perfectly able-bodied but who don’t want to work. That’s how he gets votes.
His recent speech, in which he clearly despises the free-enterprise system and entrepreneurs by announcing that it’s the government who has been responsible for prosperity, not individuals, starkly shows his socialist, maybe communist, leanings. Obama is trying to force this country into becoming a socialist state.
Many believe and have strongly stated they think he is the Anti-Christ. I have no opinion on that, but I do believe he is a budding tyrant. His disdain for individual rights shows in every speech. Beware. If he is re-elected, you will not be able to write a letter like this!
JoAnna Swanson
Hazelwood
To the Editor:
I live at the head of Tilley Creek, where my family has been since the early 1800s, so I have a keen interest in what happens up here. I have worked very hard since returning to my home place 10 years ago to preserve what remains unspoiled of this mountain.
To that end, we were able to purchase and put under conservation 65 acres of my mother’s homestead, which is adjoined by U.S. Forest Service land, and is just across the ridge from the Moss Knob Shooting Range. I don’t shoot guns, but have grown sons and teen-aged grandsons who enjoy shooting and sometimes go to Moss Knob range when they visit us from time to time, and we take the noise in stride, knowing that men and boys especially seem to need to practice this age-old tradition.
I also worked very hard several years ago to block the proposed installation of a large private shooting club on the old Pressley farm, just down the road on Tilley Creek. That was a success as a then more progressive county government adopted a moratorium on permitting shooting ranges and an organic farmer bought the Pressley farm and a great granddaughter and her husband and children now live there and plan to restore the old Pressley home. So, community battles do sometimes succeed.
What I do object to is despoiling more land and native plants and habitat to make a larger road around the mountain and into the shooting range as proposed in a column from the Forest Service this week in The Sylva Herald. If you need to go in and add gravel and cut the sides of the road (which are so overgrown up Tilley Creek it’s like going through a tunne), then do so, but please, leave the roadbed as it is! Don’t spend our tax dollars tearing up more steep mountain ridgelines. In doing so, you would be spending our hard-earned tax dollars to defeat what a few of us have worked ourselves threadbare to save. Please re-consider your plans.
Vera Holland Guise
Cullowhee
To the Editor:
Having read about the dispute of the barking dogs and a push for a county-wide ordinance, I have to make a comment or two regarding this issue.
Number one it is always wise to look and listen closely around any home or property one may decide to purchase before signing the contract. Number two, common sense and respect should be a deciding factor in these disputes.
But I am from the country and grew up with hunting and dogs, so in my book if you are dumb enough to not look around and get to know your possible neighbor first, you just need to invest in a “For Sale” sign and buy some ear plugs! This also applies to people who build or buy in a flood zone, mudslide potential area or cry in winter time that there is no power in their log mansion or a snow plow for their paved, high-attitude road.
Mylan Sessions
Clyde
To the Editor:
Republicans in Raleigh and Washington who want to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act — and those who vote for them — would be doing away with the following benefits to us which are now in place:
• An insurance company cannot drop our coverage if we become sick or disabled.
• An insurance company can no longer place lifetime dollar limits on our health coverage.
• Many plans must now cover preventive care services at no additional cost.
• If we have been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, we can now get insurance.
• Young adults up to age 26 are now covered under their parents’ policy.
• Starting in 2014, insurance exchanges will provide better access and more options to self-employed people and small businesses.
• Medicare now covers annual wellness visits and preventive care services, such as immunizations and screenings.
• If we have Medicare Part D, we now receive discounts on prescription drugs while in the donut hole.
• New resources to fight Medicare waste, fraud and abuse will now add 10 years to the solvency of Medicare.
Some call this “Obamacare.” I call it “Our Care.” Those who want to get rid of it “Don’t Care.” When we vote in November we had better keep in mind “Who Cares.” If we lose it by voting in Mitt Romney and his cohorts we will soon discover that “Nobody Cares.” I’m glad we have a president who cares; we need to keep him.
Doug Wingeier
Waynesville
By John Beckman • Guest Columnist
I’ve read the letters regarding the barking dogs issue and the responses from both sides. It’s clear to me that the central issue is not dogs at all, but how Jackson County and the region has changed, and how residents are needing to cope with these changes.
I have been in Jackson County for 19 years, I have three dogs, I own guns and would not deny anyone the right to legally hunt. But with that right comes the responsibility of abiding by the laws and to recognize the impact it has on our fellow citizens. Hunting is not a “God-given right,” but a right granted by state and federal law, under which we are all equal. Many people living here were not born here. Does that mean that we have fewer rights than someone who’s great-grandpappy moved here 100 years ago? Under the law, the answer is obviously “No.” It would appear as though some feel that they are more entitled since they were here first. I would argue that unless you can trace your family back to the first Native American, you are indeed an immigrant to the area, just like the folks who moved here last month.
From Staff Reports
Patrick Willis is a history buff of the first order, so when he landed a part-time job staffing the front desk at the Canton Area Historical Museum while working on his masters in history from Western Carolina University, it was a perfect fit.
By Paul Clark • Contributor
Long caravans of traffic streamed into Cherokee on U.S. 441 recently, but relatively few passengers cast more than a disinterested glance at the small excavation by the Oconaluftee River.
There a dozen local high school students, under the guidance of the University of Tennessee Archaeological Research Lab, were scraping away minute layers of a 2,000-year-old Indian village that once provided food and shelter to the ancestors of the students doing the digging.
Suzanne DeFerie, CEO and president of Asheville Savings Bank, will be the guest speaker at the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business luncheon from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Aug. 9 at the Gateway Club.
DeFerie was born, raised and educated in Western North Carolina, and will share her journey as she entered banking and became the first female CEO of a bank in WNC. Under her leadership, the bank converted from a mutual savings bank to a public stock savings bank last October. DeFerie was the first CEO from the Asheville area to ring the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell in New York City.
She will speak about women in leadership, effective networking, and steps to success.
RSVP to 828.456.3021.
A community yard sale held from noon to 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 10, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 11, in the MedWest-Harris parking lot will benefit the Mother and Baby Unit at MedWest-Harris.
People wishing to donate to the community yard sale can drop a variety of items off at the old Sylva Medical Center. Donations will be accepted until 5 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 9.
For more information about the community yard sale, call MedWest-Harris & Swain Foundation Assistant Linda Claus at 828.631.8924.
The community yard sale is sponsored by Dr. Charles H. Toledo of WNC Pediatric and Adolescent Care in Sylva. Toledo is a candidate in the Disco King contest, which is part of the MedWest-Harris & Swain Foundation’s upcoming “That ‘70s Gala” fundraiser on Saturday, Aug. 25. As part of the contest, Toledo is competing to be the Disco King who raises the most money for the “That 70s Gala” which is benefiting MedWest-Harris’ Mother and Baby Unit.
The “That ‘70s Gala” at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 25, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel Event Center in Cherokee will feature an evening of disco dancing, fine dining, a silent auction and more. Now in its 13th year, the Gala is the Foundation’s largest fundraiser. Reservations are $100 per person. For more information about sponsorships, the “That ‘70s Gala” or the Foundation, contact Executive Director of Foundations Steve Brown at 828.631.8924.
The N.C. Department of Transportation will conduct inspections of three tunnels in the Pigeon River Gorge on Interstate 40 in Haywood County, causing traffic delays for motorists during August.
The tunnels being examined are located between the Tennessee border and Exit 15 (Fines Creek). One of the tunnels is on the eastbound side of the interstate and one is on the westbound side.
All work will take place between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Work on the two tunnels will be conducted by shutting down one lane of traffic.
The tunnels on I-40 East will be examined on the following dates:
• Eastbound tunnel: Sunday, July 29-Wednesday, Aug. 1, and Sunday, Aug. 5-Monday, Aug. 6
• Westbound tunnel: Tuesday, Aug. 7-Wednesday, Aug. 8, and Sunday, Aug. 12-Wednesday, Aug. 15.
For real-time travel information at any time, call 511 or visit www.ncdot.gov/travel.
The League of Women voters of Macon County will host a candidate forum at 12:15 p.m. Aug. 9 for N.C. state Senate candidates Democrat John Snow and Republican Jim Davis.
Snow, a retired chief District Court Judge from Murphy, will once again face off against Davis, an orthodontist from Franklin. Snow held the District 50 seat from 2005 to 2010 when Davis defeated him in the election. District 50 includes the seven counties west of Buncombe in Western North Carolina.
The forum will take place at Tartan Hall in Franklin. Lunch is available by reservation — email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828.371.0527. Public is invited, rsvp required for those who want lunch; no rsvp needed just for those attending program.
The Haywood County Arts Council invites artists to submit work samples for consideration in its art in business program, which places artists’ work for sale in area businesses.
Original works in oil, watercolor, and acrylic are sought as well as fine art photography, textiles, and prints. All artwork must be for sale.
Artwork will be installed in a new medical facility in Haywood County. Suggested themes include landscape, still life, contemporary and floral. Work should be medium-sized, 16-by-20 or larger, ready to hang, and canvas-wrapped or in simple wood or metal frames. Rustic and ornate frames are not accepted for this location.
Interested artists should send phone number, email address, website address and/or other online gallery presence address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by at 5 p.m. Aug. 15.
Teachers Curt and Julie Cloninger will lead a writing seminar designed to help teachers and parents teach writing to their children from 7-9 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Vine of the Mountains Church on Depot Street in Waynesville
The Junaluska Woman’s Club Creative Endeavors Craft Show will exhibit custom-made table lamps from Kenneth Lambert, a.k.a. Sir Lamps-A-Lot, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 10-11 at Harrell Center Auditorium at Lake Junaluska.
The Green Energy Park in Dillsboro will host a glass blowing classes on Aug. 4.
The classes will be split into 45-minute slots from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
With the assistance of one of the resident glass artists, participants will work with molten glass to create a unique piece of glass art. The process takes between 30 and 45 minutes.
Space is limited to 8 participants each session; pre-registration is strongly suggested.
No experience is necessary and students age 13 to 18 may participate with a parent present. Attendees should wear cotton clothing, no polyester, close-toed shoes and long pants.
Artwork will be available for pickup 48 hours after class.
Cost is $30. The park is located on Grindstaff Cove Road.
828.631.0271 or www.jcgep.org.
Six professionals are hoping to be crowned Disco King and Queen, based on donations they collect for the MedWest-Harris & Swain Foundation as part of the Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year – “That ‘70s Gala,” an evening of dancing, dining and a silent auction.
Franklin will be hopping with all things barbecue when the fourth annual Mountain High BBQ Festival and Car Show comes to town Aug.10-11 at the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center located on Georgia Road in Franklin.
The next community music jam at the Marianna Black Library in downtown Bryson City will be from 6-7:30 p.m. Aug. 2 in the library auditorium or, weather permitting, on the library’s front lawn.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer — anything unplugged — is invited to join. Singers are also welcome.
The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of Grampa’s Music in Bryson City. Normally, Larry starts by calling out a tune and its key signature, and the group plays it together. Then, everyone in the circle gets a chance to choose a song for the group to play together. The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs.
The music jams are offered to the public the first and third Thursday of the month – year round.
828.488.3030.
A course in “Creating Stained Glass” is being from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursdays for the month of August at Western Carolina University.
Participants will learn about the Tiffany method of stained glass, which involves each piece of glass being wrapped in copper foil and soldered. The course also will cover safety, proper cutting techniques, foiling and soldering techniques, and simple metal framing, as well as types of glass, solders and copper foils. The instructor for the course, Moya O’Neal, has been working in stained glass more than 20 years.
The cost is $85. Register by Aug. 2.
828.227.7397 or 800.928.4968 or learn.wcu.edu.
Russian pianist Margarita Shevchenko will display her chops at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 10 at the Performing Arts Center on Pigeon Street in Waynesville.
The evening’s program will include: Two Scarlatti Sonatas, Handel’s “Chaconne in G-major;” Tchaikovsky’s “Dumka op. 59;” “Sonata #2, op.19,” and “Valse op.38 in A flat major” by Scriabin; and the Chopin Barcarolle op. 60 and Sonata #3, in b minor, op. 58.
Shevchenko has toured extensively, winning top prizes at major international competitions including the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel.
Shevchenko started to play the piano at the age of five and made her debut with a symphony orchestra at 12. She received her musical training at Moscow Central Music School, Moscow State Conservatory and at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Ohio.
Concert tickets are $20 per person with a limited number of free student tickets available. A “Meet the Artist” reception will follow the concert.
The concert is sponsored by the Haywood County Arts Council, WCQS Radio (88.1FM), New Meridian Technologies, John Highsmith and Sandra Hayes and The Windover Inn.
The Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86 will host an exhibition of art quilt pieces by the Shady Ladies quilting group called, “Pushing Tradition” Aug. 2-25.
The public is invited to Western Carolina University’s School of Art and Design at 1 p.m. Aug. 3 for an open house for the Cullowhee Mountain ARTS Summer Visual ARTS Series.
The town of Canton will host the ninth annual Mountain Mater Fest from noon on Friday, Aug. 3, to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4, at the recreation park on Penland Street.
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) will host festivities on Aug. 4 to celebrate its purchase of T.M. Rickman General Store five years ago.
Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys will bring traditional bluegrass music to the stage of the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Aug.11.
Ray Price, a country music singer, songwriter and guitarist who has often been praised as one of the best male voices in country music, will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts.
The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will host a free concert by local guitarist Pete Friedman at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 in the community room.
Joshua Aaron will host an evening of Messianic worship and singing at 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at Calvary Chapel in Waynesville.
Friends and family of Popcorn Sutton are holding a reunion from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Aug. 3-4 at the Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley.
Maggie Valley will celebrate one of its most infamous moonshiners with the third annual Popcorn Sutton Acoustic Jam Aug. 3-4.
By Shannan Mashburn • SMN Intern
Wood carver Cliff Hannah is deeply rooted in Western North Carolina.
The internationally renowned artist is from Sandy Mush and has family ties to Cataloochee, the pioneer community in Haywood County that is now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
As Macon County officials work to create a new tourism development association, the financial picture for the Franklin and Highland chambers of commerce could change drastically.
Right now, the Highland’s chamber receives an estimated $280,000 from the county’s lodging tax and the Franklin chamber gets $180,000. However, a countywide audit two years ago raised questions about how the county was disbursing the room tax money, Macon County Manager Sam Greenwood said in a telephone interview.
“Money from the county’s lodging tax was not being distributed properly,” he explained.
All visitors who stay at a county hotel or vacation rental are required to pay a 3 percent occupancy tax. The tax, established in 1986 by state legislation, is used to promote tourism and travel within the county.
Macon County is one of the few counties that has not established a county-wide tourism development association to control the room tax money.
Instead, county commissioners currently act as the tourism association by giving the room tax money to each chamber of commerce based on where the room tax is collected.
This method, according to Greenwood, does not meet state regulations because the chambers of commerce are private organizations.
When county officials turn over the money to the chambers, those groups decide how to spend it to promote tourism and travel. Once the new committee is formed, it will oversee the distribution of the lodging tax, said Greenwood.
The old way
As it is now, the Highland’s chamber receives the room tax money from lodging businesses in three townships: Highlands, Flats and Sugar Fort. The Franklin chamber receives funding from the rest of the county lodging businesses.
“Each chamber operates differently,” Green-wood said.
Franklin’s Chamber of Commerce uses the money as grants for various organizations to promote special events. The money is also used for advertising and marketing of the area.
In Highlands, the money helps the chamber operate a visitor center and promote the town through an assortment of advertising.
Another reason for changing how the tax is allocated is because its collection has been irregular.
“A number of business were not participating and collection was spotty,” Greenwood said.
The new way
“It’s the commissioners’ responsibility to ensure funds are spent within legal guidelines,” Greenwood said.
Macon County Attorney Lesley Moxley is in the process of evaluating the permitted uses of the tax money. She would not comment on the project’s specifics.
One possible solution is to allocate the tax money to each chamber to run a visitor center, Greenwood said. The rest of the funding could be allocated to the tourism committee, he added.
“That would be an easy solution to how funds are spent,” Greenwood said.
Plans call for the commissioners to adopt a new distribution system in December, Greenwood said.
But as county officials work out the committee’s specifics, both chambers are waiting to become involved in the process.
“We don’t know what’s happening in regard to the eventual plan,” Bob Kielyka, executive director of Highland’s Chamber of Commerce said. “We want to be part of the process.”
Linda Harbuck, executive director of Franklin’s Chamber of Commerce, had the same response.
“We have not been informed on how it’s going to work,” Harbuck said. “We have recommended and asked to be included in the process of developing a committee.”
Both executive directors have gone on record stating their support of forming a tourism committee.
“The Highlands Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center looks forward to participating with the county in promoting tourism and economic prosperity,” Kielyka, wrote in a letter to Macon County commissioners on June 13.
Harbuck agreed. “We’ve expressed our willingness to join a county-wide program,” she said.
Franklin members have even proposed suggestions to county officials such as allowing a representative from the Franklin chamber be involved in the process.
Once the new committee is in place, each chamber will have six months to transition to the different type of system.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Ghost Town in the Sky has named Kevin Bailey as its new general manager effective Oct. 1.
How’s this for a political endorsement: cast your votes in the upcoming municipal elections for those candidates who support land-use planning.
By Chris Cooper
David Holt is a happy guy. In a recent phone (cell phone, no less) conversation as he strolled down the streets of San Francisco, he let me know one of the reasons why. “I just played the biggest show I’ve ever played,” he said. Accompanying that living, breathing piece of bluegrass history that’s known as Doc Watson, the previous afternoon found Holt playing the Golden Gate Park festival for, oh, about 100,000 music lovers. Which kind of beat me to the whole “favorite moments in your career” question I’d planned to ask later.
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer
Six candidates are vying for three spots on the Highland’s Town Board of Commissioners.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
What to do with advice to give, but no audience to receive it?
That’s the dilemma facing participants of the Haywood County Growth Readiness Roundtable. The diverse group of Haywood County representatives — including Realtors, developers, aldermen, town planners, and others — has brainstormed for months at a series of workshops to create a comprehensive list of development guidelines for their community.
More than 400 acres on a mountain in Sandy Mush have been protected thanks to a special conservation fund created by the Buncombe County commissioners.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
The town of Canton will experience an infusion of dollars Oct. 12 when Blue Ridge Paper workers get their cash payouts from the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
The National Park Service announced its long-awaited but much expected decision last week over the North Shore Road: don’t build it.
By Michael Beadle
Making a mess never looked so fun.
It’s Friday morning at Studio 598 in downtown Sylva, and art instructor Norma Smith is guiding several young students through a fresco workshop. These Jackson County home-schoolers range in age from 6 to 11. With paint brushes and a palette of colors, they dab and stroke and scrape and swish paint onto moistened wooden canvases. Over a few hours, maps of strange lands appear. Bright skies where the sun’s always willing to shine. A pasture where a mythical horned beast awaits. A path that leads to a dark secret.
By Sami Felmet • Columnist
My muse seems to be marred in divorce and family issues lately. I think it was about this time of year that I became a single woman again. There were some surprises along the way. Some were hard to reconcile. Others were easier.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
A round of layoffs struck Evergreen Packaging (formerly Blue Ridge Paper) last week when officials cut the positions of 28 salaried employees outright and decided to eliminate 122 hourly positions through attrition.
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Five candidates are stepping up to challenge the four incumbents on Canton’s town board, who are all running for re-election. For the past several election cycles, the board has gone unopposed. Two major issues are playing out in the campaign running up to the Nov. 6 election — taxes and how to help the town grow economically.
The Green Book
Looking for more ways to help save energy costs and be more environmentally responsible? Check out this helpful book from Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. It’s chock full of easy-to-follow tips for helping save the planet from the effects of climate change. Some of the suggestions include recycling and cutting down on the use of petroleum-based products like excessive packaging. That means using canvas bags instead of the store’s plastic bags and buying blocks of cheese instead of the individually wrapped cheese slices.
By turning off power strips when they’re not being used, Americans could save $1 billion in wasted electricity. Turn off lights and other electronic devices when they’re not in use. Lower your heat or air conditioner when you’re not at work. Reuse a water bottle instead of consuming lots of individual water bottles or cups that often end up in landfills. Turn off the tap water when you’re brushing your teeth. You can conserve five gallons of water a day. Buy appliances with the Energy Star label that are more energy efficient and can save households $600 a year on energy costs. Skip gift wrapping when you can. Use newspapers or reuse gift bags and ribbons. If each family in the U.S. family reused 2 feet of holiday ribbon each year, 38,000 miles of ribbon could be saved from the trash dumps — enough to wrap around the planet. Also included in The Green Book are tons of Web sites for learning more about reducing our carbon footprint.
Michelangelo’s Seizure
Renoir. Monet. Goya. Rembrandt. Imagine their paintings and their lives on display as the thousand-word pictures we see in museums. But instead of the visual images framed in temperature-controlled rooms, what if we could capture their genius in words alone, each page full of marvelous metaphors and dizzy-delicious phrases every bit as rich as the paintings themselves. Poet Steve Gehrke takes us inside the worlds of these artists in his latest award-winning book of poems, Michelangelo’s Seizure. Part art history and part lyrical passion, these poems ponder Monet’s blindness, Magritte’s suicidal mother, and Michelangelo’s cramped quarters on the scaffolding of the Sistine Chapel. This style of poetry is known as “ekphrastic” [ek-FRAS-tik], which in Greek means “calling out.” It’s meant to describe, imitate, critique or dramatize a work of non-literary art, usually visual art. After reading Gehrke’s poems about Gericault’s maddening scene in “The Raft of the Medusa” or J.M.W. Turner’s hue-hazy study, “The Burning of Parliament, 1834,” I wonder what these painters might have thought of such imaginative verse tributes.
Place names
While researching the history of Haywood County recently, I’ve come across some interesting stories behind local place names. Haywood County, for example, was named after John Haywood (1787-1827), a long-running state treasurer and the first mayor of Raleigh. Haywood was also a founding trustee for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, Canton was renamed several times from Forks of Pigeon to Buford before its present name, which came from Canton, Ohio, the source of steel used to make one of the town’s bridges. Waynesville, on the other hand, was named after Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne, who was nicknamed for his brash attacks against the British during the Revolutionary War. Wayne’s namesake is found not only in Haywood County and North Carolina’s Wayne County but also in dozens of other Wayne counties, towns, roads and schools throughout the U.S. including Ft. Wayne, Indiana. This same Anthony Wayne inspired subsequent names such as cowboy actor John Wayne, Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, whose full name is Anthony Wayne Stewart.
— By Michael Beadle
By Chris Cooper
I first heard Johnny Irion years ago at a little venue in Charlotte. He was performing with his then quite pregnant wife Sarah Lee Guthrie, and the two of them exemplified everything that’s good about smart, latter day country/rock songwriting. With a collective family tree that includes names like Steinbeck and, well, Guthrie for Pete’s sake, that’s not really a surprise.
By Kathryn Sherrard • Contributing Writer
Do you like to visit a state or national park? Why? For thousands of us, it is the chance to see wildlife. People flock to see bears, elk, moose, deer, wild turkeys, foxes, coyotes, bison and alligators. Other animals that are often spotted include raccoons, reptiles and amphibians.
