family
From the managing editor, December 2017
I have joked that if my journalism got someone in the region angry enough to spit, a DNA swab could prove beyond any doubt that we were cousins. That's the way it is when you count eight generations tying you to these mountains. Read more
From the managing editor, June 2019
How much of what we do as adults is the result of how we were raised? I pondered that question as I worked in the yard recently. My maternal grandmother and my mother were the two most responsible for making me a lover of digging in the dirt. Read more
It's Hard to Say Goodbye
The local paper did a full page spread on my dad’s retirement. “The end of an era,” the paper called it. But it was really just the beginning of the end. Read more
Guy Smalley illustration • smmalleyart.com
Night Visitor
The memory is dream-like now, but some parts are vivid as if the events happened yesterday. Read more
Sam Dean photo
Henderson County, North Carolina: A Place You’ll Remember
Widely known for its abundance of apples and as the final home of American poet and writer Carl Sandburg, this popular destination spot offers not only history and agriculture but also an array of culinary, musical and leisure experiences. Read more
From the managing editor, February 2019
Early rising on cold winter mornings almost always kindles for me a momentary feeling of comfort, safety and well-being. What, specifically, keys that response? It is the memory from my childhood of feeling forced warm air on my bare feet. Read more
Guy Smalley illustration • smmalleyart.com
‘Where Are You From?’
Grasping my Southern identity is about as easy as grabbing a fistful of Smoky Mountain fog. The question “Where are you from?” always provoked hesitation growing up. Read more
Fred Sauceman photo
This Was No Vacation
It’s a miracle that I even exist. My father, Fred Sauceman Sr., was a member of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. He survived the D-Day Invasion and the hedgerow warfare in Normandy. Read more
Mabry-Hazen House hosting Fourth of July celebration
Historic property offers a spectacular view of the City of Knoxville's Festival on the Fourth fireworks. Read more
From the managing editor, June 2018
A friend’s Facebook meme last month caught my eye. It was the image of a boy playing in the mud, and the caption read: “They didn’t know their clothes were hand-me-downs, or that their home was not a mansion." Read more
Holly Kays photo
Hiking With Nana
It was a perfect summer day along a gorgeous riverside trail when our multi-generational entourage—two dogs, five people—set off for a high-elevation adventure in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. But my enthusiasm was mixed with nervousness. Read more
Learning to love wildflowers
My grandmother maintained a yard of flowers, mostly bulbs. She had a simple house with uneven floors and windows that were covered with ice on the inside in the coldest of winters. She had no money, she lived simply, but boy, did she have flowers. Read more
A Weekend Getaway at Wilderness at the Smokies
When folks think of the Smoky Mountains, visions of glorious mountain peaks tucked in low-hanging clouds emerge. But when romance is out of the question and it’s time for family fun, the valleys of Tennessee offer their own exciting destinations. Read more
Avery McGaha photo
Back On Her Feet
In Flat Broke With Two Goats: A Memoir of Appalachia, Asheville writer Jennifer McGaha takes readers on a wild ride through disaster and triumph. Read more
‘Don’t Waste Words on Them That Will Not Listen’
I stopped doing CD and book reviews at the end of 2013, but reading Becky Mushko’s latest book Them That Go, set in the 1970s in the same Virginia mountains where I was born and raised, has inspired me to put on my reviewer’s cap one last time. Read more
Guild makers show glass- and metal-making techniques
Southern Highland Craft Guild's makers forging ahead at third-annual Glass & Metal day. Read more
Father Feared No Early Frost
It is probably safe to say Dad had a green thumb although frost, sub-freezing temperatures, insects, rabbits and other vermin would—from time to time—result in his thumb being somewhat off color. Read more
From the managing editor, February 2018
On a recent Sunday my wife and I piled the dogs in the car and headed up Cove Creek Road in Haywood County, North Carolina, to see what was to be seen in the Cataloochee Valley. Read more
Guy Smalley illustration • smmalleyart.com
The Best Birthday Present Ever!
In February 1962, a few days before my 10th birthday, my daddy came to me with a twinkle in his eyes and a spring in his step and said, “Linda Sue, your 10th birthday is a special birthday because it marks the end of your first decade in this world." Read more
Kurtis Miller photo • kmpics.com
The Dillard House
In the Little Tennessee River Valley of North Georgia in 1917, Carrie and Arthur Dillard served their first meal at The Dillard House to a circuit-riding minister. Read more