Sometimes a book finds you when you need it and don’t even know you need it.

Over the last few years, I’ve read some of Andrew Klavan’s columns. He’s an excellent writer, the author of novels, film scripts and works of non-fiction.

Thousands of people set out to hike the Appalachian Trail every year. About a quarter of those people finish. In 1973, Mike Rayder was one of a small number to attempt the feat and likely one of the first 100 ever to finish the trail. 

 “George Masa: A Life Reimagined,” was recently recognized with two regional awards: the 2024 North Caroliniana Society Book Award and a 2025 Award of Excellence from the East Tennessee Historical Society. Both organizations praised the book for its contributions to cultural and historical interpretation in their respective states.

Laura Lynn is one of the lines of private label or store-brand products Ingles Markets sells. Laura Lynn is named after our founder’s (Mr. Ingle’s) daughter, Laura Lynn. At Ingles Markets you can find other store brands like “Ingles Best” and “Harvest Farms”. Most Harvest Farms products are USDA certified organic and will have the organic label. 

At this point, I would like to tell you about my great-great grandfather, Bryant Carden, who joined the Confederacy. Bryant was known for writing wonderful letters in calligraphy, and the illustration below, of a bird in flight, is an example. 

As part of the multi-year America 250 NC effort, Haywood County’s Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Haywood County America 250 NC team will host a historical presentation by George Washington’s favorite general — sort of. 

More than two centuries after William Bartram explored the Southern Appalachian foothills, his words, like his footsteps, still echo through the ridgelines and river valleys he once traversed.  

To the Editor:

It has been refreshing to see so many on the political left protesting tariffs recently.

For anyone who is not aware, it is well documented that tariffs, not slavery, were the primary reason for the Southern States to secede in the 1860s.

Every May 20, beneath the proverbial shadows of Charlotte’s modern glass and steel skyline, supporters gather to commemorate what they believe was the first declaration of independence in the American colonies, made more than a year before the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

One of the best things about the mountains of Western North Carolina is that even in places we’ve seen a hundred times, we can always find something new and intriguing. This is a lesson Nancy East, an avid hiker and seasoned search-and-rescue operator, learned over and over again as she wrote her second book, “Historic Hikes in Western North Carolina.”