Book Reviews+Storytelling
Featured
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Winged Messenger
It’s not uncommon to catch a glimpse of a soaring hawk or spot one perched high in a tree, but closer interactions with these beautiful creatures have been limited, for me, to wildlife habitats or special exhibits. Read more
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The Old Days and the Old Ways
In A Smoky Mountain Boyhood: Memories, Musings, and More Jim Casada takes his readers back in time to the land and the people of Western North Carolina of the mid-twentieth century. Read more
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Birth of A Written Language
Sequoyah, born circa 1776 at the village of Tuskeegee, announced in 1809 in his blacksmith shop that the Cherokee could create a writing system to put their Cherokee words on paper. He spent 12 years of his life trying to create a writing system. Read more
Photo courtesy of Vicki Lane
Chapter One: Simeon Ramsey
I am puzzling out the words in my daddy’s old Bible when a stranger sets down next to me. All the others here at the inn is busy drinking or gambling and Lathern, my particular friend, has gone off somewheres, most likely with that gap-toothed girl. Read more
Apr 1, 2021
Gatlinburg's Ogle Family
Gatlinburg, the popular gateway town of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was named for a notorious figure named Radford Gatlin. However, it is the Ogles, descendants of the first settlers, who have embodied Gatlinburg history. Read more
Apr 1, 2021
David Cohen illustration
The Silo In My Mind
That summer day in 1964, my friend Andre and I headed up our street, not knowing where our journey would take us. The day was young and the sun beamed brightly, and we were eager for an adventure. Read more
Apr 1, 2021
The Awful Immediacy of War On One’s Very Doorstep
“You’ve written a vivid and powerful book,” Tony Earley told me, “one you were meant to write.” It took a while to realize this. I wasn’t particularly interested in Civil War history, even when it was right under my nose. Read more
Apr 1, 2021
Death Be Not Proud
If I were to compile a list of a minister’s pet peeves, it would include funeral planning with family members who have no idea of their departed loved one’s wishes. Read more
Apr 1, 2021
Bill Burris
Photo Essay, April/May 2021
Thanks to all the readers who take the time to share their images for use in Smoky Mountain Living magazine! Read more
Apr 1, 2021
‘My Voice Will Always Be of This Place’
The first story I ever wrote outside of a classroom (I was likely around age eight or nine) was set in coastal Maine. My protagonist lived in a lighthouse. I had never been to Maine, nor been in a lighthouse. It didn’t matter. Read more
Feb 1, 2021
‘Cherokee Was Not the Cherokee of Today’
I don’t remember the day my father died. I don’t remember Lishie standing at the clothesline when the soldier came to tell her the news. I don’t remember the way she nodded her graying head, went back to pinning shirts and skirts, unable to cry. Read more
Feb 1, 2021
