“It’s all in the words.”
That phrase was a central theme in one of the many tributes I read about writer John Updike upon his death in January of this year. That particular piece was from a great admirer of Updike’s, someone who said his prose was among the best of the century.
I was also a great admirer of this quintessential American writer. I came across Updike’s fiction while in college in the late 1970s and early 1980s, entranced by both the words and the themes. In the last few years, though, I became especially interested in his relationship with The New Yorker magazine. Over six decades he contributed short stories, essays and many other pieces to what is generally considered the most “literary” of mass marketed American magazines. He was both the magazine’s most accomplished contributor and one of its biggest cheerleaders.
It was, in fact, the regular fiction by writers like Updike and others in The New Yorker that inspired us at Smoky Mountain Living to begin a regular fiction/essay section when this publication changed ownership one year ago.
Updike’s urbane sensibility lent itself to a magazine focusing on this nation’s largest city and its literary elite. In a similar vein, we strive in each issue of Smoky Mountain Living to find writers whose prose and whose subjects explore our mountain region. So far we’ve succeeded in doing that. And we plan to keep those writers coming.
Going to back to the Summer 2008 issue, Ron Rash’s original story “Lincolnites” was our first go at publishing original fiction by established writers. This piece about a pregnant woman fending for herself during the Civil War was a gritty, memorable story that showcased Rash’s immense talent.
After Rash we had a story by Silas House called “Don’t Forget This Song” that was published in our Fall 2008 issue. This story has a lyrical, almost mystical aura. Sheba is a white-eyed, shy, beautiful mountain girl who learns to unleash songs from somewhere deep inside her soul.
Next came Robert Morgan’s essay “Mountains, Machines and Memory,” where this mountain author discusses a young boy’s fascination as machines like tractors, well-diggers and trucks brought sudden change to rural America.
And in this issue? Well, it’s a story by Tommy Hays of Asheville that you’ll have to read for yourself. It’s another quality story, one you won’t want to miss.
As that writer said about Updike, it is “all in the words.” Indeed.
— Scott McLeod