Vampires vs. Pancakes: Literary Tourism For Kids

Excert From: Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden, published by Viking
Tourism Attraction: Joey’s Pancake House (yummy food and so much fun after!)
Location: Maggie Valley, North Carolina
Photos: See Special Note On Photos at end

If your kids are reading all those vampire novels out there, I’d like to suggest a clean, fun alternative based in reality: the Maggie Valley young adult series by Kerry Madden. This three-book series is told from the perspective of young Olivia Weems, known affectionately to her family as Livy Two (named for Livy One, her stillborn sister). Kerry also teaches creative writing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Livy Two is growing up in a large family in the beautiful mountain area of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, in the 1960’s. Even though she still tells fairytales to her younger siblings, Livy Two’s own spirited dreams are often besieged by the harsher realities of real life. She used to be the apple of her Daddy’s eye, but after a bad car accident, her Daddy can hardly remember his former life of a loving family and banjo playing. Indeed, he’s been out of work for some time, and the family is struggling to make ends meet while he slowly recovers. The sudden loss of a job is a timely theme that many families can relate to today, unfortunately.

On a brighter note, the Pancake House (which started in the sixties) is still in business today as Joey’s Pancake House in Maggie Valley. Some of the friendly staff are seen right. Joey’s is only a starting point for a wonderful family vacation that promises lots of kid-friendly things to do. Please check out some of the links in the Tourism Guide after the excerpt to learn more. All of the photos in this feature are of the real Maggie Valley of today. Consider buying these books for your kids, and then make a magical wish come true: tell them that Maggie Valley is real and they can still visit this beautiful town. In the following scene, Livy Two’s disoriented father has gone missing, sending the family into a tailspin of fear. In the photo below, Kerry is giving a public reading from her novel in Joey's Pancake House.

FROM LOUISIANA’S SONG:

When the big black telephone blasts its jarring r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring, we’re already gathered around it, waiting, but Grandma Horace says, “Nobody touch it. I am the one answering the telephone today.”

She picks it up and says in her most dignified voice, “Hello. This is Zilpah Horace. I am the mother of Jessie Weems.”

Zilpah. What a funny name, and I realize I've never before known Grandma Horace's first name. Zilpah. Howdy, Zilpah. Zilpah. . . . I don’t dare call her that to her face. She’s always been Grandma Horace, not Granny or Meemaw or Nana.

The person on the phone turns out to be the lady from the Pancake House, who asks to speak to Mama. Grandma Horace holds the receiver close and says, “She is not here at present, may I take a message? Where? He ordered what? In his pajamas and bathrobe? All right, we’ll fetch him as soon as my daughter returns with my station wagon. Thank you very much.”

She hangs up the phone, turns to us, and says, “Your daddy is down at the Pancake House eating blackberry pancakes and he’s wearing that brown bathrobe, probably looking like one of Jesus’ Apostles himself.”

“How’s he gonna pay for it?” Becksie asks.

“Yeah, how?” Jitters demands. “Cause I think we’re flat broke.”

“That is the sixty-four-million-dollar question.” Granma Horace’s lips purse together in a knot.

Not a minute later, Mama peels the station wagon into the holler, spitting gravel, and yells, a sob in her voice, “Any word? Or sighting? I’ve looked everywhere.”

Grandma Horace calls, “He’s fine, Jessie. Catch your breath, daughter. Apparently, he walked out to the road and hitched a ride. Mercy me.”

Becksie yells, “Mama, I won the Queen of Maggie School. I won queen!”

But Mama’s already got the car in reverse, backing down the road. I race up to the car and say, “Let me go too, please?” Before she can answer, I jump into the front seat and she hits the gas to the Pancake House, burning rubber all the way. Daddy isn’t the only one who likes to drive fast in the family.

When we walk inside the cool air-conditioned Pancake House, Daddy is about halfway through a second order of mountain blackberry pancakes. He smiles when he sees us and says, “Well, hello there!”

The waitress wears a nametag, VAL, and smiles at Mama. “Your husband sure likes his pancakes.”

Mama puts on her polite, company face and says in a tight voice, “Thank you.” She turns to me and says, “Livy Two, sit with Daddy. I need to speak to the manager.”

I suspect she’s going to apologize and see about a rain check for Daddy’s breakfast. But as she finds the manager over by the counter, I watch her take out one of her knitted baby blankets from her handbag to show to her, and I overhear the manager say, “This isn’t necessary, Mrs. Weems. We’re just glad your husband is feeling well enough to come down here to the Pancake House and have his breakfast. He did a real nice job at Settlers Days last year, volunteering to select the talent, playing that claw hammer banjo.”

The face of that manager glows with kindness, and I’m so glad she wasn’t mean to Mama, what with Daddy ordering up the moon without a penny in his brown bathrobe. The relief on Mama’s face is evident, and I look over to Daddy, who says to me, “Hungry?”

He pushes his plate toward me, and I take a bite of his mountain blackberry pancakes swimming in maple syrup. Pure heaven on earth. When I take a second bite, he says, “Give it back now.”

“Okay, daddy.” I push the plate back toward him, and he keeps eating like a house on fire. Mama leaves Val a fifty-cent tip for her trouble. I know she’d leave more if she could.

When me and Mama arrive home with Daddy, all the kids race out to the car to greet us. Daddy says, “They were some all-right pancakes swimming in blackberries.”

Caroline is getting more comfortable around Daddy, mostly because it seems like Daddy enjoys being around the little ones best. Us big kids seem to bewilder him, but the little ones play and don’t want anything from him other than that he’s nearby.

Before Grandma Horace can put in her two cents about “the entire fiasco,” Mama turns to Becksie and says, “I’m proud of you winning queen. And right before we left the Pancake House, the manager asked me if you still wanted to have that summer job you were asking her about the day you dropped off the penny jar. You’ll work the Saturday and Sunday morning shift as a waitress. The lady who runs the place is as sweet as she can be. You’ll wash dishes on the other days if you want. I said you did.”

Becksie says, “Do I get to wear a uniform with an apron?”

“You sure do. It’s in the car. And your first shift will pay for Daddy’s breakfast. We don’t take handouts.”

Becksie says, “I’m going to be a real, true working girl. I won queen and got a job all on the same day! I’ll keep my wages in the Everything Box, just like Daddy did.”

“Heck, I wish I could get me a job at the Pancake House too!” says Jitters, kicking at the dirt.

A kind and benevolent expression spreads across Becksie’s face. “When you’re all grown up like me, Jitters, I’ll put in a good word.” It’s almost too much to stomach. But what can we say? The queen has spoken, and maybe we’ll get some free pancakes out of the deal.

--From LOUISIANA’S SONG, by Kerry Madden. Copyright © 2007 by Kerry Madden. All rights reserved.

Special Note On Photos
Sometimes I have to pull photos from a variety of sources for these articles. The two beautiful Maggie Valley shots above and below were used with permission from Michael Meissner (http://www.imountain.net/). Check out his site for more info. I also used photos from the website of Joey's, some from Kerry's local book signings and public readings, some from the Inn at Irish Meadows, and one from the Maggie Valley Opry House (all found in the Tourism Links). These photos and graphics make the story come alive, and I am very appreciative of all the help I get from local sources.

TOURISM GUIDE

The first thing that caught my attention in the Maggie Valley series was the artful way that Kerry weaved in so many high-quality literary plugs into the story. Livy Two is a character that your kids can relate to, and when she talks in the book about famous writers and poets like Emily Dickinson, then your kids are likely to delve further into those authors’ works, too. There could easily be an index of all the literary references in the novel for parents to use.

An endorsement from this fictional twelve-year-old character will probably have more of an impact on our kids than any reading recommendations we might push on them. After all, we don’t “understand,” do we? And we certainly don’t know what’s hip! A good strategy: don’t mention any of this to your kids or “how much they’ll learn.” Just buy them the first book, Gentle’s Holler, and then see where it goes. If they like the first book, buy the second. By the time they are done with the last book, Jesse’s Mountain, they will be in love with Maggie Valley.

The second element I admired in this series was the theme of fairytale dreams facing off against the realities of life. This is a family that faces some big crises, and they all have to grow up faster in order to meet those challenges. Even so, they still don’t lose their natural optimism and drive to reach for their dreams. Livy Two at the end of the series is much more seasoned than Livy Two at the beginning of the series. I like stories where the characters are not static but change, as we all must do when facing the realities of life. This makes a universal theme that will endear the Maggie Valley series as a classic read.

Individual creativity is also a major theme in the series. Many chapters end with a song written by Livy Two. Her sister Louisiana paints incredible pictures, and their blind sister Gentle performs inspiring songs. Livy Two also plays the guitar; music is a major element both in the books and in the real Maggie Valley of today.

As for tourism, the modern Maggie Valley is loaded with family fun and the spectacular beauty of the mountains, all within a small town atmosphere. Vacationing in Maggie Valley will give you time to breath in the fresh air and enjoy your family rather than rushing from one crowded attraction to another. Your children will always remember not only the time they spent in Maggie Valley but the time they spent with you in Maggie Valley. It’s not often that kids get to actually visit the settings of novels they read, and that’s part of what makes literary tourism so fun for everyone. Imagine how visiting the actual settings of novels they read will help your kids engage with reading like never before.

There are many strong connections between Kerry’s novels and the real Maggie Valley. Brenda O’Keefe, the manager of Joey’s Pancakes, has helped many teen girls and women not only with employment at Joey’s but also with encouragement for high aspirations and following through with their education. Brenda’s dear friends Ernestine Upchurch and Shirley Pinto are local anchors of the small Maggie Valley community who help with education and health. Shirley Fairchild runs the Maggie Valley Opry House with her husband, Raymond Fairchild, a world class banjo picker. The Opry House is the inspiration for the fictional Jessie's Smoky Mountain Music Notes in the novel. Mr. Fairchild is pictured above with his banjo.

Kerry says, “I have been so fortunate to have been welcomed into Maggie Valley by these strong and passionate believers in education and hard work and dreams.”

If you’re still not convinced, check out all the links below to learn more, especially the main Maggie Valley website. Of course, there are always plenty of books about blood-sucking vampires and demons to fill up your children’s impressionable imaginations as an alternative. I prefer pancakes every time.

Kerry also wrote a wonderful biography of Harper Lee, the famous author of To Kill A Mockingbird. That profile is found just below this feature, so please give it a look as well. Harper Lee created her fictional town of Maycomb from her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, which still offers an amazing literary tourism destination.

There are lots of other interesting places to visit through literature in the SELTI archives. Two recent features in the archives happen to be very nearby to Maggie Valley: “Hiking the Nantahala Mountain Trail” and “Blazing A Trail of Literary Tourism In The 21st Century” (based on Sylva, NC). The incredible mountain hiking getaway in the Nantahala National Forest features Sallie Bissell’s suspense novels. Visit the birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo, Mississippi, through the poems of Patricia Neely-Dorsey and Heather VanHoose Truett. Meet a moonshiner who speaks the gospel truth in an excerpt from Conecuh People by Wade Hall.

Take a chance on a stranger in historic Pendleton, South Carolina, in the short story “Ohme.” Go kayaking on the Coosa River in “Moccasin Gap” or dare to tread into a town abandoned over a hundred years ago in “The Last Confession.” The SELTI trail will continue next in Richmond, Virginia, with an excerpt and feature based on the mystery novel the clouds roll away by Sibella Giorello. The South is filled with literary tourism getaways for readers who don’t want the story to end with the last page.

Please feel free to post your comments underneath the Tourism Links. What sort of literary tourism would you like to see profiled? Is there a place or attraction that you would like to see written about? Or perhaps a novel about a real place that really made you want to “step into the story” for yourself with a visit? Share your thoughts and help to guide others to the best literary tourism hotspots in the South. If there’s a link to a book or place, feel free to post that as well. SELTI is also supported by a Facebook site at the link below, and that is a great way to share literary tourism with others. Browse the links below to learn more about Maggie Valley—and those delicious pancakes at Joey’s.

TOURISM LINKS

For a beautiful introduction to Maggie Valley complete with videos and music, visit the official Maggie Valley Visitor’s Bureau and Chamber of Commerce
http://www.maggievalley.org/

Joey’s Pancake House
http://www.joeyspancake.com/

Learn about all of Kerry Madden’s books,
including the Maggie Valley Series
http://www.kerrymadden.com/

Stay at Jonathan Creek Inn
(across from Joey's--includes video)
http://www.jonathancreekinn.com/

Maggie Valley Opry House
http://www.raymondfairchild.com/

A Great Bed & Breakfast: The Inn at Irish Meadows
(seen in porch photos with mountain views)
http://www.irismeadows.com/

Take your kids on a beautiful hike to the top of Watterrock Knob, just like Livy Two did with her brothers and sisters in the novel!
http://www.brptrails.com/brp4512.htm

Official North Carolina Travel and Tourism Site: Learn about so many opportunities!
http://www.visitnc.com/

Join SELTI on Facebook and invite your friends to participate in the literary tourism discussion.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=289783765813

Join Maggie Valley on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Maggie-Valley/114922205203141

Viking Children’s Books
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/yr/viking.html

For another great young adult story involving a brand new classic literary character, check out Watt Key's highly-acclaimed novel Alabama Moon at the feature "Today's Tom Sawyer: Camping Under An Alabama Moon." That novel was made into a movie starring John Goodman and is set in the Talladega National Forest of Alabama. Visit the feature here:

http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/2010/06/todays-tom-sawyer-camping-under-alabama.htmlAlabama National Forest: Photo by U.S. Forest Service

Hollywood Visits Monroeville, Alabama

All Photos Contributed by the Alabama Department of Tourism. Click any photo to enlarge

Excerpts From: UPclose: Harper Lee by Kerry Madden, published by Viking
Tourism Attraction: Monroe County Heritage Museum
Location: Monroeville, Alabama
Photos: Peggy Collins, Photo Editor, Alabama Tourism Department

Nelle Harper Lee certainly lives a fortunate life, but not because of the incredible commercial and literary success of her classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Rather, she is fortunate because her biggest hero in life was her father, A.C. Lee. She didn’t have to look to famous movie stars, big-time sports celebrities, or even brilliant but distant writers for her role models in life; she grew up with a hero who lived right in her home and happened to be her father.

Fortunately for us, a part of her father came alive not just in the novel but on the big screen in the character of Atticus Finch, thanks to her incredible writing and Gregory Peck’s amazing acting skills. When her father passed away, Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father’s pocket watch as a thank you. No other gesture could have been more profound or heartfelt.

Indeed, the story of To Kill A Mockingbird was so special that Hollywood took great care in its production, unlike many other rushed adaptations of popular novels. As many may know, the fictional town of Maycomb was inspired by Ms. Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. The following excerpts from Kerry Madden’s biography UPclose: Harper Lee show just how deep the connection was between Monroeville and the novel.

That connection is far from lost today, as Monroeville holds an annual literary festival and play in honor of the novel and movie. The play is performed in the actual courthouse and outdoor settings that inspired the classic novel. Many of the photos that you see in this feature come from that performance and the real courthouse. Please learn more about this amazing literary tourism opportunity following the excerpts.

From UPclose: Harper Lee
The film’s art director, Henry Bumstead, decided that he needed to make a trip to Monroeville to study the town in order to create the right tone for the film. Nelle met him there to show him the sights, and afterward, he wrote a letter to Pakula describing his visit. Bumstead won an Oscar for his set designs of the film. He donated the following letter, written in November 1961, and all his film storyboards to the Old County Courthouse Museum in Monroeville before his death in 2006.

Dear Alan,
I arrived here in Monroeville this afternoon after a very interesting and beautiful drive from Montgomery. Although this is my first visit to Alabama, I have worked in the South a number a times. During my drive I was very much impressed by the lack of traffic, the beautiful countryside, and the character of the negro shacks that dot the terrain.

Harper Lee was there to meet me, and she is a most charming person. She insisted I call her Nelle—feel like I’ve known her for years. Little wonder she was able to write such a successful novel.

Monroeville is a beautiful little town of about 2500 inhabitants. It’s small in size, but large in Southern character. I’m so happy that you made it possible for me to visit the area before designing To Kill A Mockingbird. Most of the houses are of wood, one story, and set up on brick piles. Almost every house has a porch and a swing hanging from the rafters. Believe me, it’s a much more relaxed life than we live in Hollywood.

So far I have seen all the types of buildings that we need for our residential street, but they are scattered throughout the town, so it would have been impossible for us to shoot the picture here in Monroeville. Therefore, I feel that the freeway houses we purchased for our southern street, with sufficient remodeling, will better suit our purposes. I have also photographed a wonderful Boo Radley home, which we can duplicate on our street.

I have also visited the old courthouse square and the interior of the courtroom Nelle wrote about. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am by the architecture and the little touches that will add to our set. Old potbellied stoves still heat the courtroom and beside each one stands a tub filled with coal. Nelle says we should have a block of ice on the exterior of the courthouse steps when we shoot this sequence. It seems people chip off a piece of the ice to take into the courtroom with them to munch on and try to keep cool. It reminded me of my “youth” when I used to follow the wagon to get ice chips.

Nelle is really amused at my picture taking, and also my taking measurements so that I can duplicate the things I see. She says she didn’t know we worked so hard. This morning she greeted me with, “I lost five pounds yesterday following you around taking pictures of door knobs, houses, wagons, collards etc. Can we take time for lunch today?”

The way people look at me around town they must think I’m a Hollywood producer rather than an art director. Nelle warned me about this—that they knew someone from Hollywood was in town, but they didn’t know who I was or what I did.

Yesterday afternoon the news was around town that that man from Hollywood was taking pictures in Mrs. Skinner’s collard patch. They couldn’t understand it because the opinion is that there are much better collard patches around town than Mrs. Skinner’s. It seems that after giving me permission to photograph her collards she rushed to the phone to give out the news. I must admit that when I confessed that I had never seen a collard, both Mrs. Skinner and her colored help looked at me with raised eyebrows.

Nelle says the exterior of Mrs. Dubose’s house should have paint that is peeling. Also, the interior should have dark woodwork, Victorian furniture, and be grim. Her house would be wired for electricity but she would still be using oil lamps—to save money, so Nelle says. Boo Radley’s house should look like it had never been painted—almost haunted.

Other items will be useful—the streets should be dirt, and there are no lamp posts as we know them today. The lamps hung from telephone poles. Also, in 1932 they were still using wooden stoves for their cooking and heating.

The almond trees that line some of the streets are beautiful, but I felt we could get the same character by using white oaks. There are no mailboxes on the houses—seems people go to town to the main post office to pick up their mail.

We photographed some negro shacks, which will be of great help when we come to do the exterior of Tom Robinson’s shack. Many of the shacks are located in areas covered with pine trees so we could do this sequence on the upper Lake section of the lot where we have pine trees.
We also photographed some back porches that will come in handy when we do the back of Boo Radley’s. All in all, certainly feel this trip will be of tremendous help in the designing of the picture. Again, my thanks to you. Warmest regards,
Sincerely,
Henry Bumstead

. . . In January 1962, Peck visited Monroeville to soak up local color and see the town. He also wanted to do some research and meet with Nelle and A.C. While Bumstead’s visit had sparked curiosity, Peck’s threw the town into a tailspin. The famous actor was spotted all over Monroeville, from the Wee Diner on Pineville Road to the La Salle Hotel to a local bank where a clerk refused to cash Peck’s check because he had no identification on him. A manager intervened on his behalf.

It was just fine for a hometown girl to write a pretty good novel, but for Gregory Peck to visit? Now, that was big news! High school girls went out driving to try to find where the handsome movie star was staying. One girl, Martha Louise Jones Moorer, got lucky and met him:

We checked the local hotel and found out that they had left, so since there was only one other we tried it. We recognized cars I suppose . . . anyway we decided which room they had to be in so one of the gals dared me to knock on the door and get Mr. Peck’s autograph. I did and Nelle answered the door, not even hello, but “Martha Louise, what are you doing here?”
I timidly said I just wanted his autograph. Nelle was just about to slam the door in my face, but he was sitting just inside the door and said he would be happy to give me his autograph. I still have it!
--Excerpted from UP Close: Harper Lee Cporyright 2009 by Kerry Madden
For a new classic novel about another incredible place to visit, please read the SELTI feature "Find Comfort in Warm Springs, Georgia" here: http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/2010/10/find-comfort-in-warm-springs-georgia.html. Comfort is a great educational novel for teachers interested in discussing anti-bullying, disability awareness, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Tourism Guide
All great biographies answer questions, and this one answered several burning questions of mine. Number One: how could an author refuse to discuss—since 1964—her one and only novel that also became one of the greatest novels of American literature? Number Two (maybe Number One): How could anyone, however famous, turn down an interview with Oprah? In a publishing world where marketing and media hype are so important to success, turning down Oprah is practically an unforgivable sacrilege. It’s almost a slap in the face to all aspiring authors and even some bestselling ones, I’m sure.

Who is this lady? Is she selfish? Reclusive? No social charms perhaps, so better off staying away from media interviews? As I read this biography, all of these potential explanations fell through. Ms. Lee is still active in too many charitable and community efforts to be described as selfish. Without her social charms, her good friend Truman Capote would never have gained the access he needed to write his classic book In Cold Blood. She has made successful public appearances since but simply not discussed her novel during those appearances.

She lives a common life, visiting local diners and the local Wal-Mart. Too many people admire her personally for her to be standoffish. The citizens of Monroeville are certainly protective of her privacy, even though many would surely make financial gain for doing otherwise. But you don’t do that to a friend. So what could be the reason for her reluctance to discuss her novel?

A picture slowly began to emerge. We live in an age when what celebrities wear, who they are currently dating, and what exclusive celebrity parties they have recently attended all often distract from their artistic work. Harper Lee has a love of writing deeper than most of us would imagine. In fact, her love of literature led her to make a firm decision decades ago: that the best way for us to get the full impact of her writing is to read her book. She refused, almost presciently considering what was soon to come in levels of media hype everywhere, to allow a personality cult image of herself to ever develop and overshadow her beloved work. She has succeeded. While other celebrities strive hard to build the all-important personality cult image deemed necessary for success, Harper Lee seems to disdain such efforts out of principle. (Sometimes I wonder if celebrities agree to get divorced simply to get their names in the tabloids again, don’t you? The messier the divorce, the more coverage they get—maybe even enough for an inane reality show.)

Rather than a slap in the face, this decision is actually one of the most beautiful lessons aspiring writers could ever learn: that the craft of writing should be so loved and respected that personal fame and attention, even for the most deserving work, should never eclipse the universal giving nature of literature. Those who write do so not to gain personal fame or fortune but to share their soul with the world through their words. By refusing to discuss her novel, Ms. Lee has guaranteed that our attention—even after all these years—has never shifted from the original inspiring message of her novel. That message is as universal today as it was in the early 1960’s: that fighting for what is right, not only when it’s not popular but also when you know that you probably won’t win, is still worth fighting for. That is what Atticus taught us. That is why he was a hero.

Can I not learn that on my own just as well—or even better—by reading the novel than by having Harper Lee tell me in an interview? Isn’t the experience of reading the novel more profoundly pure than seeing it discussed?

As you can imagine, writing a biography of a famous person who has refused to discuss her most important work for over forty years was quite a difficult task. At first, I felt for Kerry as I read the biography. How was she going to do this? In a sense, the biography also had a pureness to it because Kerry had to approach the whole thing without the benefit of interviewing the main subject. She had to go to the town, interview friends and locals, pore over the research. She had to think hard and write even better.

For those literary fans who got the message of To Kill A Mockingbird, this biography is a fascinating read that brings you into the making of the novel, movie, and person. There are so many amazing parts of this biography that I would like to share with you, but I’ll follow Harper’s lead: read the book!
I can say that Monroeville is still very much alive with the spirit of the classic story. Just visit some of the links below to learn more about the town that inspired Maycomb and the novel that captured all of our hearts. Imagine stepping into the actual courtroom that inspired Harper Lee; you can only do this in Monroeville at the Old Courthouse Museum, a spectacular attraction that makes the novel come alive before your eyes. Hollywood replicated this courtroom for the classic movie, and stepping into the real thing is quite an overwhelming experience.

Monroeville has also recently joined the Southern Literary Trail, a partnership between Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi that has connected many classic literary tourism attractions together through a central website with links. I strongly recommend a visit to the Southern Literary Trail. One example of their listed attractions is in my hometown of Montgomery, Alabama: the former home of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in beautiful Old Cloverdale. I also took a virtual tour of Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi, through that site (I’m planning a real trip, but this is one of the many valuable features that allows a literary tourist to learn about a site before visiting). Even Shelby Foote, a favorite writer of mine when I was a boy, is represented in the project. There are many more literary tourism destinations involved with the Southern Literary Trail, so please check it out at: http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/. You will be excited at what you find there. Alabama is well represented, along with Monroeville, the official Literary Capital of Alabama. Indeed, so many high-profile writers have connections to this small Alabama town that many have said: "It must be the water," a phrase that inspired the fountain, seen right, at the Alabama Center for the Literary Arts.

After declining an interview request from Oprah in 2006, Ms. Lee did send an open, gracious letter to her. Oprah published the short letter in her magazine. Of course, Ms. Lee did not discuss the novel. Even so, the letter still created lots of media hype—but hardly any of it was about the novel itself; rather, the coverage mostly focused on the reclusive nature of Ms. Lee’s life and what a scoop Oprah had achieved. If anyone deserved such a scoop, it was Oprah. Even as the Queen of Daytime TV, Oprah shares an incredible passion with Ms. Lee for reading, and she has done as much or more as anyone to promote reading.

What remarkably opposite paths these two women have taken in sharing their inspiring genius and passion with the world! I would have been very intrigued to see these two women talk based just on that. With Oprah’s incredible life story starting in Mississippi and Ms. Lee’s story starting in Alabama, there would be plenty for them to discuss without ever touching the novel.

Here’s an idea, Oprah: why not do one of your shows in the Monroe County courtroom? There’s plenty of room for an audience, and it would be one of the most inspiring venues for literature that your show has ever broadcast from. Ms. Lee might not show up for an interview, but I’m sure that Kerry would be glad to fill in; the two of you could swap stories about how insanely difficult it is to get an interview with the elusive Harper Lee. Kerry’s biography of Lee is part of Penguin’s Up Close series and is aimed at young adults, so invite some teenagers along as guests. Kerry also does workshops to help young adults with creative writing and teaches at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It would be an experience that the teenagers would never forget and spotlight the value of reading classic literature for young adults everywhere. I’ll bet you would enjoy doing a show in the same room that inspired the novel that gave us Atticus Finch.

Kerry, seen left, has also written a wonderful young adult fictional series based on the real Maggie Valley in North Carolina (I’m still reading Lousiana’s Song for the next feature, Kerry). Find out more about the Maggie Valley series on Kerry’s website at the link below, and stay tuned for an upcoming excerpt here. I’ve already picked out the excerpt, but I want to finish the whole series before writing the article.

A special thanks to Peggy Collins, Photo Editor for the Alabama Tourism Department, for providing all of the photos for this feature (except for Kerry's profile photo). Photography is a major element of this project, and since I am not a professional photographer, the aid of many talented tourism officials, media staff, and even local professional photographers have been invaluable to each feature. My thanks to all of you who have helped. I am often amazed at how these photos end up fitting perfectly with the stories and excerpts, and I cannot imagine any of the features without them. A special thanks to my partner, Patricia Neely-Dorsey, for encouraging me to make photography such an important part of the features. Patricia is the author of Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems, one of the most heartwarming books I've read in a long time. Learn more about her and the Tupelo connection in the December Stories By Month in the top left.

Tourism Links

Monroe County Heritage Museum

Kerry Madden’s homepage (learn more about UPclose: Harper Lee and the Maggie Valley series)
http://www.kerrymadden.com/

Monroe County Chamber of Commerce (learn about motels, restaurants, and shopping)
http://www.monroecountyal.com/

UPCLOSE HARPER LEE
Pub. Date: March 2009
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
Age Range: Young Adult
Series: Up Close Series
ISBN-13: 9780670010950
ISBN: 0670010952

Buy a copy of UPclose: Harper Lee at Capitol Book & News in Montgomery, AL
http://www.capitolbook.com/

Viking (publisher of UPclose: Harper Lee)
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/yr/viking.html

Official State of Alabama Tourism Web Site (learn about all of Alabama’s attractions)
http://www.alabama.travel/

Alabama Center for the Literary Arts (located in Monroeville)
http://www.ascc.edu/?DivisionID=2332&DepartmentID=2245&ToggleSideNav=ShowAll

See Scout Finch all grown up!
http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/2010/05/from-tiaras-to-tourists-book-your.html

Patricia Neely-Dorsey found me from Mississippi through a link put up by the Alabama Writers Forum, the state-wide literary arts organization. They are a great resource site and community for writers and literary fans, regardless of your state.
http://www.writersforum.org/

SELTI is an interactive community, so feel free to join the blog by clicking “Follow” in the top left. You might have to register for a free Google account, but that only requires a simple username and password. Plus, once you have a Google username, you can follow many fascinating blogs from one place, as I do, and post comments on the features that you like best. There is also a Facebook version of SELTI that allows email notifications whenever a new feature is published and provides a quick summary and link to all of the features. Please post your comments on the features and tourism locations to help guide other literary fans out there. And feel free to recommend any of your favorite literary tourism experiences as a way of sharing with others. Here is the Facebook link to SELTI: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=289783765813&ref=mf. Facebook is a great way to share this site with your friends by using the Invite People To Join feature. Just don't bother trying to "friend" Harper Lee, but there is a Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nelle-Harper-Lee/263327109175?ref=mf

Hiking the Nantahala Mountain Trail

Photos By Dr. William Yelverton

Excerpt from: In The Forest Of Harm by Sallie Bissell, published by Bantam
Attraction: Nantahala National Forest
Location: North Carolina

The following excerpt comes from the debut novel of a four-book series by Sallie Bissell featuring the fictional Mary Crow, a beautiful and compelling half-Cherokee prosecutor. This incredible series offers an enticing look into the mesmerizing landscape of the mountains of western North Carolina. In this excerpt, Mary is leading her two best friends on a hike deep into the Nantahala National Forest to a spiritual location first introduced to Mary by her Cherokee mother. Check out the links in the Tourism Guide at the end of this excerpt to learn about the real locations that inspired the story.

From In The Forest of Harm:

Alex turned left onto a gravel path that led to a small unpaved overlook, where she braked beside a tangle of wild honeysuckle. Thirty feet to the right, a tiny footpath seemed to plummet off the edge of the world.

The three women got out of the car and walked to a crumbling stone wall that skirted the overlook. Alex hopped up on the wall, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the expanse below.

For miles, a sea of trees undulated away from them. Still green at the lowest elevations, it swelled to red and gold and brown until distance tinted it mauve, then lilac. Finally it disappeared, miles away, into a hazy blue nothingness. As they watched two faraway hawks glide on a high thermal, the only sound they heard was the breath that rose from the forest itself. Cool and unwavering, it carried the fecund smells of growth and decay and made the fine hairs on their arms stand erect.

“Jeez,” murmured Joan, standing beside Alex. “And I thought Central Park was something.” She fumbled for her disposable camera that she had stashed in her purse. “I gotta get a picture of this.”

Mary watched as Joan snapped away. She knew from experience that her pictures would come out disappointing—the colors would be flat, the scope less majestic. Photography was frustrating that way. Only the images etched in your memory remained crisp, with colors undiluted.

“Can you imagine how the pioneers must have felt the first time they saw all this?” Alex spread her arms, as if all the acres below were a wild empire that belonged only to her.

Mary smiled. Alex’s imagination had always been able to soar at the slightest provocation, thrusting her back into history or forward into some crazy future. Though it made for interesting conversations, sometimes when she stood next to Alex she felt as dull as a stump.

“If we got lost could we follow those electrical wires out?” Alex pointed to a phalanx of power lines that stretched over the trees like strands of some giant spider web.

Mary squinted at the TVA cables linking the Cheoa and Calderwood dams. “I suppose, if we could climb a high enough tree to get a fix on one. It’s probably a day’s hike from pole to pole, though.”

Joan stared at the vastness before her and frowned. “Mary, are you sure you can find one little Cherokee hot spring in the middle of all those trees?”

“If this were New York, could you get us to Coney Island?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay,” said Mary. “Then just think of this as my Manhattan.”

“Well, okay,” Joan sighed. “But just remember I’m supposed to have dinner with Hugh Chandler next Saturday. I don’t want to have a broken leg or poison ivy or anything.”

“All you’ll have is thrilling tales of hiking through Appalachia,” Mary assured her. “Hugh will think he’s eating with Superwoman.” . . .

“Hey, Mary,” Alex asked, “when can we hike on to the spring?”

“Soon as the mist burns off.” Mary looked out across the huge cauldron of thick white mist that roiled just beyond the lip of the fissure. Only the tops of the mountains pierced through the swirling clouds. The view reminded her again of San Francisco, only here the mountains were the whales, dark forms breeching in a wispy white sea.

Joan flopped down between them. “Is all this fog why they call these the Smoky Mountains?”

“Shaconage,” Mary said without thinking.

“Excuse me?”

“That’s Cherokee. It means ‘land of blue smoke.’ Although actually,” Mary continued as she warmed her fingers around her coffee cup, “we’re in the Unicoi mountains, which comes from the Cherokee word Unaka.”

“Which means?”

“White mountains.”

Joan laughed. “You’re a regular thesaurus, Mary.”

“Don’t get excited. Ten more words and we’ll be at the end of my Cherokee vocabulary.”

Alex fixed them oatmeal with raisins for breakfast, then they waited for the fog to lift. By the time they struck their tent and repacked their gear, rust-colored mountains began to reappear as the thick white mist drained away. Overhead the sky turned from white to dazzling blue, and the breeze carried the aroma of apples and damp earth. It promised to be one of the singularly gorgeous fall days for which the Appalachian Mountains were famed.

Mary grinned at her friends, suddenly exhilarated. “Are we ready for the final assault on Atagahi?”

“I’m ready for any kind of hot tub,” replied Joan. “Electric, solar, or thermonuclear. These old bones need to soak in some nice warm water.”

Alex laughed. “Joan, you’re only thirty.”

“That’s in Atlanta years. Up here I feel three hundred.”
They doused the fire, buckled on their backpacks and followed Mary as she began to pick her way down from the cave . . .

They walked on, no longer stopping at creeks or listening to birds, just doggedly planting one foot ahead of the other, determined to make their destination. They crested the mountain, then Mary led them around the jutting roots of a massive overturned maple.

“There.” She grinned triumphantly and pointed below them. “Atagahi.”

A hundred yards away, ringed by huge boulders, a clear green pool glistened iridescent as a hummingbird in the sunlight. The calm waters glittered like an extravagant emerald on the finger of a czar.

Alex gasped. “Good grief! That looks more like Acapulco than Appalachia.”

“It even smells different.” Joan sniffed the air. “More like flowers instead of forest. And there aren’t any of those awful bugs!”

But Mary couldn’t speak. Atagahi was even more beautiful than she remembered. She could almost hear her mother’s laughter tinkling up over the water as they had lain floating on their backs, watching white clouds sail across blue sky.

Hurrying now, the three women picked their way among the rocks to the spring, ditching their backpacks under a drooping willow tree, their aches and complaints forgotten in the excitement of reaching their destination. At the lowest rim of the rock, they knelt and dipped their hands into the water.

“Hey, it is warm.” Joan looked up at Mary in surprise. “You weren’t kidding.”

“How deep is it?” Alex was peering into the fluorescent green depths.

“I’ve never known anyone who’s touched the bottom.” Mary sat down and began to unlace her boots. “But in a minute I’m going to try.”

She undressed. Her clothes made a small pile on the rock. She stood naked in the warm sun for a moment, then she poised on the edge of the pool and dived, her skin flashing pale bronze as she arced over the water. Seconds later, she surfaced ten feet away, her black hair slicked back and shining.

“This is incredible!” she cried exultantly. She arched her back and exhaled, floating, letting her weary arms and legs relax in the warm green water.

“Did you touch the bottom?” Alex called, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt.

“Nope, I saved that just for you.”

“Are you sure nobody will see us naked?” Joan, who felt uncomfortable in the dressing rooms of Bloomingdale’s, peered around anxiously.

“Only that gun-toting red wolf we heard last night,” Alex replied. “And of course the ghost who slept outside our tent.”

“Oh, shut up, Alex!”

Mary closed her eyes and smiled as her friend’s voices danced in the air. They could swim or not, as they pleased. She would be content to float here for the rest of her life. In a few moments, though, she heard a western Yee-hiii! and felt a splash. Alex swam beside her; a moment later Joan did, too.

Her mother’s body is sleek as an otter’s. Martha smiles in the sun and dives headfirst into the spring as if she might find diamonds hidden in the deep green water. Her head breaks the surface and she calls to Mary. “Come on in, baby. Don’t be afraid. I won’t let anything hurt you!” Mary strips down to her bathing suit and leaps into the water with far less grace than her mother. Down, down she goes, bubbles nibbling at her toes like tiny fish. She looks back up above her and sees the sun shining gold through the water and she gives one strong kick and surfaces in the honeyed air.

--Excerpted from IN THE FOREST OF HARM, Copyright 2001 by Sallie Bissell, published by Bantam.

Tourism Guide

I first discovered Sallie Bissell, seen right, when reading an excerpt in Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains-A Guidebook by Georgann Eubanks, published by UNC Press (see previous feature). Sallie’s writing immediately jumped out at me, and I wanted to read more. I quickly read all four novels and loved every minute.

Although the suspense element is riveting, the humor and wry observations on character that lace the storyline throughout are the real gems to me, along with the breathtaking introduction to the rural North Carolina mountain landscape. The mountains call to Mary Crow, and she cannot resist the pull of their ancient spirits, nor can the reader. There is an artistic craft of style in Bissell’s writing that seems to constantly accompany the normal commercial thrill element that drives book sales.

I don’t normally read suspense/thrillers; I’m quite happy with Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, but this style really made a literary impression on me. All great writers observe, and Sallie Bissell’s observations on the common characters that make up our real society are keen, inspiring, and often hilarious.

Mary Crow’s practical sensibilities make her a very solid, engaging character. When a fellow Cherokee political activist pushes a brochure on her about getting Native Americans into Congress, her reaction is priceless:

Mary looked up at Ruth Moon, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. Did these Indians not know how their government worked? Rich people sent other rich people to Congress to protect their interests, and everybody else—black, white, yellow or red—could go to hell. (from A DARKER JUSTICE, Copyright 2002 by Sallie Bissell).

Mary is caught between two worlds, but not the ones you would expect: her love of a lifetime, Jonathan Walkingstick, against the predatory thrill of being a prosecutor. The latter world consumes her passions to the point of threatening her personal—and often physical—life with extinction.

After experiencing this series, readers will want to step into the story themselves to discover the rich landscape so far away from urban life. Even with the humor, there are some very gritty scenes throughout the novels, as you would expect from a prosecutor’s life. However, the sweeping majesty of the mountains will tempt you with a vacation and peace of mind that you won’t find in the crowded, expensive and over-commercialized hotspots that most of us think of as a “getaway.” This will be a real getaway, and one that you won’t ever forget. Please check out the informational links below to learn more.

The beautiful photos provided are from a wonderful travel blog by Dr. William Yelverton, who often hikes deep into the mountains himself. These few photos are only a slice of the incredible shots you will find from his travels around the world, and I highly recommend a visit to his blog. Among other things, Dr. Yelverton is a competitive marathon runner, experienced deep mountain hiker, college professor, concert guitarist, environmentalist—oh, did I mention he knows how to handle wild bears? I told Sallie that he should be a character in one of her books. Suave villain or charming protagonist? You decide. In either case, I am most grateful for his permission to use these photos because they fit pefectly with the excerpt. Here is a link to his blog:http://tnparadise.blogspot.com/.

For another great story set in a national forest, please visit "Today's Tom Sawyer: Camping Under An Alabama Moon." That feature offers an excerpt and guide on Watt Key's highly-acclaimed novel Alabama Moon, set in the Talladega National Forest of Alabama. Watt's novel is a great story to encourage young adults to get closer to nature and literature. Alabama Moon was also made into a movie (starring John Goodman). Find that feature here:
http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/2010/06/todays-tom-sawyer-camping-under-alabama.html
Alabama National Forest: Photo by U.S. Forest Service
Tourism Links

Sallie Bissell’s website
http://www.salliebissell.com/Sallie_Bissell/Home.html

Nantahala National Forest
http://www.westernncattractions.com/NNF.htm

Learn about all of North Carolina's National Forests at the official site:
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/

Fontana Village Resort
http://www.fontanavillage.com/

Learn about all that North Carolina has to offer tourists
http://www.visitnc.com/

Bantam Dell Publishing Group
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/

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Learn about the publishing industry from insider professionals. This is one of the best blogs I've run across in a long time. I am working on two features about one of its team members, author Kerry Madden, but all the articles are engaging and often humorous.
http://southernauthors.blogspot.com/