NCWN

Gary Carden, whose play Nance Dude has been filmed and is now available in DVD.  Gary says, “When I was a child, I used to see an old woman trudging along the road that runs by the Tuckaseegee River.  She always carried on her back a great rack of split kindling to sell.  I finally learned that people called her "Nance Dude," and that she was an outcast because she had allegedly murdered her granddaughter.  She lived alone in a one-room shack with a collection of stray dogs.  When she died, she was 104.  Some 12 years ago, I decided to tell her story, and after two years of research, I produced a play called Nance Dude.  After 10 years of producing it in libraries and community colleges, two filmmakers, Arthur Hancock and Katie Brugger, filmed it.  This one-woman show is enacted by Elizabeth Westall, a blind actress who lives in Burnsville, NC.  It can be ordered from me for $20 plus $3.00 for postage and handling:  Gary Carden, 236 Cherry Street, Sylva, NC, 28779.  I have a blog, http://hollernotes.blogspot.com, and a website, www.TanneryWhistle.net.”