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Written by Kathy Norcross Watts
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Monday, 26 February 2007 21:12 |
A Simple Life: a Story of Sid Oakley Author: Kathy Norcross Watts
ISBN:
Biography/memoir of North Carolina Master Potter Sid Oakley Sid Oakley often sat before a low-burning fire, sipping coffee, waiting expectantly for someone visiting his Cedar Creek Gallery to pause and chat. A master potter and respected painter, Oakley established high standards for his own work. But perhaps more importantly, he nurtured creativity in those in whom he saw a passion for their craft. It was for that reason that Kathy Norcross Watts asked him if she could write his biography. He agreed, but the first day they talked, he told her of a little girl who was sent home from his childhood school because she was black. She had been born into a white family. She was sent away from the town, and he never saw her again. "Find Mildred," he told Watts. A Simple Life: A Story of Sid Oakley recounts the friendship that grew between Oakley and Watts as she documented his story and eventually found Mildred. Just five months before he died, Oakley took Mildred back home and showed her the little bit of her history that he could. A Simple Life shows that Oakley’s life was not simple. It shows that every single person matters. A Simple Life: A Story of Sid Oakley can be purchased beginning at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, at ART Gallery, Ltd. in New Bern, at Education/Liturgy Resources Bookstore and Chase the Muse Studio in Oxford; and on-line at www.lulu.com or by e-mailing a request to
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. Sale price is $16.95. Watts received the 2006 Linda Flowers Prize from the N.C. Humanities Council for her non-fiction short story Goin’ Fishin’, which stemmed from her research for A Simple Life. In 2005, she received the Linda A. Ironside Fund for the Arts Award from Triangle Community Foundation for a portion of her manuscript. She earned a B.A. in Journalism and a Master’s in Regional Planning from UNC Chapel Hill. Watts has been published in The News and Observer, The Interpreter, Self, The Herald-Sun, and NC Boating Lifestyle. She also writes a twice monthly parenting column for The Daily Dispatch and The Butner-Creedmoor News. Watts serves as a board member of the Carolina Wren Press. She lives with her husband and four children in Winston-Salem. For more information, call 919-691-4451. To read Goin’ Fishin’, log on to www.nchumanities.org.
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Hat's Off!
Hats Off! to Charlotte's Lisa Rubenson, who won NPR's Three-Minute Fiction Contest. Her short story, “Sorry for Your Loss,” beat out more than 4,000 entries. NPR reporter Tamara Keith read the story on Saturday’s “Weekend All Things Considered” program. |
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