Literary: October 2007 Archives

The general public is able to view the excellent 3-page Jackson County Happenings for the month of November, published by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

(Requires the free Adobe Reader program to view.)

Highlights: the publication includes information about the On Agate Hill play in Sylva on November 4 (better get your tickets now), the Great Smoky Mountain Book Fair in Sylva on November 9 and 10, another blacksmithing class on November 10 and 11 in Dillsboro, and WCU's Madrigal Dinner on November 30 (tickets go on sale on Tuesday, November 9).

Jane Gibson Nardy, a Cashiers native, will bring her skills as an historian and author to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva this Saturday, October 27 at 2 p.m., for a reading from her recently published pictorial history, Cashiers Valley.

Nardy and co-author Jan Wyatt compiled the book with more than 200 vintage photographs and extensive historical captions, all describing the evolution of the Cashiers Valley area in southern Jackson County.

Nardy will also speak during the program about the importance of photographs, their role in our society, and how interpretations of photographs can provide clues to a community's past.

Nardy is the historian of the Cashiers Historical Society, which was formed in 1996 to save the historic Mordecai Zachary House, located on Highway 107 two miles south of Cashiers. Then-owner Robert "Bubba" Tolbert wanted to sell the home to a group willing to undertake its preservation. In 1997 Thomas and Wendy Dowden purchased the home, now called the Zachary-Tolbert House, and donated it to the Cashiers Historical Society, which restored the 1850 house to nearly-original condition. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is used by the historical society as its headquarters and serves as a community resource for learning, recreation and fund-raising.

Nardy is a descendant of Colonel John Zachary, one of the original founders of Cashiers, whose history is part of the story told in the house museum. She will be available after the reading for questions and book signings.

For more information, call Jessica at City Lights at 586-9499 or visit a page about the program on the City Lights web site.

A Sylva Herald article has additional coverage.

Local author Thomas Rain Crowe will present a reading from three of his recently published works at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 26 at the City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Crowe, a Tuckasegee resident, will read from two poetry collections: Radiogenesis and The Book of Rocks, and from his first short-story collection, A House of Girls. He will be available for questions and autographs after the reading.

For more information, call Jessica at City Lights at 586-9499.

A Sylva Herald article has additional details.

This Saturday (Oct. 20), City Lights Bookstore will be hosting one of the foremost "monster spotters" in the country.

Meet Scott Francis, author of Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, a book in field-guide format with information on more than 100 legendary American monsters. Written for adults in a campy yet informative format, the subjects range from Bigfoot to western North Carolina's Wampus Cat. For those considering a monster hunt, details are included as to where and when the monsters are reported to have been seen, their preferred habitats, appearance and feeding habits.

Francis' program begins at 7:30 p.m. at City Lights Bookstore, on Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

To learn more, call Joyce Moore of City Lights Bookstore at 586-9499 or view more information on a page of the City Lights web site .