Keepers of the Legends
The
story of Appalachia includes the myths and tales, the songs, the landscapes
and the lifestyle of the people of the region. To properly tell
the story requires books, music and pictures — and some special talented
individuals to serve as “keepers of the legends.”
Jane Hicks
Jane Hicks, the original Cosmic Possum, is a teacher, poet and fiber
artist from upper East Tennessee. The Cosmic One is the inspiration for
the
name
of a mythical
Appalachian Trail hikers' hostel in Sharyn McCrumb’s ballad novel,
The Songcatcher. Jane  and Betty Smith (below) performed a program of
music and
poetry in Madison County,
North Carolina in October 2003.
Betty Smith
Long before I met Betty Smith, I was listening to her music on recordings
from Appalshop. Betty is a music scholar and a wonderful singer, who
accompanies herself on dulcimer,
guitar, and psaltery. It is from Betty Smith that I learned many of the songs
that make up the soundtrack of the Ballad novels: from For My Friends
of Song, I took “Little
Margaret” and “The Knoxville Girl,” key elements of the
plot of the first Ballad novel If Ever I Return,
Peggy-O. All my novels
have “soundtracks” because I work closely with music as I write.
Betty Smith is a partof the creative process — she
is the voice of the Ballads.
Charlotte Ross
Charlotte Ross is the inspiration for Nora Bonesteel — though she would
tell you that Nora more closely resembles her own grandmother, who also has
the
Sight. A professor of folklore and a gifted storyteller, Charlotte Ross is
a true wise woman in the history and culture of Appalachia. In the planning
stages of each Ballad novel, I talk out the issues of the book with Charlotte
to make sure that what I feel and what I've researched match her perceptions
of the way things are for the mountain people. In 1996, Charlotte and I spent
three weeks in Ireland,looking for the connections between our Appalachian
people and their Celtic forebears.
Ken Murray
Ken Murray is a freelance photojournalist based in Kingsport,
Tennessee. His images include small family farms, coal mines, industries
and education and reflects the rural lifestyle of the region. Murray's
photographs appear on all current paperback editions of the Ballad Novels,
and on
the hardcovers The
Ballad of Frankie Silver, The Songcatcher and McCrumb's latest
book Ghost
Riders. |
