Smoky Mountain Living is going places, and this issue illustrates that better than any we’ve published to date.
When our company purchased this magazine in mid-2008, we wanted to take tangible steps to ensure that we were writing great stories about the entire region. The Smoky Mountain area that we’ve embraced reaches from Asheville to Boone, over to East Tennessee and south to the Knoxville area, and then down to the southwestern reaches of North Carolina and the northwestern mountain communities in Georgia.
That broad swath embraces a similar mountain culture, one we all celebrate as valuable, unique and historic. And in this issue of Smoky Mountain Living, we’re going to all these places.
Knoxville writer Wayne Waters’ story on that town’s musical roots is a fine piece of journalism that explores an enduring aspect of this west Tennessee city’s heritage. Knoxville and Asheville are the two premier cities in the Smoky Mountain region, the two metropolises that are among the nation’s melting pots for this new, changing style of music known as Americana. From musicians to radio station personalities to the regional promoter Ashley Capps (AC Entertainment), Waters gives us insight into this vibrant, evolving scene in which many residents of this region take such pride.
Kim Delozier, who hails from the unincorporated east Tennessee community of Seymour, has made a name for himself as a wildlife biologist with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But as he approaches retirement, his story is likely one that won’t be replicated too often. He studied at the University of Tennessee and then found his dream job just a few miles from home in the park. He’s managed to stay close to his family and his home community while serving in a position that usually requires a lot of jobs at different parks in order to move up the career ladder. Don Hendershot’s profile of Delozier is good reading.
When we decided to ask writer Jay Hardwig to profile Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, we had no idea who was going to be president. It was unusual enough that a young African-American woman has become a popular mayor in one of the region’s largest cities, and has done so with a grace that has won her many admirers. Now that Barack Obama is headed to the White House, Terry Bellamy’s story is perhaps more prescient than we originally thought. Hardwig’s piece on Bellamy gives great insight into her personality.
There’s also an interesting story on the French Broad Riverkeeper’s efforts to protect the waterway that is symbolic of this region, a story about a unique artists’ co-op in Boone, a look at the regional ski slopes and many more good stories about this mountain region. Enjoy the reading, and write to let us know what you think.