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The Fur, Fish, Flea and Beagle Club by R. M. Byrd

Written by Administrator
Friday, 07 June 2013 13:58
The Fur, Fish, Flea and Beagle Club by R. M. Byrd CreateSpace $24.95, paperback ISBN: 978-0615751689 February, 2013 Fiction Available from www.Amazon.com Shy wise-acre Jamie Garrath goes to work at his father’s sawmill specifically to be with him. But Ned Custis, a strangely quiet boy he barely knows from school, throws a wrench in Jamie's plans when he invades for the summer to work at the mill, too. Jamie feels his idyllic vision of working with his father slipping away. Work at the mill is hot and brutal, Jamie’s father is too busy to spend time with him and a vicious mill worker tries to kill Toby, his dog. And as if all this trouble wasn’t enough, Jamie meets Deidre, the daughter of an Irish migrant worker, and falls head-over-heels in love. Ned’s not exactly jumping for joy either. His father pawned him off on the Garraths to get him out from underfoot in the family hardware store. He’s an exile in a strange place he doesn’t want to be, doing things he doesn’t want to do and his work at the mill turns out to be tree scouting in the deep woods with Cyrus, an enigmatic Indian and ex-shaman, who he’s afraid will butcher him with a bush axe. It’s going to be a stressful summer for both of them. As the only two boys in the company of hard working men, Jamie and Ned are driven together for better or for worse, forced to forge a friendship. They form a club of two – or three if you include Toby the dog. R. M. Byrd lives in North Carolina with his wife and two cats, as well as wild deer, hummingbirds and, appropriately, the odd nuthatch. He has been writing since before he can reliably recall. Though he has great trouble writing short, his short fiction has appeared in the literary journal The Iconoclast, the Best Raleigh Reading collection of The Main Street Rag, and in Offshoots, the literary collection of the Geneva Writers’ Group of Geneva, Switzerland.
Last Updated on Friday, 07 June 2013 08:09

The Episcopal Church in North Carolina During the War Between the States by E. T. Malone, Jr.

Written by Administrator
Monday, 03 June 2013 13:30
The Episcopal Church in North Carolina During the War Between the States by E. T. Malone, Jr. Literary Lantern Press 54 pages, $15.00 ISBN 0-9621668-6-3 April, 2013 History Available from the publisher This publication is expanded from a lecture given by the author at historic St. James' Episcopal Church, Kittrell, North Carolina, on August 31, 2010. Drawn primarily from the 1861-1865 journals and newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, this study summarizes how the diocese became part of the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, opinions about secession and its effect on church polity, church operations during the war, African-Americans in the church, Episcopal Confederate chaplains, Robert E. Lee's connection to Episcopal North Carolina, and the unique role that North Carolina's Bishop Thomas Atkinson played in the national reunion of the Episcopal Church in 1865. It contains five appendices listing congregations, clergy, chaplains, and the names of every lay delegate and alternate delegate elected to all diocesan conventions held during the war. North Carolina was the only Southern diocese able to hold its annual convention every year during that conflict and to publish journals of each such gathering. There is a comprehensive index and Mississippi Bishop William Mercer Green's prayer for the success of the Confederate Army. The Episcopal Church in North Carolina During the War Between the States contains much specific information not published elsewhere. E. T. Malone, Jr., was book editor with North Carolina Historical Publications Section and served as historiographer of Episcopal Diocese of NC, 1996-2006.
Last Updated on Monday, 03 June 2013 11:02

Stephen Shoemaker: The Paintings and Their Stories by Stephen Shoemaker and Janet Pittard

Written by Administrator
Friday, 31 May 2013 13:30
Stephen Shoemaker: The Paintings and Their Stories by Stephen Shoemaker and Janet Pittard McFarland & Company $40, paperback ISBN: 978-0-7864-7467-7 (paper) / 978-1-4766-0348-3 (e-book) April, 2013 Art / Essay Available at your local bookstore or www.Amazon.com Have you ever looked at a painting and wondered what the story was behind it? Two North Carolina natives, artist Stephen Shoemaker and writer Janet Pittard, have teamed up to present a selection of Shoemaker's paintings and the stories behind them. The Virginia Creeper, a train that ran from Todd, North Carolina, to Abingdon, Virginia, from the early 1900s through the mid-late 1970s, is a favorite subject of Shoemaker's and figures prominently in the book, reflecting its influence on the culture and history of Shoemaker's mountain home. The book features forty-eight images, including the eight watercolors in Shoemaker's Virginia Creeper series and many paintings and drawings created especially for the publication. The thirty-two stories, spun together by Pittard over a two-year period of interviews and conversations with the artist, are an eclectic blend of humor, adventure, and tragedy. The result is a scrapbook of the artist's life growing up in a small town and his development as an artist, full of insights into the thought process involved in creating his artwork, sources of inspiration, and the clues or symbols incorporated in the scenes he creates. The narrative is peppered with short poems by Pittard, adding another dimension to the text and an element of the unexpected. Told in Shoemaker's voice, Pittard's text is informal and entertaining, geared toward a general audience, suitable for children, as well as adults, particularly train buffs, lovers of regional history, and fans of Shoemaker's work. Stephen Shoemaker is a nationally known artist from West Jefferson, North Carolina, best known for his detailed paintings of the train called the Virginia Creeper. Shoemaker's work has been exhibited at the Mint Museum and Queen's Gallery in Charlotte and regularly at the Ashe County Arts Council. He is also co-owner and designer for the Appalachian Mint, LLC. His studio is located in downtown West Jefferson, his hometown. Janet Pittard is a freelance writer whose work appeared in Our State and Signature magazines from 2003 to 2009. Pittard has also written for UNC-TV's Our State program, and, more recently was published in Mountain Memoirs: An Ashe County Anthology, edited by Chris Arvidson, Julie Townsend, and Scot Pope and released by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in Charlotte in 2012. A native of Southern Pines, Pittard now lives in Raleigh and West Jefferson.
Last Updated on Thursday, 30 May 2013 11:31