The hour-long radio show “Stories of Mountain Folk” airs every Saturday at 9 a.m. on Jackson County’s WRGC Radio at 540 AM. Stories of Mountain Folk is an ongoing all-sound oral history program produced by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA), a Western North Carolina not-for-profit, for local radio and online distribution; then archived through the Hunter Library Digital Collections at Western Carolina University.
“Storytelling has always been important to me,” says Amy Ammons Garza, co-founder of CSA, originator of the program. “Growing up in Tuckasegee, I learned first hand about the wisdom and pioneering strength of the mountain people through the stories Grandpa told me — stories passed down and reinforced by other members of our family and the community. Now, as I interview each community member for the radio show, I once more hear the stories I love ... first hand stories of the lives of mountain people … told with such wisdom and insight into our past.”
Approaching its fourth year of production, Stories of Mountain Folk can be found online at www.storiesofmountainfolk. All programs are available through Hunter Library’s Digital Programs at www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/StoriesofMountainFolk/.
Stephen Dobyns has written 20 novels and more than 10 volumes of poetry; however, he is difficult to “classify.” His writing is praised by big league names as varied as Francine Prose and Stephen King, but he is most famous for a “sexual harassment” charge brought against him while he was teaching at Syracuse University (allegedly, he was overheard making “salty and crude” comments at a party).
