Thu06202013
Western North Carolina writer Gary Carden will present his play “Outlander” at 7 p.m., Sept. 25, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City. Earlier in the day, this historical play about the work of Horace Kephart and the mountains of Western North Carolina will be performed in a school assembly for students of Swain County High School.
“Outlander” is about the work of Kephart, who was a librarian, academic, author of Our Southern Highlanders and founder of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With music by Frank Lee, storytelling and humor, Gary Carden weaves details about life and customs in the mountains of Western North Carolina from 1912 to 1930. Admission is $5 at the door.
It was the reason I came to the South.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, the city of Chattanooga is a rapidly growing, bustling hub of culture and commerce in Southern Appalachia. Like Asheville, both cities went through hard times following the end of their manufacturing eras. Each became stagnant, searching for an identity that eventually evolved into prosperous havens for artists, musicians, chefs, craft brewers, etc.
We have lots of bug barns in our house: from the old-fashioned Mason jar with holes punched in the lid to a new-fangled, plastic-domed “ladybug playground” with tiny slides and such.
I wager in most families bug barns are relegated to the backyard. Ours, however, take up residence on the kitchen table, with up to four bug barns simultaneously occupied by caterpillars, ants, moths, beetles and even spiders.
Here are the true stories of some young people, all of them still under the age of 35. For the sake of anonymity, we will call the young people Lisa and Mike, Kevin and Laura, Patrick and Emily, and Michael (unmarried).
