Appalachian History

Award-winning author Sharyn McCrumb has just released her latest historical fiction, “The Ballad of Tom Dooley,” (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martins Press), which tells the true story behind the celebrated folk song. McCrumb is best known for her Appalachian ‘ballad’ novels, including the New York Times best sellers ‘The Ballad of Frankie Silver’ and ‘She [...]

Please welcome guest authors Patricia Graham and Verna Humphrey, co-authors of the recently published “Hillbilly Tales from the Smoky Mountains and Other Homespun Remedies, Proverbs, and Poetry” (E-Booktime LLC). Ms. Graham holds a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Spanish literature from Western Carolina University. She has had poetry published with Milestone Publications, [...]

Please welcome guest author Michael Abraham, whose “Harmonic Highways; Motorcycling Virginia’s Crooked Road” released last month. Abraham was born and educated in Southwest Virginia and is an inveterate wanderer of the Appalachian Mountains. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. His first book, “The Spine of the Virginias,” is a non-fiction look [...]

Tomorrow, June 14, between 1-4 pm, the Kershaw County [SC] Library presents ‘A Visit with Dot Jackson.’ Dot Jackson is best known as a journalist who has written for several newspapers, including the Charlotte Observer and the New York Times, as well as editing smaller newspapers. Early in her career, Dot wrote a novel based [...]

If you’ve never been to Plum Grove then you wouldn’t know about that road. It’s an awful road, with big ruts and mudholes where the coal wagons with them nar-rimmed wheels cut down. There is a lot of haw bushes along this road. It goes up and down two yaller banks. From Lima Whitehall’s house [...]