Foothills Voices: Echoes of Southern Appalachia – Volume 2 Book Launch
Thursday, May 9, 2019, 7 p.m., Sharon Lawson Room
Twelve writers from East Tennessee tell true stories that reflect aspects of life in the Appalachian region. This volume’s editors include: James Stovall, Brennan LeQuire, Ed Caudill, Jennifer Spirko, and Chris Wohlwend. The book was produced by Blount County Public Library, and is available at Amazon.com as paperback, Kindle, and audiobook editions.
From the book description:
The voices in this volume echo with a pitch, tone, and diversity that reflects the Appalachian region itself. They include:
- the sounds of thunderous singing of music sung just as it was two centuries ago;
- the almost imperceptible scratching of a pen used by an octogenarian grandmother as she writes a journal for her grown children;
- the soft sounds of books being shelved in a library where children are laughing in the background;
- the tall but largely true tale of two moonshiners, one who comes off the mountain and another who doesn’t….
…There’s life and death here. Sometimes the death is planned or much anticipated; sometimes it’s a surprise. There is also work in these pages: the nurse who cares for the mentally ill, the member of the road-building crew, the grave-digger, and the dairy farmer. There’s the artist turned teacher who gained prominence as a librarian. There’s the farm boy turned soldier whose saw him through weeks of combat. There’s the woman who tended her garden with such care, intelligence, and strength of will that it became a tourist attraction.
All these stories are here. They reflect a region whose vibrancy and depth has sometimes been stereotyped inaccurately and unfairly. The people of southern Appalachia know who and what is here.
Open to the public, this program is hosted by the Blount County Public Library, located at 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville. For further information about library programs or services, call 982-0981 or visit the library website.
