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August 2016 FEATURES 51 When Honeybees Were Everywhere Poetry by Terri Kirby Erickson
52 Summer Postcards from the Edge Ten photographers, ten original stories . . . our edgy Summer reading offerings
64 So Delightful an Occupation By Ross Howell Jr. A patriotic anthem to gardeners, who are always young at heart
66 The King of Burning Love
By Billy Ingram Elvis Presley’s love affair with the Gate City
DEPARTMENTS 9 Simple Life By Jim Dodson
70 Towering Success
12 Short Stories 15 Doodad By Ogi Overman
79 Almanac
17 O.Harry By Harry Blair
By Maria Johnson A noble transformation for The Castle By Ash Alder Lammas, sword lilies and magical peaches
19 Life’s Funny By Maria Johnson 21 Omnivorous Reader By Gewnyfar Rohler 25 Scuppernong Bookshelf 27 Pleasures of Life By Annie Ferguson 31 Vine Wisdom By Robyn James 33 Spirits
By Tony Cross
37 The Evolving Species By Pamelia Barham
39 Gate City Journal By Jim Dodson
43 Papadaddy
By Clyde Edgerton
47 Wandering Billy By Billy Eye
80 Arts Calendar 103 GreenScene 111 Accidental Astrologer By Astrid Stellanova
112 O.Henry Ending By David Claude Bailey
Photograph on Cover by Tim Sayer 4 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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M A G A Z I N E
Volume 6, No. 8
“I have a fancy that every city has a voice.” 336.617.0090 1848 Banking Street, Greensboro, NC 27408 www.ohenrymag.com Jim Dodson, Editor • jim@thepilot.com Andie Stuart Rose, Art Director • andie@thepilot.com Nancy Oakley, Senior Editor • nancy@ohenrymag.com Lauren Shumaker, Graphic Designer Alyssa Rocherolle, Graphic Designer CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Cynthia Adams, Harry Blair, Maria Johnson CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Lynn Donovan, Amy Freeman, Sam Froelich, Ginny Johnson, Mekenzie Loli, Tim Sayer CONTRIBUTORS Ash Alden, Pamelia Barham, Susan Campbell, Tony Cross, Maggie Dodson, Clyde Edgerton, Terry Kirby Erickson, Billy Eye, Annie Ferguson, Ross Howell Jr., Billy Ingram, Robyn James, Sarah King, Ogi Overman, Gwenyfar Rohsler, Astrid Stellanova David Claude Bailey, Editor at Large
O.H
David Woronoff, Publisher ADVERTISING SALES Ginny Trigg, Sales Director 910.691.8293, ginny@thepilot.com Hattie Aderholdt, Sales Manager 336.601.1188, hattie@ohenrymag.com Lisa Bobbitt, Sales Assistant 336.617.0090, ohenryadvertising@thepilot.com
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Lisa Allen, 336.210.6921 • lisa@ohenrymag.com Amy Grove, 336.456.0827 • amy@ohenrymag.com CIRCULATION Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488 SUBSCRIPTIONS 336.617.0090 ©Copyright 2016. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. O.Henry Magazine is published by The Pilot LLC
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6 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Simple Life
Gone Fishin’
By Jim Dodson
As you read this, I’m sitting by a
trout stream in an undisclosed location somewhere deep in the North Carolina mountains. If I was wrapped in hickory smoked bacon, Lassie probably couldn’t find me.
But fear not, friends, I’ve left behind a few well-chosen words from my dear old friend Ogden Nash, who always has something timely to say.
To Donald on his way to Cleveland:
Love is a word that is constantly heard, Hate is a word that’s not. Love, I’m told, is more precious than gold, Love, I have read, is hot. But hate is the verb that to me is superb, And love is a drug on the mart. Any kiddie in school can love like a fool, But hating, my boy, is an art.
*
The danger of a hole in the porch screen: God in his wisdom made the fly And then forgot to tell us why.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
*
An ode to poison ivy:
One bliss for which there is no match, Is, when you itch, To up and scratch.
*
Song of the Interstate:
I think I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. Indeed, unless the billboards fall I’ll never see a tree at all.
*
Wish you weren’t here:
Some hate broccoli, some hate bacon, Some hate having their picture taken. How can your family claim to love you And then demand a picture of you?
*
August 2016
O.Henry 9
Simple Life
*
To the family at the start of the week: How pleasant to sit on the beach On the beach, on the sand, in the sun With ocean galore within reach, And nothing at all to be done! No letters to answer, No bills to be burned, No work to be shirked, No cash to be earned. It is pleasant to sit on the beach, With nothing at all to be done.
*
To the same family at the end of the week: One would be in less danger From the wiles of the stranger If one’s own kin and kith Were more fun to be with.
*
And finally, a few original Ogden-inspired lines jotted down by a pristine stream where the trout are laughing at my hand-made flies: A gal at the beach paints her toes, To catch the attention of beaus; But a guy at the beach will just scratch his feet, And wonder if anything good’s left to eat.
*
Gardener’s lament:
To a gardener in the heat of late summer, Oh, my, what a seasonal bummer, With hydrangeas so wilted, you feel almost jilted, It’s a wonder you bother to rose.
*
Politics as use-you-all:
I suppose I’m the Average American, Tho I can’t say just how the hellican, Vote for these two, either one of which who Make me wish I was just a mere skeleton.
*
A brief escape: 226 S. ELM STREET GREENSBORO, NC 336 333 2993 OscarOglethorpe.com
10 O.Henry
August 2016
So here I sit by a stream, Dreaming the American dream, I might not come home, just pick up and roam, At least till I find some ice cream. OH
Contact editor Jim Dodson at jim@thepilot.com. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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August 2016
O.Henry 11
Short Stories
Buzzworthy
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that sting! Celebrate the pollinators so crucial to our food system on August 20, at the Guilford County Master Gardeners’ Bee Friendly to Bees Day. Coinciding with National Honeybee Day, the event takes place at the Guilford County Agricultural Extension (3309 Burlington Road, Greensboro) a veritable hive of activity, with displays by UNCG, N.C. State and the Xerces Society on native bees and the latest on bee research. Also featured will be a plant scavenger hunt and samples of pollinator-driven food from GTCC’s culinary department. There’ll be face-painting for kids, books to browse through, hot dogs and honey-inspired desserts, music and more. Info: ces.ncsu.edu.
Courtiers High Five!
“I fancy that every city has a voice,” wrote William Sydney Porter, aka O.Henry, and five years ago this month, Greensboro found full-throated expression in the inaugural issue of this magazine. With a cover revealing author John Hart seated among the Gate City’s Who’s Who reading his novel Iron House — at, where else? The O.Henry Hotel’s Green Valley Grill bar — followed by a wildly popular second issue featuring architect Edward Loewenstein, O.Henry gave Greensboro residents reasons to celebrate their city. The celebration hasn’t slowed one bit in the last five years, as we’ve paid homage to our past, our art, our music, food, traditions, homes and gardens — thanks to the talents of Dodson, Schlosser, Johnson, Bailey, Adams, Blair, Wahl and Rose. But wait! There’s more: A literal fifth anniversary celebration replete with music, eats and drink will take place this fall. Keep reading these pages or facebook/ohenrymagazine for details.
Meaning, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, US of A’s Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey, fresh off his takedown of No. 1 seed Novak Djokivic at Wimbledon. From August 20–27, watch these tennis pros and others serve (and grunt), volley and lob at the Winston-Salem Open (Wake Forest Tennis Center, 100 West 32nd Street, Winston-Salem). For a little extracurricular fun, Brenner Children’s Hospital hosts Kids’ Day (8/20) serving up pointers on tennis skills, fun and games and an appearance by the tournament’s mascot, Bo. On 8/22 salute our vets at Military Appreciation Night. And Hey Ladies! On 8/24, (Ladies Day) consider stopping in for a luncheon, how-to booths and fashion show For more information and tickets: (336) 758-6409 winstonsalemopen.com.
More High Fives
Wynner Take All
And you’ll be a winner simply by strolling the beloved Donald Ross course to watch the pros tee off, drive, chip and putt at Sedgefield Coutnry Club (3201 Forsyth Drive, Greensboro) for the Wyndham Championship (August 15–21). Last year, the buzz was all about a certain icon named Tiger making an appearance — until N.C. native Davis Love III took home the trophy. Only the Fates can tell what will occur this year. Meantime, enjoy sporting a Hawaiian lei, munching on hot dogs, the merch . . . and a Greensboro tradition that has lasted seventy-seven years. Tickets: wyndhamchampionship.com.
12 O.Henry
August 2016
As in, 5 By O.Henry at the Greensboro Historical Museum (130 Summit Avenue, Greensboro), arguably one of the oldest museum play series in the United States. For its thirtieth season, 5 By O.Henry’s performance dates (traditionally around the September 11, the birthdate of its namesake, William Sydney Porter), come early. This year, the series starts August 12–14, followed by another run August 18–21, and continues in mid-September (from the 12th through the 14th, and the 18th through the 21st). Whether your preference is matinee or evening, enjoy The Rathskeller and the Rose, The Fifth Wheel, Conscience in Art, Tobin’s Palm and Memento, all adapted for stage by Joe Hoesl and directed by Barbara Britton. Tickets: (800) 8383006 or 5byohenry.bpt.me. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY JOHN GILLOOLY/WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP. PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN DONOVAN. PHOTOGRAPH BY FRED MULLANE (WINSTON-SALEM OPEN). PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO
Park It!
After planning, digging, planting and rain delays, it’s finally ready. Carolyn & Maurice LeBauer Park (200 North Davie Street, Greensboro) officially opens on August 8th, with a dedication ceremony, classes, entertainment and two on-site cafes: Noma Food & Co., described as “fast-casual” Vietnamese and Ghassan’s, a longtime Gate City favorite serving up Mediterranean fare. The party continues all week, culminating on the evening of the 14th with the illumination of Where We Met, a canopylike sculpture by Julia Echelman, touted as the largest of its kind in the Southeast. There’ll be plenty more reasons to come to Le Bauer Park, including the last MUSEP concert by Wally West Little Big Band on the 28th . . . not to mention the last rays of summer before the busy, shortened days of fall. Info: cfgg.org.
Tune Up
So often we laud the music-makers of roots, bluegrass and old time genres but forget that the instruments themselves are art. Thanks to The Luthiers Craft: Instrument Making Traditions of the Blue Ridge, you can see the craftsmanship that informs musicianship. Originating at Mount Airy’s Museum of Regional History, the exhibit came to the High Point Museum (1859 East Lexington Avenue) last month and will be on view through December 17. It follows the work of guitar maker Johnny Henderson, fiddle makers Audrey Hash Hamm and Chris Testerman, and banjo maker Johnny Gentry, all of whom hail from Southern Appalachia and the Blue Ridge. With handson ways to explore their craft, don’t be surprised if you get a notion to start pickin’ and grinnin’. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org.
These Colors DO Run
Get moving and get happy at the Color Vibe 5K Run on August 27. Starting at 8 a.m. on the corner of Lindsay and Church Streets, the event is not so much a reason to show off your athletic prowess as to have fun — and benefit the Healthy America Initiative, which promotes active and healthy lifestyles. You’ll dash around a loop with stations or “color zones” that douse you with paint. By the time you cross the finish line and head to the dance party and color throw, you’ll be sporting the full spectrum, reason enough to change your name to Roy G. Biv. To register: thecolorvibe.com.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Ogi Sez Ogi Overman With everyone trying to get in a beach trip before Labor Day, August is typically the slowest music month of the year. Therefore, for this hot month we’re going a bit farther afield to find the hot acts. Oh, they’re out there, you just gotta look a bit harder.
• August 4, Muddy Creek Music Hall: You’ve likely heard the buzz over the past year about this fantastic venue in Bethania, and there will be no better time to check it out than this event. Billed as A Celebration of Southern Sirens, seven topshelf local and regional songstresses (my fave is Emily Stewart) will be covering some of the greats, à® la Misses Loretta and Tammy. • August 10, Cone Denim Entertainment Center: Since forming in 1995, Chicago trio Chevelle has made the transition from alt. metal/post-grunge to mainstream hard rock, morphing from a cult act into respected touring and recording artists. This is what a power trio is supposed to sound like. • August 14, Thirsty’s 2: If you can’t make it to the beach, let my old pal Thirsty bring the beach to you. There is no finer keeper of the flame of that indigenous Carolinas genre than the Band of Oz. Ocean Boulevard right here in our backyard. • August 25, Haw River Ballroom: Yes, it’s off the beaten path, Saxapahaw to be exact, but they are bringing in some killer national acts that make the trip well worth it. Hard Working Americans is Americana stalwart Todd Snider’s new band, and they definitely live up to their name. • August 27, Greensboro Coliseum: Now, this should be interesting. When I first heard that Axl Rose was replacing Brian Johnson as lead vocalist for AC/DC, I dismissed it as another Internet myth. But the rumors are true, and — guess what? — the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Who knew?
August 2016
O.Henry 13
Living our Core Values.
Join our team as we serve our residents with... Honesty • Integrity • Respect • Stewardship
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Doodad
Shock and Awe The mesmerizing talent of guitar virtuoso Eric Gales
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE ERIC GALES BAND
I
n 2012, Memphis,Tennessee, native Eric Gales was one of the headliners at the Carolina Blues Festival in Greensboro. It so happened that an attractive young lady named LaDonna was in attendance that day, and after his show they were introduced. Long story short, today they are Mr. and Mrs. Gales and are residing happily in the Gate City. Thank you, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society. “As soon as we met, that was pretty much it,” says Gales, a broad grin creasing his face. Gales, now 41, might be a bluesman at his core, but after fifteen or sixteen albums (he’s not sure), he defies categorization. While his repertoire ranges from blues to rock, funk to jazz, and beyond, Gales calls his brand of music simply “inspirational.” He writes most of his own material but is apt to throw in snatches of Stevie Ray or Clapton or Hendrix, as if to let folks know just who his equals are. In fact, when concertgoers first see Gales’ inventiveness, skill and showmanship on stage, comparisons to Jimi Hendrix inevitably follow. Apart from the fact that both guitarists share the same race and left-handed playing style, the comparison ends. And yet, Gales’ mastery of the instrument is decidedly different. Most southpaws simply reverse the strings and play chords and leads the way a right-hander would. But Gales turned over a right-handed guitar and learned to play it upside-down. Even more astounding, he is naturally right-handed. “I picked it up on my own,” says Gales. “My older brothers were left-handed, and it just so happened I just started playing the way they did. I write right-handed and everything else; it’s the only thing I do left-handed.” Hey . . . whatever works. There are but a handful of electric guitarists on the planet who can do what Gales does. The effect of his music leaves listeners either mesmerized or gyrating. “Some people get up and go crazy and others just sit there,” he says. “It’s like ‘shock and awe.’” These days, Gales is on the road most of the time, touring nationally with his six-piece band, including three backup vocalists — one of whom is LaDonna. He recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with Lauryn Hill. He is also enjoying increased demand as a session guitarist, and is working on an album for his new label, Mascot Records. The road will wind its way home next month when Gales appears at the John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival in High Point, September 3–4. “It’s an honor to play on anything named ‘Coltrane,’” he remarks, “but it’s even better because it’s home.” OH — Ogi Overman The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 15
By Harry Blair
O.Harry
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 17
Life’s Funny
Em ji This! By Maria Johnson D’
friend,
Just a to let you know what’s . ’m ing this cause it’s a different way to tell a story, kind with emojis ’s . of like with a Also, it seems slightly more acceptable to *%#! this way. example, you can say uva , or my , or ,or ’m gonna your , and people will be like . ’m exploring the vast of symbols on my and So some of them stand . mean, wondering what the does mean? Is it an albino what is the H-E-double ?A of grits? A yurt? And what about ? Is that tiramisu? Crème brûleé? A flan? Who texts a flan? Also, there recognize, but when would are y symbols that or , instance. , but use them? Like as a can’t imagine texting someone about it, except may grocery . Like, “Honey, could you stop on the way feel like cooking to celebrate the and get some ? just dragged in another ?” Which fact that the underbrings me to s. Why are there so y s? stand that people live in those 247 countries, but do people from Grenada even fly their , which is basically a nod to mean, that’s in a “ the , we’re the spice nutmeg? gonna put nutmeg on our flag,” kind of way. And who in , and they knows? Maybe they have a team that’s text their opponents things like, “u= , nutmeg = .” I still is way y. But enough about that. think 247 bring you up to date on my life. Recently we went on a trip in Michigan. You know what they to see our extended your , but you can’t your . say. You can Fortunately, my relatives are s. Everyone’s doing well. . wanted Then we went to Chicago. Yup, the ol’ , but Jeff wanted to go by . I was like, “Are to go by s?” And he was like, “no, it’ll be .” So off we went you across southern Michigan, which was full of . Jeff was flakes!” And I like, “Look! It’s the plant where they make was ing the whole time. was like, “ .” Actually, for on the . In Chicago we ’d a Thank The Art & Soul of Greensboro
s. ’d out on a long Chicago . It game, the with and and it was great until a was basically a in my few minutes later, when it felt like there was a . Maybe . really don’t gut. So put it out with a was dis ’d because we were sitting next remember. . He looked like he’d had a few s from a to a real . Every time people passed down the row for big , he was like . wanted to say, “hey, , do you or do the ? Then make like a want to see this whole realized that would be y even by and ,” but got busy ing the s. You Midwestern standards. So to know that they were going to take a . didn’t need a What can you say about a team whose fans wear s saying, “Try not to suck”? The next day, we went to the and and and Shedd Aquarium and saw lots of and heard a lot of ’ing wildlife. Then we ’d out and cookthrough the shop, where they were selling but , you know? Later we took a tour of books. s. My fave was the one designed to look like a Chicago during Prohibition. Also, we did a tour of Frank bottle of at his work. A Lloyd Wright’s . He was such a in his personal life, yes, but a at and occasional ’d at his work. Also, we ’d around Millenium Park and Gate, which everyone calls the reflective sculpture called n. The weather was ,which the locals cal l “ .” The friends. Then we came back to NC We saw some old in the s. It was iful. And ful. At and went to a ’d. Then they the end, they ’d. Then they ’d some more, until you were like, “Is this some sort of ? Maybe it’s on trest?” But no. new combo . Later, at the reception, we It was just old-fashioned and . Did a little and ’d home. So had some , ing, answering , now, we’re getting back into a and of course ing er old friends like doing -O and L8r , Me you. Sent from my iPhone August 2016
O.Henry 19
Inspired by the centennial anniversary of World War I, UNCG and Triad community partners present artists, authors and intellectuals in a year-long series of events, exploring war and peace through the arts and humanities over the past century.
FALL 2016 FEATURED EVENTS: COLLAGE
WARTORN
ARMS AND THE MAN
A TRIBUTE TO JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
3RD ANNUAL GREENSBORO DANCE FILM FESTIVAL
CREATING PEACE: SCULPTING WAR IN MOZAMBIQUE
Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. UNCG Auditorium
Oct.14 , 6:00 p.m. Claxton Room, Elliott University Center
Opens Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m. The Pyrle Theater, Triad Stage
Oct. 20 & 21, 7:30 p.m. UNCG Auditorium
Sept. 17, 7:00 p.m. Geeksboro
Nov. 15, 6:00 p.m.
Weatherspoon Art Museum
WAR AND PEACE REIMAGINED Sept. 29, 8:00 p.m. UNCG Auditorium
FALL DANCES
Nov. 18 & 19, 8:00 p.m. Dance Theater
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Opens Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m. Taylor Theatre
LYNN HARRELL
ACHIEVING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TORTURE Oct. 6, 2:00 p.m. Faculty Center
Dec. 3, 8:00 p.m. Recital Hall
EXPLORE. ENGAGE. ENVISION. for more information about events, visit:
warandpeace.uncg.edu
The Omnivorous Reader
Rediscovering a North Carolina Treasure The works of John Ehle
By Gwenyfar Rohler
“We’re bringing John
Ehle’s books back into print,” explained Kevin Morgan Watson, gesturing to Press 53’s display at the North Carolina Writer’s Conference. I nodded knowingly and inwardly hoped that my confusion didn’t show on my face. I was too embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t familiar with John Ehle or his work. To remedy my chagrin, I sought out Ehle’s The Land Breakers, and I was stunned that it had taken me until the age of 36 to discover his work.
The Land Breakers begins Ehle’s seven-book series exploring the settlement and development of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. It opens in 1779 and primarily traces the journey of Mooney Wright, a Scots-Irish orphan who has recently completed his indentured servitude in the New World. Wright buys a piece of land, 640 acres of good, “bottom land.” When he and his young wife finally arrive after a perilous journey to this promised, much-dreamed-of prize, Ehle captures their rapturous disbelief and elation with honest realism. Reading it doesn’t so much remind one of being young, in love and filled with dreams and wonder, but actually takes one back to inhabiting that space in a way few writers can. Ehle’s family history on his mother’s side can be traced to one of the first three families to settle Appalachian North Carolina, the frontier that The Land Breakers and its six companion novels chronicle. Throughout his adult life, he continued to live in the western part of the state (when not in New York or The Art & Soul of Greensboro
London for his wife, Rosemary Harris’, acting career), with homes near both Penland and Winston-Salem. From his author’s bio: “His interest in the folkways of the past . . . is an interest in the present, in where we are all going, what we are leaving, and what we will need to find replacements for.” Perhaps that is part of what makes The Land Breakers so compelling. On the surface, it appears to be a book about man versus nature and the insurmountable opportunities around him, but it is so much more. In The Land Breakers, as each new family moves into the valley Mooney Wright has settled, Ehle introduces their strengths and weaknesses and the impact they will each have on the collective survival of the settlement. None of the characters are merely two-dimensional parodies of an idea; rather, they are all flawed yet desirable human beings struggling with their own mortality against a wilderness far more powerful than they are. The journey the characters make toward understanding what is essential for their survival and success is so captivating I could not put the book down. Ehle explores both life’s beauty and horror. Spoiler alert! The scene involving the snake attacks at night might be the most frightening three pages I have read in years. Forget the bogeyman and the phantoms of Stephen King — these snakes left me white-knuckled and twitching. In 1967, John Ehle married Tony Award–winning English actress Rosemary Harris. With a film résumé that includes Beau Brummell, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, George Sand in Notorious Woman, Desdemona in Othello, Tom & Viv, and even Spider-Man, Harris has a career of legend built on a solid foundation of craft. Perhaps inspired partly by witnessing Harris’ film experiences, in 1974 Ehle released The Changing of the Guard, a book that chronicles the production of a big-budget biopic of Louis XVI. Were it not for the intensity of the writing and skillful use of metaphor that slowly overtakes the action of the book, it would be hard to believe the same man wrote both novels. The Changing of the Guard is a prismatic display of storytelling. On the surface it tells the story of an aging British actor who sees himself as a contemporary of August 2016
O.Henry 21
Omnivorous Reader Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier, making his last big picture: a beautiful, sweeping costume drama of the last days of Louis XVI during the French Revolution. His real-life wife is cast to play his mistress, and her best friend is to be Marie Antoinette. From the outset the power struggle appears to be between the actor and the brash young director that the studio insisted upon. But slowly, the book evolves into Ehle’s retelling of the private life of Louis during the revolution, serving as both a metaphor for the war waged on set and the changes in the actor’s private life. The line between art and reality is crossed so frequently and subtly — almost a form of magical realism — that, in the hands of a lesser writer, the story line and conceit would be hokey and hard to follow. But from Ehle’s pen, it is completely believable. The part that makes the book painful to stomach is the needless human cruelty we are capable of inflicting upon each other — which Ehle demonstrates in broad strokes through the French Revolution and very pointedly with exquisite, tearing saber thrusts in the personal interactions between the actors and director. Where The Land Breakers is about man versus nature and forces greater than man could comprehend, The Changing of the Guard takes on the inevitable autumn of life that comes to all of us and the painful battle with a world that no longer needs us. At their core both books explore the experience of giving yourself wholly to something bigger, greater than yourself. Be it art or the development of a farm, both are about legacies and leaving some sign that you passed through this world. Similarly, Kevin Morgan Watson has dedicated himself to the enterprise of publishing and creating an outlet for work he believes in (and I am forever grateful to him for bringing Ehle’s books back into print). Ehle manages to look at very specific stories: the settlement and growth of the Appalachians, the transition in the film world from beautiful, bright costume dramas with stylized performances to dark, realistic depictions of life before electricity, a world of people who talk to each other like real people instead of caricatures. Ehle finds the universal struggle that speaks to readers, even if you have never built a log cabin or operated a guillotine. Many people are preoccupied with their legacy; few people understand that legacy is something we begin creating every morning when we wake up, before we understand our own mortality. Perhaps Mooney Wright put it best: “A person becomes part of what he does . . . grows into what grows around him, and if he works the land, he comes to be the land, an owner of and slave to it.” OH Gwenyfar Rohler spends her days managing her family’s bookstore on Front Street.
22 O.Henry
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24 O.Henry
August 2016
FHW.OHenry_July2016.Nancy and Bobby.FINAL.indd 1
Bobby Cook The Art & Soul of Greensboro 6/27/16 5:14 PM
Scuppernong Bookshelf
Auguries of August How the eighth month portends literary greatness — and anguish
Serious people write books. Are these
serious people predestined? Were they formed at the earliest age by a choice made by parents who unwittingly determined their futures in the act of naming? If you name your child “August,” echoing the name of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, after whom the month is named, are you not dooming them to a life of distinction, renown and acclaim? It must be so. For this month’s Scuppernong Bookshelf we look at writers who shoulder the burden of living up to the name “August”— as well as books that use our most venerable month in their own titles.
August Wilson was a poet before he was a playwright, and it shows in the way his characters speak. They’re not poetic in the usual sense, but the words have force and power and music that rises from deep within them. Wilson has been a luminary in the American theater scene for decades and Fences (Plume, Reissue, $18.96) remains one of his most moving and acclaimed plays. It’s the late 1950s, and laborer Troy Maxson struggles with changing times and shifting roles of New York life around him. Fences is a story of family, pride and the ways we struggle to protect those we love. Allen Ginsburg called the poet August Kleinzhaler, “a loner, a genius.” Kleinzhaler’s book, Storm Over Hackensack (Moyer Bell, Ltd. $11.99 paperback), is largely about his wayward brother’s suicide, and much of his work is haunted by his brother’s death. Augusten Burroughs’ latest memoir, Lust & Wonder (St. Martin’s Press, $26.99), tries to figure out the difference between love and lust. Good luck! But Burroughs is a master at finding the humor alongside the horror, and this book, much like Running With Scissors, uses the very personal for an exploration of universal struggles. Barbara Tuchman’s Guns of August (Presidio Press, paperback, $7.99) is too engaging to be a beach read, too weighty to be summer reading, yet we recommend it as part of our August bookshelf all the same. If there ever was such thing as a historical page-turner, this is it. Tuchman explains the causes of WWI with strong storytelling that you’ll even find absorbing, even the smallest of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s crude comments. Like any history writer worth his or her weight in Pulitzers (this author has two), Tuchman reclaims the past by bringing long-gone historical figures back to life. Though some of her theories about the Great War
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
have been debunked since the book’s original publication in 1962, the storytelling alone makes it worth reading today. If you are looking for something compelling, dramatic, heavy and yet still a quick read, look to the stage! The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama and Tony Award Winner for Best Play, August: Osage County, (Dramatists Play Service, $9 paperback) by Tracy Letts, is an inside look at a family brought together by the disappearance of their patriarch. The play explores themes of grief, addiction, and changing relationships both familial and romantic through the eyes of remarkably tangible and complex characters. And the most famous literary August of all, Light in August (Vintage International paperback, $12.59), by William Faulkner, has its own family troubles. Joe Christmas tries to find a place in his Mississippi despite his mixed race, and that’s not going to turn out well. Ralph Ellison offers: “For all his concern with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man. Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics.” What happens when writers name their own characters after the eighth cycle of the moon? Nothing good it seems. We all remember what happened to Augustus Glump in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And things don’t end famously for Augustus Waters in John Green’s touching The Fault in Our Stars. Our advice: Name your children or your characters after other months; try June or July, or April or May. Things will turn out better, we’re sure. Hot New Releases for August 2016: August 2: American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, by Jeffrey Toobin (Doubleday, $28.95). August 9: Three Sisters, Three Queens, by Phillippa Gregory (Touchstone, $27.99). August 16: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, by Amy Schumer (Gallery Books, $28). August 23: Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Time Inc. Books, $27.95). August 30: A Great Reckoning ( Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #12 ), by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books, $19.92). OH Scuppernong Bookshelf was written by Martha Adams-Cooper, Gabe Pollak, Steve Mitchell and Brian Lampkin. August 2016
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Pleasures of Life Dept.
All the Pretty Horses Jolly holidays on our regions local merry-go-rounds
By Annie Ferguson
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LYNN DONOVAN
It’s hard to deny the magical aura of
carousels. Their sheer beauty and craftsmanship harken back to times long gone, bestowing upon them an otherworldly aspect. And who doesn’t remember the Disney film version of Mary Poppins, where Mary’s, Bert’s and the Banks children’s steeds break free from a roundabout to join a foxhunt? Add a little enchanting music, some twinkling lights and the mechanical whir of going round and round, and suddenly you’re transported back into a simpler, gentler era, if only for a few minutes.
On vacations, my family makes it a point to seek out carousels whenever possible — even if it’s just a family visit to my hometown of Salisbury, location of Haden’s Carousel at Dan Nicholas Park. We’ve gone round in circles in fartherflung places such as Boston’s common, Disney World in Orlando, Florida; Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. We’ve even ridden the carousel in Hersheypark, the largest I’ve ever seen. Leading up to our trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, my then 4-year-old innocently asked, “Will the carousel be made of chocolate?” No, but it rotates to the soundtrack from a Wurlitzer model 153 military band organ. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
For our children — and many others — carousels offered life’s first theme park rides. Our oldest has graduated to seeking thrills on some of the more heart-stopping roller coasters at the amusement parks we visit, yet like her parents, she’s still drawn to merry-go-rounds everywhere we go. As luck would have it, we don’t have to wait to go on vacation from the Triad to enjoy kinder, gentler rides now that warm weather has rolled around. An abundance of carousels await merry-go-round lovers within a 40-mile radius of Greensboro. Transport yourself to a footloose and fancy-free time this summer on one of our area carousels One of my favorites is the Three-Row Dentzel Menagerie Carousel at Burlington’s City Park. I’ve ridden it dozens of times, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the same song played twice (though I never tire of hearing “Carolina in the Morning”). The exact date of the carousel’s construction — or its first location — is unknown, but it was likely built sometime between 1906–1910 at the Dentzel Carousel Company on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia. Its mirrors are stamped March and April of 1913, and the bottom of the wooden platform reads May 1914. Another fun fact: One of the rounding boards is a copy of a 1903 Remington painting. The early 1900s were known as the Golden Era of carousels, and it was common for an older model to be sent back to its manufacturer to be refurbished or recycled. For this reason, it’s difficult to authenticate official dates for many carousels still operating in the United States. Their familiar construction, a series of horses or animals mounted on poles to a rotating board, are a revision of the earliest carousels that appeared at fairs in the early 18th century. These usually consisted of flying horse figures suspended in the air, while some poor beast of burden — or groups of people — generated centrifugal force by pulling August 2016
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Pleasures of Life Dept. the contraption from a chain while walking circles, or even hand-cranking it. The entire concept has roots in Middle Eastern jousting and cavalry drills from the Crusades that required a high level of equestrian skill. The Dentzel, which the city of Burlington acquired in 1948 from Carl Utoff, owner of the Forest Park Amusement Park in Genoa, Ohio, exemplifies the uncanny craftsmanship that German and French artisans applied to carousels in the
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19th century. It features forty-six animals — horses, cats, ostriches, rabbits, pigs, a deer, giraffe, lion and tiger, as well as two chariots — hand-carved out of bass and poplar wood. The Dentzel carvers, like their predecessors, achieved a high level of realism, carving the veins and muscles into the animal figures and fashioning their eyes from glass. Their tails are from real horsehair. The precision mechanism of the Carousel, like a cuckoo clock or Volkswagen Beetle engine, is a testament to German engineering with its battery of bearings and gears and an unusual clutch system. In the early 1980s, as part of an extensive restoration, an army of artists and volunteers was dispatched to strip and repaint the animals and the rounding boards, which revealed original tableaus underneath cracked outer layers of paint. With its made over exterior and rejuvenated gear system, the Denzel bears the moniker of one of the “newest old” carousels around, and entices new generations of riders when it opens Easter weekend through the fall, its season culminating in a two-day Carousel Festival every September. Opening a little later in the spring is the merrygo-round in City Lake Park in Jamestown near High Point. Built by San Antonio Roller Works in the early 1960s, it was designed as a traveling carousel, and rests on a trailer that can be moved from site to site. But why move it, with picturesque City Lake as its dramatic backdrop? Though not as historic or elaborate as the Dentzel in Burlington, The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Pleasures of Life Dept. High Point’s carousel still draws legions of kids, who line up for turns with an all-day pass on the roundabout’s wooden deck, bearing sixteen horses, and two benches. From May to October, the number of riders has swelled to 25,000 people annually, since High Point bought the carousel in 1979. Farther afield, you can take a spin on the Endangered Species Carousel at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, which was designed by The Chance Morgan Ride Company and opened at the park in 2006. The polar bear figure was specifically designed for our zoo, and the rest of the ride features lights, old-time music, as well as zebras, bears, sea lions, elephants and gorillas. Among other animals, you can go round and round accompanied by a spinning tub shaped like a bird’s nest or a swan in a bench seat that accommodates wheelchairs. All of the animals are shaped from fiberglass and hand-painted. It’s a great place to take a break from your North America and Africa walkabouts. Unless you’d like a taste of Venice at WinstonSalem’s Hanes Mall, of all places. On the exterior panels of its Venetian Carousel are scenes of canals and gondolas from the confection-like Italian city. Ride on any of the three rows of horses and a spinning tub. Winston is also home to Wayne Ketner, who during his retirement years has been carving all kinds of figures including carousel animals. “I always liked carousels because they’re colorful,” he recently told an interviewer. The more intricate and detailed the project, the more the self-taught artist enjoys it. Some take as much as six months to complete. And where does Greensboro fit into this merrygo-roundup? Well, hold your horses: A year-round, custom-made carousel illustrating the Gate City’s history has been in the works for about ten years. Now possibly targeted to open within the next year. Initial plans are to make the Greensboro ride enclosed in a glass structure during winter months, similar to Jane’s Carousel in New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park. The force behind its creator is the Greensboro Rotary Club which plans to give the carousel to Senior Resources to operate, and proceeds will go — fittingly — to the organization’s Mobile Meals program. Though a permanent site is yet to be determined (somewhere downtown or at the Greensboro Science Center are leading candidates) the ride will feed not only hungry mouths, but the imaginations of the young and young at heart — just as carousels have for centuries. OH One of the oldest carousels in the nation, the Watch Hill Flying Horses, is on Annie Ferguson’s vacation bucket list. Located along the seaside in Westerly, Rhode Island and originally powered by a horse and built circa 1894, the carousel’s horses are suspended from above instead of being attached to the floor. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Vine Wisdom
Arneis the Alternative The “Little Rascal” of summer wines
By Robyn James
Whenever we
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GESSNER
enter the dog days of summer, the search is on for refreshing whites to quench your thirst and complement your summer menus of salads, cold plates and seafood. New Zealand sauvignon blanc, Oregon pinot gris and Portugal’s vinho verde are always favored go-to summer whites. But what’s the new secret for a sommelier’s alternate summer white? Try the Italian grape arneis. You can’t really call arneis a “new” grape, since there are references hinting back to the 1400s and definite vineyard references to the grape in the 1800s. If there were ever a wine region known solely for its red wines, the Piedmont region of Italy would be it. This is nebbiolo land, home to the majestic red wines of Barolo and Barbaresco, some of the hardest, most tannic wines on earth. Decades ago, wine geeks joked that these winemakers made wines for their grandchildren to enjoy. Fans of these reds have usually assumed they were produced from 100 percent nebbiolo grapes and in most cases they were right. However, Italian law does allow winemakers to blend arneis into their Barolos and Barbarescos to soften the rock-hard tannins. Just as France permitted the Northern Rhone region to blend the white viognier grape into their tannic syrah as a miniscule softener, so goes Piedmont, Italy. Because of this potential blend, many locals refer to arneis as Barolo bianco or nebbiolo bianco even though there is no genetic thread to connect the grapes as relatives. Centuries ago, arneis was The Art & Soul of Greensboro
planted among the more valuable nebbiolo grapes in a field blend with the hope that the birds would swoop in to eat the cheaper, fruitier arneis and spare the pricey nebbiolo. Roughly translated, arneis means “little rascal” or “difficult person.” It can be tricky to cultivate, prone to mildew if picked too late, and before the twentieth century winemakers had all but given up on it and extinction threatened. Modern winemakers plant it in chalky, sandy soil to develop a light-medium body dry wine with more crisp acidity and structure. Common flavors are almonds, apricots, peaches, pears and hops. Winemakers in the United States, always up for a challenge, are planting arneis in Sonoma, Mendocino, Russian River and Oregon with great success. Even Australia and New Zealand are experimenting with plantings. Two of my favorites come from the Damilano Winery of Barolo and the Cantine Tintero winery from the commune of Mango in Piedmont. Damilano is one of the oldest wineries in Barolo, passed down to family members for many generations. They pride themselves on their arneis which is dry, delicate, with impressive acidity and full fruit flavors. It has pear flavors, citrus zest and finishes long. It sells for about $18. Another family operated winery, Cantine Tintero produces Barbaresco, moscato, a rosato (rosé), a blended red, blended white and an arneis. Possibly the best value I have ever discovered, this delicious white, under $12, has alluring floral aromas and flavors with great acidity and a pleasant spiciness. Branch out, try an arneis and cool off with something different for the summer. OH Robyn James is a certified sommelier and proprietor of The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room in Southern Pines. Contact her at robynajames@gmail.com.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
He
Spirits
Summer Well Must reading for your craft cocktail enjoyment
By Tony Cross
The craft cocktail movement has
been in full effect for well over a decade now, and Moscow Mules are a thing. I had no clue about such cocktails until three years ago. When I started to delve into the world of balancing drinks, there was already so much information out there to give me a head start: I would watch videos on YouTube, check out menus from bars and restaurants across the globe, and, of course, study books from respected and famous bartenders. There are so many great reads, but I’ve picked three that have inspired me when I’ve prepared menus and drinks for events, and friends.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIN BRADY
Speakeasy, by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric
Written by the guys that started up Employees Only, one of the first craft cocktail joints that started the movement at the beginning of the millennium, Speakeasy was the first book I read when I became serious about making drinks. I first discovered Employees Only in a small New York Times article about a bar that sold their homemade grenadine and other syrups to guests and surrounding bars. Needless to say, that article piqued my interest and got the ball rolling on my curiosity for cocktails and the fancy establishments that perfected them. Ice is discussed in one of the first chapters; this may seem pretentious at first, but ice is a crucial ingredient to any good cocktail. Classics are covered, as well as many signature drinks that found their way onto the EO menu over the years.
Billionaire Cocktail
2 oz Baker’s 7 Year Old Bourbon 1 oz lemon juice ½ 1/2 oz simple syrup ½ 1/2 oz grenadine ¼ 1/4 oz absinthe bitters (or substitute Pernod) The Art & Soul of Greensboro
1 lemon wheel Combine bourbon, lemon juice, syrup, grenadine and bitters into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake like hell for 10 seconds. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon wheel.
Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari, by Mark Bitterman
This one isn’t even a year old yet, but has been a staple at my home. Mark Bitterman has two shops (New York City, and Portland, Oregon) called The Meadow, which sells salts, chocolates and bitters. I was lucky enough to step into The Meadow a few years ago, and I was quickly overwhelmed by the large selection of tonics and bitters. Having this book on hand would’ve been a godsend. It’s only fitting that Bitterman’s passion is also part of his last name; his attention to detail goes above and beyond when describing amari and bitters. When breaking down the various brands of bitters, Bitterman uses a rating system from 1 (least) to 5 (most) on aromatics, bitterness and sweetness levels. There are also tasting notes to describe each product, along with the types of drinks that each one pairs with well. The same rating system and descriptions are used in his “Amari” section. In addition to describing practically every bitters on the planet, there are also recipes for making your own bitters (with a sitting time of less than a week!), cooking with bitters, and, of course, making cocktails with bitters. Bitterman gives plenty of examples of how switching up your bitters arsenal puts a great twist on the classics. This recipe comes from Kirk Estopinal, bartender at Cure in New Orleans, and his now nowhere to be found Rogue Cocktails book (I borrowed it from a friend last year). Bitterman published this in his Field Guide, and it’s absolutely delicious.
Angostura Sour
3/4 oz lemon juice 1 egg white* 1 1/2 oz Angostura bitters 1 oz simple syrup (1:1) Dry-shake the lemon juice and the egg white. (Put both ingredients into a shaker, and shake without ice. We do this to break up the protein bonds in the August 2016
O.Henry 33
Spirits egg white; the result is a frothy, velvety texture in your cocktail.) Add the bitters, syrup, and ice and shake hard for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. *Largely misunderstood, using egg whites in cocktails has been common practice since cocktails were created way back when. Many people are concerned about the risk of salmonella, but as long as you’re using organic/cage-free eggs (with the combination of high-proof alcohol), you’ll be good to go.
Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails, by David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, Alex Day
The hype behind this book before it came out was all over the internet. I ordered it as soon as it became available, and was blown away on my first read. This is definitely, IMO, the best cocktail book out there. Death & Company opened in 2006 in New York City, making its mark in the craft cocktail movement. They’ve won awards at the annual Tales of the Cocktail convention in NOLA (Best Cocktail Menu, and Best American Bar), and with 500 cocktails to look over, it’s easy to see what a creative force this bar has been with bartenders from past and present. Death & Co. has a section on every spirit, including brand recommendations; sections on juicing, ice and tools; how to taste-evaluate cocktails, and even pages here and there devoted to their regulars telling fond stories about their first or favorite times at the bar with their favorite cocktail and its recipe on the side page. Too much to say about this work of art.
“Shattered Glasser” Phil Ward, 2008
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34 O.Henry
August 2016
“I love it when one of our regulars asks us to create a cocktail on the spot based on crazy criteria — and it’s even better when we can pull off a decent drink on the first try. One night Avery Glasser, the man behind Bittermens bitters (no relation to Mark Bitterman) and one of the bar’s original regulars, asked me to make him a drink that contained all of his favorite ingredients. The problem was that he likes a lot of weird shit. But, I gave it a shot, splitting both the base spirit and its modifiers, and it resulted in a surprisingly balanced drink.” — PW 1 oz El Tesoro Reposado Tequila 1½ /2 oz Los Amantes Mezcal Joven 3/4 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth 1/2 oz Van Oosten Batavia Arrack 1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram 1/4 oz Benedictine 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters Stir all ingredients over ice, then strain into a coupe. No garnish. OH Tony Cross is a bartender who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines. He can also recommend a vitamin supplement for the morning after at Nature’s Own. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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O.Henry 35
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36 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Evolving Species
Taking the Kure A writer remembers idyllic summers
By Pamelia Barham
Every now and then, when my spirits need a lift, I’ll buy a can of biscuits at the grocery store because they always bring a smile to my face. Canned biscuits are one of those things that take me back to my childhood.
I grew up in the 1950s in one of Greensboro’s mill villages. Each one had a name, and ours was Revolution. The mill owners supplied their employees with everything they needed — houses, drugstores, schools, a company store, hospitals, churches and a YMCA, where I learned to swim. It wasn’t so much a neighborhood as a community. I remember Sunday dinners of fried chicken or pork roast, sometimes beef roast, and always cake or pies for dessert. If there was anything left over from the Sunday meal we would have it in our lunch bags on Monday at school. (You haven’t lived until you have eaten a meatloaf sandwich on white bread with ketchup!) School for me was Proximity Junior High, where I attended my first dance in seventh grade. My grandmother took me to Meyer’s department store for a new dress. It was a royal blue taffeta with white lace on the bodice. I had black patent leather shoes and Mary Jane lace socks to wear. I would go on to attend Page High School, graduating in 1963. While there, from tenth through twelfth grades, I was in the same homeroom with a very talented and life-loving guy named Harry Blair. It was a miracle that my two sisters, brother and I got to school at all each morning, considering that we shared one bathroom with our grandparents in their small mill house. We had moved in with them after my mother died from complications of ovarian cancer at age 35. (My father remarried and moved to Florida with his new wife and family.) Like so many of the other houses in the area, ours had a kitchen, living room, a “car-shed” and clothesline in the backyard. I have hung many a washer load of clothes on that line no matter the temperature. My siblings and I also shared a bedroom with two double beds and only one window. In the summer, we would sleep with our heads at the foot of the beds toward that open window, hoping for a cool breeze to blow in. Summers are what I remember most from my childhood. We would play in the yard all day — Red Rover, Kick the Can, and at night, Run Fox Run under the streetlights. On the weekends the neighborhood folks would go to the ball field at the bottom of Lineberry Hill and yell for their favorite players or teams. My grandfather loved to work in the garden, so we had a nice patch of vegetables that my grandmother would cook for those Sunday dinners. We never locked our doors except at night . . . or when we left for summer vacation. Every year, in the third week in July when the mills would close, we would go to Kure Beach. Because we were living in a mill village, it wasn’t unusual to see the same folks from the neighborhood at the beach. Clothes had to be packed for a week for each of us, along with towels, sheets, pots, pans and water. The water at the beach tasted salty to us so we brought our own from home. It was truly a family affair: my grandparents, four aunts, four uncles, four cousins and us. The adults worked until 3 o’clock, and came home to The Art & Soul of Greensboro
pack the cars before we started on the long, five-hour drive through the countryside down Highway 421. We had to make sure the gas tank was full because there were very few places to stop. We were like a band of gypsies going down the road, each of the five families’ cars packed for a week’s stay. We would stop on the side of the road and have a picnic and go to the woods if nature called. And when we caught the first whiff of salt in the air, our excitement mounted. The ocean would soon be in sight. Our family was accustomed to renting a big house right on Kure’s beachfront until Hurricane Hazel destroyed it in 1951. Starting the next year, we had to rent three different houses from a Mrs. Fletcher. But before we could move in for the week, all of us — except our grandparents who would join us later — had to cram into one house for the night. We had stopped at the A&P to stock up on groceries and arrived at the house after dark. It had been closed up and had a musty odor. The men went around opening the windows to air the house out. We left the groceries on the kitchen counters to be taken to the other houses on Saturday. Blankets, quilts and pillows were laid out on the living room floor for us kids. The adults were in the bedrooms. Just when everyone had gotten quiet came the crying and swatting of mosquitos. The place was full of the biting flying terrors. The lights came on and the bug spray came out. Someone in the group realized the windows did not have screens. We finally got all the windows closed and the vicious bugs killed so everyone went back to sleep. It had been a long day, what with packing and driving after a day’s work, and once again we settled back down to sleep. Until we heard the sound of gunshots. All the men came running out of the bedrooms into the living room, my uncle hollering, “Everyone keep down and don’t turn on the lights! They are shooting through the house!” The only thing we heard among the gunshots were the moans and groans from the men, as they bumped their knees and toes on the furniture. Finally the shots stopped and someone thought it was safe enough to turn the lights on. All the adults began to look around. The counter and floor were full of biscuits. The “gunshots” were the canned biscuits exploding. No one had thought to put them in the refrigerator, so they got hot and blew up. We all had a good laugh and agreed not to tell the grandparents. The next day we checked into Mrs. Fletcher’s three houses and finally got started on a full week of fun at the beach. We have continued the family tradition at Kure Beach ever since. My two girls have grown up going there along with their two girls. I still go each year with my two sisters and any of the family who can join us. Mrs. Fletcher’s three houses are long gone, but we’ve discovered a beautiful rental house on the beach with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and an elevator because the house has three floors and some of us don’t like going up and down the stairs. We talk about the good old days and make new days full of laughter, food, relaxing, surf fishing and just enjoying being together as a family. And we always remember to put the canned biscuits in the refrigerator. OH Since she left Revolution mill village, Pamelia Barham has traveled far and wide, but always enjoys returning to the Greensboro area. She currently lives on a farm in Summerfield. August 2016
O.Henry 37
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38 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Gate City Journal
Rebirth of a Legend As historic Gillespie Golf Course celebrates its seventy-fifth birthday, an important piece of Greensboro’s past reclaims its glory — and the First Tee of the Triad finds the perfect home
By Jim dodson
After work on a recent warm Wednesday
afternoon, I dropped in on the Gillespie Golf Course to play a golf course I’d been meaning to play for at least four decades.
Even if I weren’t a son of Greensboro and a former golf editor, the visit filled a major gap in my professional vita and was long overdue because, simply put, I can trace my origins in the game to this sweet little gem of a public course in the midst of celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary and leading a splendid revival that’s transforming young lives across the Gate City through the vision of the First Tee of the Triad, the Joseph Bryan Foundation and the Wyndham Championship. Sometime around 1942 my father — then a young ad salesman and occasional aviation columnist for the Greensboro Daily News — played his first round of golf on the recently competed Gillespie Park public golf course. His interest in the game clearly began at Gillespie but took deep root while stationed in Britain near Lytham & St Anne’s Golf Club during the Second World War. His love of public golf courses clearly influenced his decision decades later to join popular, semi-private Green Valley Golf Club instead of the city’s three outstanding private courses — Sedgefield, Greensboro Country Club and Starmount. Clear in my head is the memory of passing Gillespie sometime in the early 1980s and hearing him remark with unmistakable nostalgia: “What a wonderful golf course that used to be, once upon a time.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Gillespie’s where I started, you know.” Designed by one of the game’s legendary course architects, Perry Maxwell, who had a hand in shaping Augusta National and designed or remodeled more than a hundred American golf courses including Winston-Salem’s Old Town and Reynolds Park, Gillespie was funded and built by the federal Work Projects Administration on a rolling piece of land once owned by the family of Revolutionary War Col. Daniel Gillespie, one of the city’s founders, who fought for independence at the battles of Alamance and Guilford Courthouse. No records indicate if Col. Gillespie had any familiarity with golf, but his ancestors surely did, since they hailed from the Scottish highlands.’ Witness to the course’s creation was a kid growing up at 1907 Asheboro Street (now Martin Luther King Boulevard) directly across the street from the work site. His name was Jim Melvin, and he would become one of the city’s most dynamic mayors. “I remember watching the crews working with drag pans and horse teams,” he remembers. “That really aroused my first interest in golf. And by the time I was in junior high school I’d wandered over there and gotten myself a job caddying for two dollars a round. It was a beautiful 18-hole golf course, such a fine layout that the city amateur championship was always conducted there. The pro was Ernie Edwards, who later went on to Starmount Country Club and played a key role many years later in saving Gillespie after it fell on hard times.” At its height of popularity in the early 1950s, according to Melvin and others who hold it dear, Gillespie Park — as some called it in those days — was one of the busiest golf courses in the Triad. “It was very popular, always busy, a real gem of a place that matched up well to our three private country clubs in town,” Melvin adds. “There was really only one glaring problem. It August 2016
O.Henry 39
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40 O.Henry
August 2016
was a segregated golf course for whites only.” On December 7, 1955, the same week the Montgomery bus boycott was launched in the wake of Rosa Parks’ defiance of segregation laws in Alabama, a Greensboro civil rights activist and local dentist named Dr. George Simkins decided to change that situation. Simkins and five African-American friends showed up at the course aiming to desegregate the facility. Peacefully demanding their right to play, they put down their 75-cent greens fees and teed off despite the objections of the manager, who advised them that Gillespie was a “private course for members only.” The six were later arrested for simple trespassing. Two months later, Simkins and the others were convicted of trespassing and fined $15 plus court costs. In a second trial, which was ordered because the original arrest warrants had been altered to describe Gillespie as a “club leased by the city” rather than a “public course,” prompting a middle district judge from North Wilkesboro to issue a declaratory judgment in favor of the “Greensboro Six,” calling the city’s “so-called lease” as a private facility invalid. In October 1956, while the initial trespass case was still working its way through state courts on appeal, Dr. Simkins filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina against the City of Greensboro for racial discrimination in maintaining a public golf course for white citizens only. Simkins et al. v. Greensboro was filed by Dr. Simkins as head of the local chapter of the NAACP. He was joined by nine others, including the original five golfers who had been with him in December 1955. On March 20, 1957, the courts ruled in favor of Simkins, stating in the opinion that the City of Greensboro could not escape its legal duties to provide equal privileges to all citizens to enjoy city functions. The case was immediately
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF GREENSBORO HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Gate City Journal
appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the District Court’s ruling and ordered the city to discontinue operating the course on a segregated basis. Eventually, Simkins’ suit even found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where, missing key relevant facts from its brief, the high court ruled against the plaintiffs by a 5-4 margin. A strong dissent by Chief Justice Earl Warren, however, prompted North Carolina Governor Luther Hodges to commute the sentences of the Greensboro Six. By then, Gillespie was almost history. Two weeks before the Middle District judge issued his favorable ruling, Gillespie’s historic clubhouse — the original farmhouse belonging to the Gillespie family — mysteriously burned. A short time later, the City Council voted to go out of the recreation business and shuttered the facility, soon selling off nine of the holes. “It was a pivotal moment in the history of this city,” says Melvin. “Not only was it a symbol of our struggles to come to terms with race and inequality in our city, but we nearly lost a great asset to Greensboro.” He points out that it took another seven years and a strong public backlash for a newly elected City Council to reopen (in the wake of the famous Woolworth sit-in) Gillespie Golf Course as a public nine-hole facility. That happened in December 1962. George Simkins went on to lead successful desegregation campaigns against Cone Hospital and Wachovia Bank. He passed away in November 2001. “This city owes George and his friends a great deal of gratitude for his foresight and their courage,” says the former mayor, whose stewardship of the Bryan Foundation spearheaded a major revival of Gillespie five years ago. Funding from the Foundation allowed Greensboro-based designer Chris Spence to restore the golf course and create a new practice area and short course. With additional funding from the Wyndham Championship and other corporate partners, a complete renovation of an existing storage structure on the site became the new home of the First Tee of the Triad and eventually a teaching The Art & Soul of Greensboro
school for acclaimed golf instructor Kelly Phillips. “Along with Winston Lake (in Forsyth County), Gillespie has become one of our two flagship First Tee facilities,” says Executive Director Mike Barber. “We started in 2011 with 300 kids across the region. But today we serve more than 1,500 a year in sixteen different locations. We have camps as far away as Statesville and Salisbury. Having a world class facility, like Gillespie not only attracts young golfers of every race and socio-economic nature to the facility but sends a wonderful message about fair play and character formation — and allows us to teach the core principles of First Tee to an eager new generation. Head pro Bob Brooks and his staff have made the place very special and the welcoming spirit very genuine. We believe it already is having a very positive impact on the surrounding community.” “We couldn’t be prouder of the role we’ve played in the revival of Gillespie,” agrees Wyndham Tournament Director Mark Brazil. “When you go out there and see people of all races playing the course and some of the most promising young players in the region working with Kelly Phillips or just working on their games on the practice range, well, it gives you a good feeling about what golf can do in a young person’s life.” “Many hands have gone into the revival of Gillespie, ” adds Melvin, who notes that the same South Carolina sculptor who created the handsome bronze statue of the late Joe Bryan that stands near the entrance to Bryan Park recently completed work on a similar bronze statue of George Simkins. “George is really Greensboro’s Martin Luther King,” he adds. “Honoring him is long overdue.” As was my first round on the Gillespie Golf Course. Happy to report, I was delighted by what I found. The former golf editor in me was pleased by the beautiful condition of the holes and impressed by the thoughtful design and classic traits of the layout. The remarkably modest green fees make Gillespie Golf an experience everyone can enjoy. Even happier to report, a city landmark that was very nearly lost has come full circle, making the Greensboro kid in me feel like I’d finally come home. OH
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O.Henry 6/30/16 41 10:24 AM
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42 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Papadaddy’s Mindfield
Small Town Talk There’s meaning beneath and beyond the words we speak. And something in the silence between them
By Clyde Edgerton
When I was growing
up, most of the men in my family — a dozen or so uncles and older cousins — didn’t talk much. A conversation on the porch on a Sunday afternoon among, say, a couple of older cousin men, my daddy, Big Clyde (my namesake uncle) and Uncle Clem would go something like this:
ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY BLAIR
“I’ll tell you one thing . . . that was a big tree they cut down over there.” Silence. Maybe four, five seconds. “Yeah . . . sure was.” More silence. A full minute. “Did Benny buy that sitting lawnmower?” “Don’t think so.” Three minutes of silence. A car comes by. Uncle Clyde sucks on one end of a toothpick while holding the other end, making a little noise between his teeth. Then he lowers the toothpick. “I don’t think I’d want one.” “One what — big tree?” “Sitting lawnmower.” Somebody yawns. “Me neither.” More silence. A car comes by. That’s pretty much it, folks. It was different with my mother and a couple of her sisters at the grocery store or during lunch at the Golden Corral. But here’s the deal: Not only did they talk to each other, it seemed like they talked to everybody else — mostly about family, people known in common, maybe what was on the news, but also about cooking, flowers, furniture refinishing, family history, family stories, gardening, misbehavior and more family stories. I think they automatically saw strangers as interesting. That talk from the women in my family gave me a grounding I didn’t recognize, a grounding I didn’t feel in full until adulthood. Recently, I have The Art & Soul of Greensboro
realized that this talk was, in a sense, important and precious. With them, I’d walk up to a young man tending the vegetable section at the grocery store. “Oh, my goodness,” my mother or an aunt would say to the young man, “these tomatoes look almost good enough to buy. What’s your name?” “Robert.” “Robert what?” “Robert Wright.” “The Lowe’s Grove Wrights or the Oak Grove Wrights?” “Oak Grove.” “I’ll bet you know Harvey, Dudley’s son.” “Yes, ma’am. He’s my uncle.” “No! Really? I haven’t seen him in six or eight years. Did his eyes ever get OK?” “Oh, yes ma’am. They’re all healed up now.” “[To another aunt] Didn’t Mildred used to date him?” “No. She dated Simon. Robert, you have an Uncle Simon?” “Yes, ma’am. He was in here yesterday.” And so on. I’d be standing there. “Clyde,” my mother would say, “this nice man takes care of the vegetables.” I grew up believing that it was OK to approach people and ask them questions, to have faith that people would more likely answer than turn back to the tomatoes. I’m glad that as a child I spent a lot of time with these women in my family and that I wasn’t raised mainly by men who didn’t talk much. Because as in so many things, how you start out eventually comes back to either comfort or haunt you. And more and more I see the advantages of looking into another person’s face, say, sitting or standing across from me, and surfing the channels of info behind their eyes, info that’s likely to come to me in words. It’s great research for writing novels, for learning about how things work — whatever the topic might be. There is meaning in such talk. Meaning found beneath and beyond the words. Such talk is somehow connected to the way we ought to be — approaching each other, without fear, just to talk a little bit. OH Clyde Edgerton is the author of ten novels, a memoir and a new work, Papadaddy’s Book for New Fathers. He is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at UNCW. August 2016
O.Henry 43
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44 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Birdwatch
Dawn Patrol Look for the common nighthawk at sunup or sundown
By Susan Campbell
Common nighthawks can be
PHOTOGRAPH BY GARY KRAMER
found all across the Sandhills and throughout Piedmont North Carolina, but they are neither “common” nor are they “hawks.”
For one thing, nighthawks feed exclusively on insects, which they dine on mostly during the night. Nor do they grab their prey using their talons as true hawks do. Instead they use their oversized mouths to snap up beetles and other insects in mid-air. Nighthawks take to the skies mainly at dawn and dusk when insects are most active. Given their aerodynamic prowess, though, nighthawks are very successful predators at any hour. Due to their terrific night vision, they’re able to hunt quite effectively in total darkness. It is not, however, unusual to see them feeding during daylight hours, especially when they have young to feed. Look for them in early summer, when cicadas, grasshoppers, larger wasps and other bugs are especially abundant. Their characteristic low “peee-nt” call and erratic moth-like flight is unmistakable. Common nighthawks spend much of their day perched on pine branches. Invisibility is the goal, and it is easily attained with their mottled black, gray and white feathering. Their nests also are well camouflaged. On the forest floor, females simply scrape out a spot to lay their speckled egg, which The Art & Soul of Greensboro
blend in well with the mineral soil and miscellaneous debris typical of native arid terrain. Females perform a feeble “broken wing” display when disturbed. This is the only defense they have to draw potential predators away from the eggs or young. A great place to encounter a nighthawk is at an airport or any other large open area. There, you’ll likely hear the unmistakable “booming” of males during the early morning. The unique noise is not a vocalization but comes from air passing over the wing feathers of breeding males as they dive through the air. Unlike some other species, the urbanization of the Triad and Sandhills has not taken a big toll on nighthawks. For instance, the abundant insects drawn to floodlights at the Piedmont’s many athletic fields and other outdoor venues provide nighthawks with excellent habitat to support their families. And nighthawks are one of only a handful of bird species that seem perfectly at home nesting on flat rooftops. It is not unusual to see or hear nighthawks at summer baseball games or early fall football games throughout the region. Found in so many open areas in the Eastern United States in summer, common nighthawks begin to move south in early fall — often in large flocks. They migrate long distances to winter destinations in Central America and northern South America. But all across Piedmont North Carolina during August and September, you can spot them just before dark in the evening or early in the morning. So you have lots of time left to spot a nighthawk this season — keep an eye out! OH Susan would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photographs at susan@ncaves.com. August 2016
O.Henry 45
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46 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Wandering Billy
Oz-Mosis
From Gate City to Emerald City and back again, our local Scarecrow scares up some chow and a new TV music series
By Billy Eye “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
Land of Oz.
Perhaps you recall that fabled but star-crossed 1970s amusement park nestled on Beech Mountain. You entered the attraction through Dorothy’s farmhouse as it emerged from a tornado. Exiting the home, you’d find it lying akimbo along the rocky surface, two legs in striped stockings sticking out from under the frame. Joining Dorothy’s journey down the Yellow Brick Road, park guests encountered the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West. It all culminated with a big stage extravaganza at the Wizard’s Emerald City castle, after which, visitors were whisked back to the parking lot in a gondola cable car disguised as a hot-air balloon. Neglected but mostly intact (except for the Emerald City) Oz was offering
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
limited tours of what’s left of the park past June. I attempted to get tickets, but demand was so great it crashed their computer system. The gates to Oz will once again swing open for a bigger attraction this September, a yearly tradition that, over the last fifteen summers, has grown more and more popular. Oz opened in 1970 as a sister attraction to Tweetsie Railroad; attendance was spotty even before a fire badly damaged the premises in 1975. The owners pumped major money into the venture in 1977, and that summer I was hired to play the Scarecrow for a promotional tour of shopping malls across a three-state region. It was the first successful mall tour ever undertaken. At the Carolina Circle, Dorothy and I entertained children with a musical puppet show created by Jerry Halliday. He’s a Vegas mainstay now with a risqué show you wouldn’t dream of taking your kids to. I only visited Land of Oz once, a VIP tour to give us a sense of what the attraction was all about. I’m curious to see what remains of this blockbuster motion picture-come-to-life in the North Carolina mountains. The Food Truck Festival in May was a smashing success, a sunny Sunday afternoon gorge-a-thon downtown with fifty-three mobile eateries participating, including fare that ranged from Greek to Tex Mex. The Porter House Burger rig was mobbed from the start, smoking Municipal Plaza with the aroma of charred beef. (Is there any sweeter fragrance? I think not.) At times, block-long lines awaited Cousins Maine Lobster for their first trip to Greensboro. Lines also formed at Pearl Kitchen, Empanadas Borinquen and August 2016
O.Henry 47
Wandering Billy Urban Street Grill, apparently all worth the wait. I had a teriyaki chicken bowl with lemongrass steak skewers from Buddhalicious that tasted just like ones I enjoyed in L.A.’s Koreatown. By the shank of the evening you’d have thought it was the ganja festival, anyone selling confectionaries had streams of minions queued up, spilling over to Cheesecakes by Alex a block away where patrons lingered on the sidewalk waiting to get in. If the thought of sampling cuisine from dozens of the finest eateries in the state appeals to you, then rejoice that the festival returns at 4 p.m. on August 28th. Here’s a tip: Don’t even try to park nearby, and if you want something sweet, get that first; by 5:30 lines will have stretched too long as vendors run out of the good stuff. Or purchase an Early Bird wristband for $12, a portion of which benefits charity. You’ll have an hour’s head start on the hoi polloi (of which I’m a diehard member). Just sneaked an early peek at the Hong Kong House Cookbook right about now at fine bookstores and on Amazon.com. Publisher Karen McClamrock has blended together a savory collection of Amelia Leung’s most beloved recipes from her family’s longtime Tate Street bistro, mouthwatering dishes like the Garden and Guitar Shop Burgers, Beef Shitake Snow Pea Stir Fry, those luscious egg rolls and garlic wings. Recipes are easy to follow and, as a bonus, there are plenty of photos from those halcyon days from the ’70s into the ’90s when Hong Kong House was the happening-est gathering spot just off campus. I’m immersed in a project I’ve wanted to do for decades: producing a music television series. We shot footage for the first two of four episodes featuring local talent that includes Grand Ole Uproar, Taylor Bays and Rachel Anick, all of whom gave stellar performances. Uproar and Taylor have been faves of mine for years. Rachel I met just a few weeks ago. I met her after I stopped by Jeremy Parker’s downtown recording grotto where they’d just laid down her vocals for the song she performed on the show. It was revelatory, like hearing Tori Amos or Joan Baez for the first time. The program airs in August on cable channel 8. Scan your TV listings for The Nathan Stringer Summer Music Show, available on YouTube and iTunes in September.
502 North Elam Avenue, Greensboro, NC Phone: (336) 292-0863 | Fax: (336) 292-2583 www.kraska.com
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August 2016
That’s all the gibble-gabble I’ve gaily gathered. Over the coming months I’ll be telling you who’s the candidate you should be voting for and which religions are better than the others. Don’t miss that. OH Billy Eye will be summering in Antarctica, just as soon as he can afford to.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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559 W Market St, • Greensboro, NC
336.292.1736 www.cassjewelers.com
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 49
The Only
Driving Getaway is from the tee you need to do for this
Why spend hours in your car for a weekend getaway when you can enjoy a beautiful resort, golf and spa within minutes of downtown Greensboro? Summer Specials for North Carolina residents, learn more at grandover.com/backyard grandover.com | 336.294.1800 | 1000 Club Road • Greensboro, NC 27407 | Just off I-85 & I-73 Get comfortable, you’ll be seeing a lot more of us in the future.
August 2016
When Honeybees Were Everywhere Once, honeybees covered the clover-carpeted ground, their steady hum linked so closely with the clovers’ heavy heads and thread-like stems it could have been, instead, the language of these fragrant flowers — perhaps what they whispered to one another in the early morning light on a summer day as the barefoot children burst from their houses and the dogs began to bark and the milkman with his thick-soled boots tromped through the yards, and mothers dragged their laundry baskets across the grass while bees scattered and the clover, briefly trampled, rose again — their pale, dew-damp faces poised to receive the bees’ next kiss. – Terri Kirby Erickson
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 51
Summer Postcards from The Edge
52 O.Henry
When Tim Sayer graduated from the College of Charleston with a theater degree, he did what all promising theater majors do — he waited tables. That was until he took a surfing trip to Costa Rica with some buddies and fell in love with photography. Self-taught, Sayer has had a studio in Southern Pines for twelve years. He captured performer Raquel Reed, kind of a Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga came along, in a New York City apartment.
You might as well say John Gessner got his start in photography on his paper route. Growing up in the Lake Region of upstate New York, one of his customers had been a still photographer during the silent movie era. Helen Hayes had a house down the street. As a boy Gessner met the famed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. He was hooked. He discovered a fortune-telling machine in one of the ancient arcades in Mrytle Beach.
Andrew Sherman is a freelance photographer specializing in architecture, food and lifestyle. A Maryland native and Wilmingtonian at heart, he moved away to get his MFA in photography at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) but returned after finishing because there’s no place like Wilmington. He believes in the power of collaboration and works closely with his clients to produce clean, graphic, upbeat imagery. Find him roaming the city he loves with camera or cocktail in hand.
The Tufts Archives in the Given Memorial Library is the custodian of the rich history of Pinehurst. In addition to original Donald Ross golf course plans and numerous Tufts family artifacts, the archives’ collection includes 80,000 photographic negatives by John G. Hemmer spanning over 40 years of Pinehurst history. Hemmer photographed celebrities, golfers and the unique — and sometimes fanciful — life of a thriving resort, including the occasional aquatic balancing act.
A Greensboro native, Lynn Donovan has been a swimmer, coach, actor, singer, dancer, pianist, accordion player, scuba diver and community volunteer. Starting out with a Brownie camera in the 1960s, she graduated to an SLR in the 1970s and continued shooting throughout her 30- year career with Greensboro Parks & Recreation’s City Arts/Community Services, as well as for pleasure. After retiring Donovan opened her own photography business.
Ned Leary retired from the corporate world in 2003, bought a camera at the local Best Buy and hasn’t looked back. Self-taught, he learned the basics via endless hours of internet tutorials and numerous landscape photography workshops in America’s national parks. His portfolio has evolved from fine art landscapes to include family portraits and most recently videography, where the balance of his time and pension are currently devoted.
Ginny Johnson has been photographing since college and remembers the good old days of developing her own film and printing images in a darkroom. She loves to shoot just about anything but has recently turned her camera lens to stormchasing. The image used in this feature is from a tour in 2015. A Colorado native, Johnson has lived in North Carolina since 1982 and currently resides in Greensboro with her dog, Blackie, and cat, Rascal, and two horses.
Mark Steelman is a full-time professional photographer and works hard to ensure anyone or anything looks its absolute best. Recalling a recent stop at the convention center, he says he took a photo of a group of women. One was particularly stressed about her photo and pleaded, “You be sure to Photoshop me.” He replied, “Ma’am, I don’t mess with perfection.” Her face beamed and she gave him a kiss right in the middle of the ballroom. What’s not to love?
Sam Froelich is a professional photographer and an award-winning independent film producer, whose films, such as Cabin Fever and George Washington, have been distributed worldwide. His best three productions all came in on time but way over budget — son Jake is currently senior at NC State, son Harrison a freshman at UNCC, and daughter Lucy a sophomore at Page High School. Froelich, born and raised in High Point, married a Greensboro girl, who made him move to the “big” city and for that he is eternally grateful.
Laura L. Gingerich is an award-winning freelance photographer. Her talent and gritty spirit have led her to the far corners of the world documenting relief and disaster assistance, and providing images that tell a story when words simply can’t. When she’s not on assignment, Gingerich’s popular photography workshops inspire beginners to advanced enthusiasts. You can contact her by sending an email to stoptime325@gmail.com.
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
PHOTOGRAPH BY HASHI
Our Photographers
It’s been such a long, hot summer, we couldn’t resist the temptation to invite ten of our favorite contributing writers to uncage their overheated imaginations and tell us what’s really going on in the original photographs submitted by ten of our favorite photographers. The results, we think, are like fictional summer postcards from the edge . . .
Our Writers
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Virginia Holman writes both feature stories and her column “Excursions” for Salt. Her passions include kayaking, birding, teaching creative writing at UNCW and conjuring the siren songs from our salty marshlands. Her memoir of her mother’s untreated schizophrenia during the 1970s, Rescuing Patty Hearst, won a National Alliance on Mental Illness Outstanding Literature Award. She’s also been awarded a Pushcart Prize, a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship, and a Carter Center Mental Health Journalism Fellowship.
Jim Moriarty is the new senior editor at PineStraw and an old golf writer. Author of two golf novels, he traveled the PGA Tour for thirtyfive years writing and taking photographs for Golf World and Golf Digest. His most recent book of essays, “Playing Through,” will be released in October. He can be found at his favorite public house, affectionately referred to by at least one patron as the Bitter and Twisted.
Maggie Dodson is the eldest and wisest child of James Dodson. She’s a reluctant New Yorker, avid biker, terrible photographer, stinky cheese lover, Stevie Nicks enthusiast, and aspiring film writer. Currently, she is copywriting her heart out for a large Manhattan-based PR firm, making short movies in her spare time, and tending to every need and want of her cinnamon-colored beagle, Billie Holiday.
Stephen Smith is a retired professor, a current poet and graceful voice from PineStraw’s earliest days to now. His poems, stories, columns and reviews have appeared in many periodicals and anthologies. He is the author of seven previous books of poetry and prose and is the recipient the Poetry Northwest Young Poet’s Prize, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Prize for poetry, and four North Carolina Press awards.
Billy Ingram is OG, Original Greensboro, but spent one of his lifetimes as a movie poster designer in Beverly Hills, California. A frequent contributor to O.Henry, Ingram has written about popular culture, art and Greensboro history. His latest book, Hamburger(squared), is a collection of short essays about the city he grew up in. The volume is available at the Greensboro Historical Museum, Amazon.com and your favorite bookstore.
Until this summer Serena Brown was living in Southern Pines, where she worked as senior editor of PineStraw magazine. Prior to that she was part of the award-winning team at the BBC’s prestigious arts documentary series Arena. A native Briton, Brown returned recently to the misty shores of her home country. She is now unpacking and trying very hard to remember which box contains an umbrella.
Ross Howell Jr. published the historical novel Forsaken with NewSouth Books of Montgomery, Alabama, in February 2016. The novel was selected as an “Okra Pick” by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), was called “superior historical fiction detailing a cruel national past,” in Forward, and noted by Southern Living as “a solid entry into the Southern canon.” Howell is currently at work on a new novel and writes regularly for O.Henry.
Gwenyfar Rohler is a prolific writer, reader and archivist. Her writing can be found on the pages of Salt in her column“Stagelife / Screenlife” and “Omnivorous Reader.” As a founding member of Luddites United for Preservation, she spends her days managing her family’s bookshop on Wilmington’s Front Street and in her spare time, restoring two pre-computer-age cars. She wrote this bio by lantern and sent it by pigeon.
Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry. Since the magazine’s founding five years ago, she has written humor columns and feature stories. A native of Kentucky, Johnson moved to North Carolina for a newspaper job in 1983. She has won several state and national awards for her journalism. She and her husband have called Greensboro home for more than 30 years.
Mark Holmberg is a writer who splits his time between Wilmington and Richmond, Virginia, where he writes for The Richmond Times-Dispatch and WVTR.com. He enjoys roaming with a camera in hand or surfing and fishing in coastal Carolina. He believes there’s some room for good ol’ printed words about believers and strays and adventurers who know anger and division make us weaker and easier to control, and that love is stronger than fear. August 2016
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Summer Postcards from The Edge
Come Saturday Morning Story by Billy Ingram • Photograph by Ginny Johnson
T
hey say before death, life passes before your eyes. So it was for William Binder Batson II as he dismissed well-meaning hospice workers in order to leave this world on his own terms. Breathing reduced to a death rattle, William reflected on what had been a hardscrabble existence from the very beginning. Orphaned as a toddler, he went to work while still in elementary school, hawking newspapers on one of Manhattan’s busiest intersections. Hardly his fault when the naive youngster was lured by a shadowy figure into a dark, deserted portion of the nearby subway station where he was met by six wise and powerful men who were well-meaning in their generosity but the out-of-body experience left him confounded and conflicted. The incident that followed left the boy with what might charitably be called the most severe case of split personality imaginable. He escaped into a world where jungle cats spoke to him in aristocratic English; a warped consciousness in which even a tiny earthworm was perceived as a dire threat with malevolent intent. It wasn’t until he turned 15 that William’s life took a turn for the better after he met a kindly older gentleman who offered the troubled teen his tutorage, teaching him how to trust again. They spent the better part of the 1970s traveling country backroads in a custom Winnebago; at each stop they found a way to enrich the lives of strangers. This impressed the young man who also appreciated that this unlikely patron called him by his boyhood nickname, “Billy.”
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Anthropomorphic animals and insects no longer plagued his mind. The two eventually settled into a farmhouse outside a small town in Kansas, the older man tilling soil while William took a job at a family-owned hardware store. Townfolk admired the clean-cut lad who, they noticed, never cursed; closest he ever came was referring to “the ‘S’ word,” one that will never pass from his lips again. How respectful, everyone thought. Why, then, was it he never found the right girl or never managed to have any close relationships? Almost as if there was a secret held close, one so awesome he dare not share it with anyone other than the elderly man that took him in and accepted, without judgment, what he was capable of. It was barely six months ago that William (nobody had called him Billy since his mentor passed away) was given the terrible diagnosis: terminal cancer of the liver. With health rapidly deteriorating, he began to confront the reality of his tenuous mortality and consider what life after death might entail. So it came to be that, with no more than a few breaths remaining, William Batson spoke that word he had avoided since his teen years. In an instant, thunder rumbled the floorboards beneath his bed, a bolt of lightning sent down by the gods pierced the ceiling and the dying man vanished, in his place stood a virile collegiate athlete in a bright red bodysuit. Ironically, this revitalized individual can never speak “the ‘S’ word” William ended his life with. For if Captain Marvel ever utters the word “Shazam” he’ll revert back to Billy Batson and Billy Batson is dead. OH The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Brand New Me Story by Maggie Dodson • Photograph by Tim Sayer
D
ear Rob, I got your postcard from rehab. It looks like a very restorative location. I suppose it makes sense that sweeping views of the ocean and 24-hour hot yoga have incredible healing properties. I sure do wish you’d send some of those properties my way to repair the hole you punched in my wall. Gratefully no longer yours, Penny Dear Karen, Operation self-love is in full effect. Yesterday I burned all of Rob’s old shirts and ate not one — but four brownies. They were divine. On Mom’s advice I took up Web therapy and started chatting with a woman named Promise. She seems promising. And expensive. Later, on a drive through the south side of town, the sun was shining, Jimmy Buffett was on the radio, and I stopped by a garage sale and picked up a box of dumbbells. Maybe my dream of becoming a weightlifting, buff-goddess is in my future after all. Who knew? Give Jo-Jo a kiss for me. Xo Penny Dear Amazon Customer Service, I wanted to reach out and say “thank you” to Joyce, the woman who answered my phone call on Sunday evening and endured the gruesome details of how my relationship ended in what can only be described as a fiery ball of hell. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
I didn’t mean to break down over my purchase of bedazzled magenta curtains, but Joyce met my sobs with patience, kindness and wisdom. She offered advice, noting that the healing process takes time, comes in many shapes and forms and that there’s always solace in a big piece of apple pie. Human kindness can be hard to come by these days, especially in the world of online shopping, but Joyce’s sweetness will stick with me. You’ve got a great woman on your customer-care team. Also, thank you for the full refund. On further thought, plain white curtains were better suited to my tastes and less glaring. A satisfied customer, Penny Dear Application Manager, I am writing in relation to the two cats up for adoption on the Furry Friends website, Betty Friedan and Judy Bloom. I’m in the midst a personal journey and though I’ve taken it in stride — new job, new hair color, new mindset — I find nights get lonely when adopting a new world philosophy. I feel two felines are the purrfect pair for my progressive lifestyle. As I mentioned, I’ve just begun a new job and I’m thriving. Outside of work, I bake, garden, get tattoos I don’t tell my mother about and recite poetry at a coffee shop downtown. I excel at feeding animals on time and letting go of things that aren’t good for me. Some say I’m a force to be reckoned with but my sister says I’ve got a good heart . . . I just need to find a person to nurture it. So while I’m searching for Mr. Right, Betty and Judy would bring me comfort and provide me with cuddles when I need them most. Eagerly awaiting your response, Penny OH August 2016
O.Henry 55
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Catamount Story by Ross Howell Jr. • Photograph by Lynn Donovan
W
hit added honey to the chai, tapped the spoon on the sink and carried the mug to the glass doors overlooking the gorge. His wife sat on the deck in a chair by the railing. She was wearing his wool coat and cap with earflaps from his years at Bowdoin. Her pink bandanna peeked from under the cap. He cracked the door. “Robyn?” he said. “Won’t you come in? It’s cold as the bejesus.” Her face was pale. “No,” she said. “I like it.” The mug steamed the glass. He stepped outside and handed her the tea. “See if it’s all right,” he said. She took the mug and sipped, then smiled and nodded. “Perfect,” she said. She pointed to the sky. Her mitten looked like a big paw. “See the belt?” she asked. He saw three stars in a row. “Yes,” he said. “Orion, the hunter.” She sipped, cradling the mug with her mittens. “I heard it again,” she said. “Just now.” “Maybe it was the windmill,” he said. “Thing’s rusty as hell.” “No wind,” she said. “Still as the grave. I’m just telling you.” “Sweetie, there haven’t been panthers in these mountains for generations.” His ears stung. He rubbed his hands together. “I’m freezing,” he said. “Let’s go inside.” “In a little,” she said. She turned as he opened the door. Her eyes were bright. “Funny how it can come back,” she said. “You’re doing great,” he said. “All the doctors say so. Don’t freeze out here.”
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August 2016
She smiled. “All right,” she said. He went to the sink and rinsed the spoon. He put the chai and honey in the cabinet. He went to the fireplace, poked the embers, and added two split pieces of oak. Splinters crackled. Sparks glittered as they rose from the hearth. He looked out the glass doors. The mug was sitting on the rail. The chair was empty. “Jesus,” he said. He grabbed a wool cap and threw on his down vest. He flung open the door. “Robyn?” he called. “Robyn?” He trotted down the stairs of the deck, stumbled on a root at the base of the steps. He’d forgotten the damn flashlight. “Robyn?” Then he heard it. In the gorge, the mewling of a child. “Jesus,” he said. He started to run. Briars tore at his fingers and vest. Branches whipped his face. He burst through a thicket into a clearing. Robyn stood in the middle, her back to him. She clutched his cap and the bandanna in a mitten. Her bare pate undulated in the moonlight. Beyond her, he saw darkness crouched. The evanescence of breath. Pure white fangs. “Robyn!” he shouted. The big cat vanished. She turned to him, her face the one he’d fallen in love with when she was a girl. “Did you see, Whit?” she asked. “Yes,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid,” she said. “I wasn’t afraid at all.” OH
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Soup’s On Story by Maria Johnson Photograph by Sam Froelich
C
lear down to the river, Ashe could hear the public radio talk show wafting from the mountain cabin that his family rented every summer. A radio-show caller was talking about how she’d a picked a peck of peaches, which was more than she bargained for. She wanted the show’s host, a lady with a rich deep voice that reminded Ashe of his pillar-like Aunt Terry, to tell her what to do with the remainders. “Do you know what would be really good?” the Aunt Terry soundalike said. “What?” said the caller. “Peach soup,” said Aunt Terry. “Peach soup?” said the caller. “I’ve never heard of peach soup.” “THAT’S BECAUSE NO ONE EATS PEACH SOUP!” hollered Ashe’s mother, who was up in the cabin. The Aunt Terry impostor went on about the peach soup. “You don’t see it very much. But I once had it in Savannah, and it was out of this world,” she said. “So go to your refrigerator and get some coconut water and some fresh ginger, then take your food processor and . . .” “OH! OH! COCONUT WATER AND FRESH GINGER! WELL, JUST LET ME LOOK IN THE CRISPER! HONEST TO GOD. . .” hollered Ashe’s mother. Ashe knew that, as much as she protested, his mom would be asking if they had any coconut water and fresh ginger when she went down to the Food King this afternoon. He smiled to himself. His chin rested on his knees. His knees rested over his spongy green Crocs, which had taken on the funky metallic smell of the lake. He and his older brother Hoke had crewed their new rubber raft all along the shore until two days ago, when a neighbor’s Fourth of July bottle rocket had landed, still glowing, on the raft while it was dry-docked on a picnic table. The boys’ father was determined to mend the wound. He and Hoke had gone to the marina store in search of a patch kit. Ashe took the opportunity to go fishing by himself at the river that hooked around the cabin and emptied into the lake. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Folded up on a concrete finger that had braced a long-gone pier, Ashe cradled his grandfather’s old Zebco rod and reel in front of him. A ragged mound of mosquito bite itched the back of his left hand. He scratched it with his right hand and waved off a fly. Presently, his thoughts stilled, and particles of the present sifted down to the bedrock of memory. Cicadas thrummed the rhythm of summer. In the river’s still places, Jesus bugs walked on the water. A swarm of gnats hovered over ripples. Minnows huddled on the shady side of the concrete bar. A breeze slid through the leaves. Even the air had a distinct character. A voice popped the bubble. “Catch anything?” “No,” said Ashe. “Toldya,” said Hoke. “C’mon, we found a patch. You can blow up the raft.” Ashe stood to reel in his line. The wet cricket at the end had stopped kicking. Ashe gently removed it from the hook. The cricket would not die in vain, Ashe decided. It would find new life when Hoke unearthed it in a bowl of peach soup tonight. OH August 2016
O.Henry 57
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Spinnin’ Platters Story by Gwenyfar Rohler • Photograph by Mark Steelman
“I
’m worried about your father.” My mother didn’t even let me get inside the kitchen door before she rounded on me with a spatula in her hand. The unmistakable rhythm of the opening chords of “Peggy Sue” vibrated through the walls. Mom flipped a pancake in the cast iron skillet. It was breakfast-for-dinner-night — which meant she was really worried about Daddy. “He’s been playing those records all day.” Buddy Holly’s guitar was turned up at top volume, a shock in a house where one could pinpoint each family member by the sound of their footsteps. Her normally domineering voice was almost drowned out, and I wondered if part of her annoyance wasn’t just that for the first time in my memory she wasn’t the most powerful sound at home. She shook her head again, this time with a jerk of impatience. “This has something to do with his exgirlfriends.” She picked up a paring knife and began slicing peaches to go on top of the pancakes. “Haven’t you guys been married for like forty years?” I asked. “What do his ex-girlfriends have to do with this?” I snagged a piece of bacon from the plate on the center of the stove. “Are they even still alive?” “Go check on your father.” She swatted my hand away from the plate. “Go.” She gestured with the knife down the hallway. One does not argue with a well-armed matriarch. I went. In the living room my father was sprawled across his favorite upholstered chair with the carelessness of late adolescence: limbs floppy and akimbo, stillshod feet up on the coffee table. His eyes were closed singing along with the music, periodically directing part of the band with one hand in the air. Two speakers, like obese standard poodles, had been hauled down from the attic.
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They were still covered in dust — except for his handprints — and connected by huge loops of new speaker cord to the record player and amplifier that had materialized from some place of hiding. “Hi Daddy . . .” I ventured. Somehow this didn’t look like something that I should interrupt. “Hi Kitty.” He hit a few drumbeats in the air. “Have you met Buddy? Buddy, this is my daughter, Kitty.” He opened his eyes and looked straight at me. “Do not ever get on a non-commercial flight in an ice storm.” He stared at me intensely and with deep meaning. “Do you hear me? Not ever.” He underscored this last point with a finger slash through the air. “OK . . . I promise.” “Good.” He closed his eyes again. I backed out of the room feeling that I was somehow intruding on a world that I could never understand. Back in the kitchen Mom asked me what I had learned. Were the ex-girlfriends, in fact, at the root of this? “Um, no, apparently this is about non-commercial aviation and ice storms,” I reflected. “So I think this is about Howard Hughes.” “Alan Fried, you mean. And no, don’t be fooled by that. This is about more than just an isolated incident.” She cocked her head to listen to the sudden silence. Daddy’s shaking hand scratched the record a bit when he tried to drop the needle on the next disc, then a groovy guitar pierced the air with a slight cymbal and the unmistakable wail of Janis Joplin. “Oh, no, he didn’t!” Mom looked toward the living room. You know you got it, oooh wooaaoh if it makes you feel . . . Janis crooned. Mom ran a hand through her hair, then turned back to me. “You should go spend the night at a friend’s house tonight.” OH The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Connected Story by Mark Holmberg Photograph by Laura Gingerich
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t was a short, hand-written letter that marched right into Margie’s soul with each neatly penned word. I was on Bus 28, it said. It was me who was with you that day, who left you the note with the ring at the hospital. I read of your husband’s death last year, and I hoped you might meet me so I can share something that has long been on my heart. The letter was signed Tony Pyanoe, and listed a date, time and, surprisingly, she and her late husband’s favorite Italian restaurant. Margie knew right where that old mysterious note was. She found her J.T. Hoggard class of ’71 yearbook filled with heartfelt and tearful messages written by virtually all of her classmates.The folded note slid easily out from under the cover. It had come to her hospital room forty-five years earlier in an anonymous envelope with a simple, wedding band-like ring. I have long admired you and am so glad you survived. We had nothing in common at school, but our blood mixed on the bus that day. I wish you a long life and I will always love you. She put down the strange note and thumbed to the Ps in her yearbook. Ahh, that Tony, she thought, looking at the stamp-sized photo. They had shared a few classes. He was a quiet, awkward boy, his hair already thinning. One of the nerds, she recalled. He was the son of Italian immigrants — working class. Far from rich, unlike her family, who owned big chunks of Wilmington real estate. And Margie had been as beautiful and popular as she had been rich. She had been the Homecoming Queen. Her boyfriend was the star of the lacrosse and football teams. Her boyfriend . . . He had been sitting next to her on Bus 28 during a senior field trip when the bus driver apparently suffered a heart attack and drove through the College Road intersection. They were T-boned by a tractor-trailer. Her boyfriend was killed instantly, along with three other students. It was the worst school bus crash in North Carolina history. She woke up in the hospital with no idea what had happened. Along with several broken bones she had suffered a deep laceration to her neck that left a long, high-ridged scar that she looked at every day. Her doctors had told her one of her fellow students apparently kept her from bleeding to death, but the rescue scene was so chaotic, no one really knew exactly what had happened. Margie went to her jewelry box and found the ring. She had worn it for years, imagining a hero student and remembering how lucky she was. When she got married, she took the ring off, but noticed it frequently while getting dressed. She slid it on her right ring finger and decided to go.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Tony had gone to Vietnam a year after the crash and had eventually become an engineer, he told Margie at the restaurant. He had married and raised a family. His wife had died of cancer two years earlier. He looked like a much-older version of the nondescript boy in the yearbook. But there was kindness and strength in his eyes. “I never forgot you,” he told her as they ate their entrees. Like many boys at Hoggard, he had idolized her, he said, not because she was beautiful, but because she was kind. “When the bus crashed, my first thought was of you,” he told her, his brown eyes gazing into hers. “Both my arms were broken,” he said. “I couldn’t feel my hands. But I crawled over to you and blood was pumping out of your beautiful neck.” Subconsciously, she lifted her hand and felt her scar — something she did a dozen times a day. “So I lay down beside you and kissed your neck. I used my lips to draw the wound together and put enough pressure to keep the blood from spurting until the medics came.” He reached out his hand and Margie took her hand from her neck and put it in his. “I know how crazy this sounds,” he continued, “but in the midst of that crazy disaster, all I could think about was how beautiful you smelled, how wonderful it was to be that close.” Margie could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Why didn’t you tell me this back then?” Margie asked. “Why the anonymous note?” “I knew you were destined for better things,” Tony said. “By the time I got my engineering degree and a decent job, you were already married.” She looked at the simple ring — it still fit nicely — as the waitress brought their dessert. Such an odd thing, the way this virtual stranger was making her feel. So comfortable, so protected, so cherished. And so not alone. And there was this powerful feeling of an old, nagging mystery being solved at last. “All these years I’ve dreamed of being this close to you again,” he said, leaning across the table. “I’ve seen your face, smelled your hair in a thousand dreams. For so long I desperately wanted to kiss you again, even if for just one moment.” Margie found herself leaning across her coffee. His fingers gently touched that scar on her neck, and then they were in her hair as he pulled her close for the kiss that would change the rest of their lives — forever. OH
August 2016
O.Henry 59
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Silence of the Frogs Story by Serena Brown • Photograph by Ned Leary
“H
ello?” “Oh, Shelby, hi, it’s Beth. Thank goodness you’re there. Will you do me a big favor?” “Of course. What do you need?” “Will you run out and look at the end of our drive? We left a load of stuff out there for the trash men, well, anyone really, to pick up. Can you see if we left a white, stuffed dog? If it’s still there?” “Yep. No problem. Let me just pick up a flashlight and I’ll walk down there now. You still on the road?” “No. We pulled off for the night about an hour ago. Yes, honey, I’m talking to her right now. Mommy will be off the phone in just a minute. No. No Dora now, it’s too late. OK, one episode. Just one. Excuse me, Shelby, yes, we’re in a motel. The Star Mountain one.” “Which now?” “Oh, no, sorry Shel, not us. I was talking to Jennifer. Star Mountain’s in her TV show. We’re somewhere in Georgia, I think. Maybe Tennessee. There was a state line we crossed round about dark. Then Jennifer started fussing. It wasn’t but ten minutes ago but it feels like ten hours. Oh, I can hear the frogs at your end. I miss them already.” “You don’t have frogs there?” “I don’t know. Not where we are right now anyway. All I can hear is Nickelodeon. Ow!” “Sorry love, I was whistling for Boyce. Damn dog’s made a break for the Stevens’ trash. Boyce!” “Did it stop raining?” “Yeah. Pretty soon after you left. BOYCE!”
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August 2016
“Shel?” Rustle shuffle rustle. “BOYCE!” Shuffle rustle rustle. “BOYCE! Get your ass back here!” “Shel. Are you there?” “Yeah. Hi. The Stevenses throw out a lot of food.” “Oh.” “What else do you need?” “When you get to our house, can you go round to the dog kennel?” “Did y’all forget the dog?” “I think we’ve got him. I don’t know anymore. I don’t know why we had a kennel, he never went in there. Anyway, on the tree behind it there’s a birdhouse. There’s a keepsake box inside it. Please, will you take it out and burn it?” “BOYCE!” “Shelby? There’s a box in the birdhouse. Please burn it.” “Surely.” “Thank you, Shel. Thank you. I’d better go. I need to work out where we’re heading tomorrow.” “Your stuffed animal’s here. Boyce has got it now. BOYCE! Drop it!” “It’s OK. He can keep it.” “Thanks. His tail’s wagging. Boyce, not the animal. But he looks pretty happy too.” “Good. Thanks, Shel.” “Anytime. I’ll say goodbye now, but I’m going to hang up back at the house so you can hear the frogs, OK?” “Yeah. Bye, Shel.” “Goodbye, Beth. Send a postcard. Here are the frogs.” OH The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Black Limbertwig Story by Virginia Holman Photograph by Andrew Sherman
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ach Sunday, Great Grandmother Zelia, propped in her wingback chair, declared she wished to see one place before she died, her old farm. No one could bear to tell her it was gone, sold by her great nephew soon after she’d moved to assisted living. Her facility was good and the staff generous, but it took a lifetime’s assets and her monthly Social Security check to secure good care. Mother politely entertained the notion of a trip to the farm, so as not to crush Zelia’s spirit, but not for too long, because that would raise her hopes. Zelia was easily distracted, so in that way, the conversation was deferred. Two years before Zelia died, she offered me her sturdy 1971 Buick Estate station wagon as a sixteenth birthday present. For two decades she’d driven it to the holy trinity: Safeway, the post office, and the Caledonia Methodist Church. 23,000 miles. Mint, except for some rust, and free, or so I thought. Soon, I was called upon to run small errands. In time, my duties grew. One morning, I was summoned to take Zelia to her cardiology appointment. Patsy, her nurse at assisted living, wheeled her to the wagon, and tucked her into the passenger’s seat. “See you at supper, Mrs. Woods,” she said and patted her hand flat against the window to say good-bye. Patsy had sprayed Zelia’s hair a bit, which looked odd, like a fluff of cotton candy. Usually, Zelia wore it parted simply on the side with a tidy row of bangs. Teased up like this, her scalp shone through, pink and alive. “Thank you for taking me to the farm, dear,” Zelia said with a sigh. “The farm?” I said. Sly old Zelia. Her face was mapped with creases so deep you had to study her features to see what she used to look like. Her eyes were the color of new leaves. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. Zelia and I were now both too old for my mother’s scoldings. I’d languished that summer, bored to a stupor. I earned some money babysitting for women in Forest View who dressed in silk shantung to play bridge and drink with one another. Absurd. The world was absurd, my new favorite word, and I pronounced the s like a z, which I’d picked up from plump Mrs. Sterling, who’d once lived in Stockholm for an entire year, and seemed impossibly sophisticated. “All right, Zelia,” I said. What were forty miles and a missed appointment? As a child, the farm seemed remote, an interminable journey from rolling green field to rolling green field. Now it was traffic and stores and fumes. The farms were gone, subdivided and replaced with houses so close together you The Art & Soul of Greensboro
could almost pass the sugar from one kitchen window to another. Along the way to her old farm, Zelia told me of her marriage to Henry Woods, and of their glorious month-long honeymoon across the Southeast. Henry had arranged to stop at successful farms along the way to learn from more experienced farmers. Some gave him seeds, which he labeled and placed in coffee cans. At the end of the final visit, an old farmer and his wife dug up a sapling from their orchard as a wedding gift, a Black Limbertwig apple tree. Henry, she said, tended that tree as if his success as a farmer depended upon it. He picked a spot somewhat sheltered from the wind, dug the hole, softened the soil, then gently flayed the roots with his thumbnail. Their soil wasn’t rich, so when the limbs seemed to droop as it grew Zelia was concerned, but not Henry. By the second winter, it had fruit buds. The third summer, it fruited. That fall he took a photo: his lovely Zelia with a perfect Black Limbertwig apple, the first ever in Caledonia. Eight months later their first girl, Rose, was born. I started to tremble as Zelia and I got closer to the old Woods’ farm, until I understood that my mother’s persistent refusals were generous. What good could come from replacing Zelia’s cherished memories with the terrible fact of its ruin? I pretended to be lost, killing time until I became so turned around I had to stop for directions at a small, two-pump general store on the outskirts of town. Beside the store was a field that needed bush-hogging. Orange daylilies ran wild in the ditches. There was a derelict barn, and beyond it, like a blessing, a small orchard, the trees gnarled and blighted, but still fruiting. “Look, Zelia,” I said. “Limbertwigs.” I couldn’t walk her to the trees, so she waited in the wagon as I trudged through the field, trespassing. I picked as many apples as I could carry in the front of my untucked shirt. Her old Estate smelled of cider the whole drive back. When I returned to assisted living with Zelia, my mother was waiting outside beside Patsy. She flew out to the parking lot in a purple-lipped fit, but when she saw Zelia dozing with the unripe apples in her lap, she quietly opened the back door and slid in behind me. We shared one of those tart, rough-skinned apples right there, while Zelia snored and the engine ticked in the heat. Tears poured down my mother’s face. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. I saved those seeds and used them over the years to start three separate orchards. Are they Henry’s Black Limbertwigs? Why, they must be, for when I gather those apples and close my eyes, there’s my mother and there’s Zelia — conjured clearer than any memory — almost close enough to touch. OH August 2016
O.Henry 61
Summer Postcards from The Edge
Play Again Story by Jim Moriarty • Photograph by John Gessner
V
ickie Wilkes was a summer girl. The Smith brothers, Billy and Er-Er, knew when to expect her the way water knows when to boil. She was from Lake City, not Gypsy, where they lived. Just like a lot of people from across the water, she spent the hot months in a cottage on the shore, building fires on the beach and Saturday nights at the amusement park. Every summer Vickie Wilkes got a little taller, a little blonder and a little, well, bigger. This escaped the notice of exactly no one, in particular Billy and Er-Er, a set of twins so similar the only way to tell them apart was because one of them had trouble pulling the starting cord on his sentences and no one liked the name Um-Um. They watched each other eat cherry sno-cones, biting off the tips at the bottom of the paper holders to suck out the last drops. They rode three abreast on the old wooden roller coaster that moaned so badly it sounded like it was about to die of exhaustion. And they ran for the new attraction, the bumper cars with the tall poles that had floppy metal tongues on top that licked the ceiling and gave off sparks. Billy and Er-Er believed they’d scouted out which cars were the fastest ones and made straight for them the second the gate opened to make sure Vickie Wilkes got trapped in one of the slow jobs they could bang into over and over again. “Hey,” Billy said when the three of them came stumbling out of the cage of cars. “Look at that.” He pointed at Madam Magian, the fortune telling machine straight across the midway. Billy and Er-Er traded elbow jabs. They looked at Madam Magian. They looked at Vickie Wilkes. The Madam. The girl. They couldn’t believe they hadn’t seen it before.
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August 2016
“What?” Vickie asked. “Um, um, you’re just alike,” Er-Er said. Now, whether Vickie Wilkes had grown into it over the winter or Madam Magian had been refurbished in the off-season, there was no denying the blonde in the glass case looked as close to a dead ringer for the girl from Lake City as Billy looked like Er-Er. “Do not,” Vickie protested in defense of her humanity. “Do, too,” Billy said. “Why, why don’t we ask her?” Er-Er said. They ran to Madam Magian. Billy put a quarter in and cranked the handle, two turns, like a gumball machine. The crystal ball glowed from underneath. Gears meshed deep inside like a gastrointestinal disorder. The fortune-teller’s satin-covered arm hovered above the magic cards in front of her, moving back and forth until it clunked into place. The forefinger of fate with its red nail polish — for that was the color fate always came in — stabbed the Queen of Wands. A small card appeared in the slot below. Vickie used both hands to pinch the corners and pull it out. The crystal gazer sees a great deal of happiness in store for you. Twice as much to look at, twice as much to love. PLAY AGAIN! All summer. And maybe, um, um, forever. OH
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Summer Postcards from The Edge
The Mother of Invention
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Story by Stephen E. Smith • Photograph from the Tufts Archives
acey Pekerman, Reliable Used Autos’ Salesman of the Month for August 1933, was seeking inner peace. He’d just sold fourteen rusty rattletraps, surpassing his nearest competitor, salesman Inky Chavis, by five clunkers, and achieving an all-time monthly record for the dealership. A drink or two and he’d be free of the karmic guilt that accompanies the sale of a used car of questionable dependability to an unsuspecting rube. Or, in this instance, fourteen unsuspecting rubes. As soon as the whisky buzz hit his prefrontal cortex, he planned on kicking back and doing what he liked to do best — float in cool water and guzzle hooch nonstop. The Twenty-first Amendment would soon repeal Prohibition and Pekerman would no longer have to do his drinking alone on a scum-covered pond, but for now he was content to lull away the hours without the annoyance of unwanted company or a surprise visit from Eliot Ness and the Untouchables. To that end, his agile mind, always quick to grasp the possible, had conceived a means by which he could avoid leaving the water to refill his glass with moonshine or grab his favorite chaser, a lukewarm Coca-Cola. A man of greater ambition and lesser intelligence might have constructed a small raft from an inner tube and a few stray boards and placed his drinks and chaser on top. But that option would have required effort, a commodity which Pekerman never expended without discomfort. No, he’d come up with a better plan. If he did not have access to a bar he could belly up to, he would turn his belly into a bar. After all, a man of his bulk was as buoyant as a blimp and
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
could bob effortlessly in calm water for hours on end. Had Pekerman been familiar with the principles of Archimedes, he might have cried “Eureka!” as he slipped off his clothes, reclined in the cool water and began balancing the first two brimming tumblers on his knobby knees. From there the plan evolved of its own volition. He placed the cola bottle on his forehead, two more glasses balanced themselves nicely on his slightly distended belly, and the remaining tumblers he held in his open palms. Flexing his ample buttocks, he propelled himself gently into the center of the pond where he floated languidly, sunlight reflecting off the glistening glassware — and for a moment, one blessed moment, he achieved a state of Nirvana-like tranquility. Then he heard a car pull off the road and the driver and passenger scramble down the embankment to the edge of the pond. “Who’s there?” Pekerman asked. “It’s Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker,” a man’s voice answered. “What the hell are you doing? “I’m balancing glasses of whisky,” Pekerman yelled back. “Do what?” Bonnie asked. “Don’t you have a job?” “Yeah,” Pekerman answered, “I’m a crackerjack used car salesman.” “Well,” Clyde said, “this calls for a little target practice.” That’s when Lacey Pekerman recognized the unmistakable click-clack of a pump-action shotgun. OH August 2016
O.Henry 63
So Delightful an Occupation
A patriotic anthem to gardeners, who are always young at heart By Ross Howell Jr.
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or several years I lived not far from Thomas Jefferson’s mountaintop estate, Monticello. I remember an archaeological dig under way on the mountain at the time. Mulberry Row is an area that housed many of the plantation’s commercial activities in Jefferson’s day, as well as its enormous vegetable gardens. After meticulous excavation and research, the original buildings and gardens, including the Garden Pavilion overlooking the gardens and what Jefferson called his eastern “sea view,” were restored or recreated. I liked visiting, seeing the progress. And the mountain was cooler, a relief from summer’s heat. It was wonderful to watch evening shadows lengthen across the lawn, the blues of the eastern view deepening as night came on. Those memories are a reason the summer months put me in mind of Jefferson. And there’s the more obvious reason, of course — July Fourth. Of Jefferson’s many achievements, the Declaration of Independence was the one he most hoped his countrymen would remember him for. And we do. We celebrate the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” with a national holiday, with cookouts, ice cream, parades, maybe a picnic at the ol’ swimming hole, and evening fireworks.
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August 2016
But this summer, now that the U.S. Social Security Administration has proclaimed with this birthday I am of “full retirement age,” I’m also mindful of something else Jefferson is remembered for. His love of gardens. On August 20, 1811, Jefferson penned a letter to his friend, Charles Willson Peale, the American painter admired for his portraits of the Founding Fathers, especially of George Washington. “I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position & calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden,” Jefferson wrote. “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth . . . . But tho’ an old man, I am but a young gardener.” Jefferson was just two years my elder at the time, so his words, along with the creaking of my knees as I weed a flower bed, serve as reminders that time is growing shorter, more precious. Growing up on a mountain farm, I found work in my mother’s vegetable garden tedious. I much preferred working with our cattle and sheep. In spite of my mother’s passion, knowledge and skill, my interest in gardening didn’t come until later in life. But Jefferson’s passion visited him as a young man and stayed. In his “Garden Book” Jefferson kept records about the vegetables, flowers, The Art & Soul of Greensboro
fruits and trees he cultivated from 1766 to 1824 at Shadwell, his birthplace, and Monticello. He noted on February 20, 1767, that he “sowed a bed of forwardest and a bed of midling peas.” The planting and harvesting of peas would be an enduring fascination for Jefferson. He participated in a competition with Monticello neighbors until very late in life̓ — whoever harvested the first pea of spring would host a celebratory dinner for the other competitors. Jefferson grew twenty-three varieties of peas at Monticello, notes Peter Hatch, the estate’s retired director of gardens and grounds. Maybe Jefferson was trying to load the odds in his favor. While peas were a favorite, Hatch adds that Jefferson cultivated a wide variety of vegetables, including artichokes, asparagus and sea kale. Cucumbers were another favorite. He also grew “eggplants, sesame, hot peppers, okra, tomatoes, rutabagas, salsify and scores of other culinary novelties from the vegetable world,” Hatch writes. According to Hatch, in 1769 Jefferson began planting fruit trees on the southeastern slope of the mountain, and in 1774, he began to plant Italian wine grapes provided by his neighbor and friend Philip Mazzei. He began, Hatch continues, with “extensive plantings of apple and peach trees in 1778 and 1782 in Monticello’s South Orchard, and the beginnings of vegetable-garden cultivation and the sowing of asparagus, peas and artichokes in prepared beds below Mulberry Row.” Hatch writes that while serving as minister to France in 1786, Jefferson went on a tour of English landscape gardens with John Adams. The experience led him to introduce English features to Monticello, including the Grove, an 18acre ornamental forest on the northwest side of the mountain. Its trees would be “trimmed very high, so as to give it the appearance of open ground,” Jefferson wrote, with the area “broken by clumps of thicket, as the open grounds of the English are broken by clumps of trees.” Such a landscape feature would be relatively easy to create and economical to sustain, Jefferson felt, since it was only necessary to “to cut out the superabundant plants.” Aside from the beauty of the Grove, Jefferson pointed out a benefit we all look for in the summertime South. “Under the constant, beaming, almost vertical sun of Virginia,” he wrote, “shade is our Elysium.” Jefferson felt that, over time, the mature Grove could be further refined with the introduction of vistas, glades and hardy perennial flowers. He even sketched a plan for thickets of shrubs arranged in a spiral pattern to suggest an informal labyrinth. He was fascinated by native plants and their propagation, listing many in his Notes on the State of Virginia. He took delight in planting many of the specimens and seeds discovered on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). Sometime after 1800, Jefferson wrote his “Summary of Public Service.” His purpose was to list achievements he considered notable, and to clarify some confusion about dates and legislation that had been attributed to him. “I have sometimes asked myself whether my country is the better for my having lived at all?” he begins. Then he lists items that he viewed as beneficial. He includes items we would certainly expect: the Declaration of Independence, legislation regarding freedom of religion and an act in the Virginia legislature prohibiting the importation of slaves. But Jefferson goes on to list other contributions that for most of us would be unexpected. He includes this notation: “In 1789. & 1790. I had a great number of olive plants of the best kind sent from Marseilles to Charleston for S. Carolina & Georgia. They were planted & are flourishing.” And another: “In 1790. I got a cask of the heavy upland rice from the river Denbigh in Africa. . . . which I sent to Charleston, in hopes it might supersede the culture of the wet rice which renThe Art & Soul of Greensboro
ders S. Carolina & Georgia so pestilential through the summer.” He concludes the rice entry by writing, “the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” When you’re trying to think of a way to convince neighborhood rabbits to leave your peas alone, or attempting to unsnarl the Gordian knot on the head of your string trimmer, or watching your gladiolas droop in the heat, you probably aren’t feeling all that patriotic. You might be thinking only about getting a Jack Russell for the rabbits, or remembering to keep yourself hydrated. But Jefferson, I believe, would want you to buck up. He would argue that you are a true patriot, the steward of a national legacy. So this summer I want you to plant something. Tree, shrub, vegetable, flower or seed, you’re going to have to nurture it. The task won’t be easy. Insects, voles, groundhogs and deer will conspire to defeat you. And an unforgiving sun. You’ll have to water and mulch your planting with care. I’d even like you to make the planting a summertime tradition, a reminder of Independence Day. I’m doing it. By the time you read these words, I’ll have planted “Sweet Bubby,” a Carolina allspice bush, by my front porch, so my wife and I, along with friends, neighbors and guests, will enjoy its fragrance someday. Of course, it would be much easier to plant successfully in the fall. But that’s the point. Freedom and democracy are hard to maintain. They require passion, vigilance and perseverance. Like gardening. In July 1826, Thomas Jefferson, 83 years old, had been lapsing in and out of consciousness at his mountaintop home for two days. His room had a view of his gardens, sweltering in the heat. From time to time, he would ask family members, “Is it the Fourth?” Not long after his grandson-in-law roused him in the morning with a touch on the shoulder to inform him Independence Day had come, Jefferson expired. Far to the north, in Quincy, Massachusetts, 90-year-old John Adams, fellow patriot and signatory of the Declaration, lay clinging to life. From his bed he could hear the sounds of celebration for his nation’s fiftieth birthday. Though his friend had in fact passed away five hours earlier, Adams is said to have uttered with his last breath, “Thomas Jefferson still lives.” After retiring from his second term as President, Jefferson wrote to a friend, “All my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.” That’s how his life ended, with a legacy to be studied by the ages, “in the midst of” his grandchildren, his books, his farm, his beloved gardens. You don’t have to be an old man like me, or Jefferson, to plant this summer. But do it. You’ll see it’s a serious and uncertain endeavor. Whatever you plant, do your level best to keep it alive. One day it may prosper. OH Ross Howell Jr. is the author of the historical novel, Forsaken, and, in the interest of full disclosure, an alumnus of “Mr. Jefferson’s University.” His bride Mary Leigh, however, is a Chapel Hill alumna. Not long after the two were married, she took her husband to a basketball game in the Dean Dome, “just to make sure he had his head right.” August 2016
O.Henry 65
The King of Burning Love Elvis Presley’s love affair with the Gate City By Billy Ingram
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lvis Aaron Presley sold more records than any other solo artist in history, a quarter billion at the time of his death at age 42. When “Burning Love” was released as a single on August 1, 1972, it became his fortieth and last Top Ten hit, one he sang on stage for the first time four months earlier at the Greensboro Coliseum before a sold out crowd that screamed and wailed at his every sideways glance. The tune was so unfamiliar Elvis had to read the lyrics from a sheet, a scene captured by a film crew embedded with the band who were shooting what would be the King of Rock ’n’ Roll’s thirty-third and final motion picture, Elvis on Tour. No other recording star has had a more enduring relationship with our city than Elvis, which is why his flirtations with Greensboro will remain forever pressed between the pages of our minds, sweetened through the ages just like wine. The first time Elvis was heard on the radio, in July of 1954, the Memphis station was inundated with phone calls and telegrams (expensive, but that was how you tweeted in the ’50s). The response was so overwhelming, the deejay played that acetate seven times in a row, then called Elvis’ mom and had her retrieve the shy 19-year-old from a movie theater to rush him down to the station for an interview. Elvis the mama’s boy (never an insult down South) didn’t drink or smoke,
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
was demure and unassuming, but flung himself into performances with an unnerving intensity accented by quivering lips, unnaturally dark eyes and a slicked up, black ducktail pompadour. His ’do took three kinds of grease and considerable time to prep so that it curled and flopped as he threw his head forward to sing. Teen girls squealed and swooned uncontrollably at his pelvic gyrations and raw sex appeal, and before long, riots were breaking out with young women mobbing the singer, tearing his clothes off in a feeding frenzy. And so it was that in the spring of 1955, Elvis and his rough-hewn combo played their first dates in North Carolina, first at the New Bern Shrine Auditorium and then in Asheville’s City Auditorium, followed by September dates in those towns, augmented with stops in Raleigh, Wilson and, closer to the Gate City, the Thomasville High School Auditorium. Then, on Monday, February 6, 1956, Greensboro welcomed the up-andcoming pop star for two matinee and two evening performances at the ornately elegant National Theater at 311 South Elm. Elvis had driven into town the night before in his pink 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood just as his first single on RCA Records “Heartbreak Hotel” began climbing the charts on the way to the No. 1 spot. Suddenly, it was his name that would be featured most prominently in advertisements and on the marquee, above more established acts like The Louvin Brothers and the Carter Sisters. George Perry and Jim Tucker, seen as The Old Rebel and Pecos Pete on WFMY-TV, ventured backstage at the National to August 2016
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meet the Carters when a bashful Elvis walked over to introduce himself. Elvis left touring behind soon after in favor of cranking out lightweight Hollywood musicals, as many as three a year. No other movie star was pulling down a million dollars a picture on an ongoing basis, his happy-go-lucky cinematic romps were known as, “the only sure thing in Hollywood.” One of the buxom objects of The King’s desire in Tickle Me, actress Francine York, knows firsthand what it’s like to be wrapped in the arms of one of Tinseltown’s sexiest leading men. She described Elvis in 1965 to me as, “Not at all shy, very outgoing, great sense of humor. So gorgeous in person. Always kidding around, kiddingly talking back to Norman Taurog, the director. Very kind to me and complimentary. So different than a lot of stars who were stuck up.” By 1968, a succession of hastily produced, impossibly anachronistic travelogues with sappy soundtracks had diminished Elvis’ star so completely he was considered washed up. With rare exceptions he hadn’t appeared in concert in over a decade, with seemingly no apparent demand for such a thing. Singles barely cracked the Top 40 (when they did) and album sales were in steady decline. American tweens had outgrown Hound Dogs and Teddy Bears, gravitating instead towards Partridges, Monkees and Cowsills. But an electrifying performance in December of 1968 on an NBC television special caused America to fall in love all over again, arguably the greatest comeback in show business history. Within a year Elvis was riding high again on the pop charts, the biggest act ever to hit Las Vegas. Elvis’ first concert outside of Vegas since 1961 made headlines when 207,494 people crowded the aisles for six shows in Houston. Elvis took his act on the road beginning in 1970, breaking attendance records everywhere he went, but his schedule brought him no closer to Greensboro than Cleveland until 1972. Elvis’ second rendezvous with Greensboro came on April 14, 1972. Before the King arrived, Elvis’ advance men covered with aluminum foil every window on the top floor of the posh new high-rise Radisson Hilton on West Market (across the street from Greensboro College) to create an environment unencumbered by the outside world. A typical day on tour began around 3 in the afternoon because Elvis partied with his bandmates past dawn. Other than getting in and out of a limousine, the group wouldn’t see the light of day for weeks on end. As one of The King’s attendants put it, “At a point you get nuts.” Documentary filmmakers who had been recording the stage show since April 9th rejoined the tour in Greensboro after a short hiatus. Concerned that the project might be scrapped, a screening of the assembled footage was arranged at a local theater for Elvis’ manager Tom Parker. The Colonel was enthusiastic about what he saw and eager to continue. For this show Elvis wore his Royal Blue Fireworks outfit, open to the waist, with an Owl Belt and matching cape, draped with one of his trademark scarves, which would be occasionally bestowed upon an adoring fan. His every twitch sent forward ripples of excitement, fever-pitched screams, Instamatic cubes flashing like strobe lights, hands reaching out as if to touch what surely seemed to be an apparition but, no, was The King of Hollywood and Las Vegas, every girl’s teen idol, here before them.
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Estelle Brown of the Sweet Inspirations told BBC2, “When Elvis walks out on stage it’s like the building is being torn down. People were screaming and hollering and falling out and throwing stuff on the stage, oh, it was just amazing. Not only did he have the Sweets and the TCB band, but he had the gospel quartets like The Stamps or Imperials. If you include the orchestra it would be about 60, it was a lot of people on stage.” Cameras rolling, Elvis had in mind to attempt a new song this night, one he’d recorded a few weeks before. Apologetic about holding the lyrics in front of him, Elvis rendered a rousing performance of “Burning Love,” creating yet another anthem, his last Top Ten smash. After finishing “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” with amazing vocal flourish, Presley spread his caped wings, exiting like a condor. Amid much fanfare from the orchestra, a booming voice was heard over the Coliseum speakers that spoke with a terse finality: “Elvis has left the building.” After a two-year absence, the Coliseum sold all 16,000 tickets for Elvis’ return to Greensboro on March 13, 1974. Within minutes scalpers were able to command $200 for a front row seat that cost them $10. The King was looking sharp in his highcollared, Blue Starburst belted jumpsuit with wildly exaggerated, pleated flairs. Pointing out a child in the audience outfitted in a sequined jumpsuit and cape, he brought the boy on stage, draped a scarf around him, then commanded jokingly, “Get him out of here, he’s dressed better than I am.” There was considerable drama surrounding Elvis’ 1975 engagement here. He and his entourage deplaned shortly after midnight on Monday, July 22nd, from his newly acquired, 96-seat Convair 800, christened the Lisa Marie. The airplane was customized, like all his vehicles, by 1966 Batmobile designer George Barris, who equipped it with an executive bedroom, teak paneling, gold bathroom fixtures, a fifty-two speaker sound system and a sophisticated videotape network. Moments after settling in at the Hilton, word went out to the Greensboro Coliseum that there was a problem. Armed with a telephone and a copy of the City Directory, the Coliseum’s harried manager began waking up local dentists starting with the A’s until he found someone who could see the star of that night’s sold-out concert for an emergency procedure. It wasn’t until Dr. J. Baxter Caldwell’s patient sauntered in around 3:30 a.m. that the Greensboro dentist realized he’d be working on the most famous mouth in America, drilling behind the upturned upper lip of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. Returning to the Hilton after the procedure around sunup, Elvis dined on a fruit tray before heading off to bed. Ironically, Dr. Caldwell was known for his reluctance to use painkillers on his patients. Two days later in Asheville, when the dentist there left the examination room, Elvis had reportedly ransacked the premises looking for drugs. It had become a common practice for Presley to remove a filling in one of his teeth so as to be seen on a rush basis for what would eventually yield him a prescription or two. It was also in Asheville that Elvis — angry that his personal physician, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, had taken away the drugs he’d scored from the dentist that day and perturbed by a rolling vertical hold — had fired a bullet into the television set at the Rodeway Inn. Biographers say that the bullet ricocheted into Dr. Nick’s chest but caused no injury. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
But back to Greensboro. Christopher Newsom shares a snapshot of Elvis leaving the Hilton for the Coliseum on July 22nd, “My dad and his brother went and waited for him to come out. His bodyguards told everybody he had a toothache or something and wouldn’t be hanging around to talk.” Elvis had been inexplicably pestering his female backup singers from the stage for several nights with crude insults, serving up most of his vitriol for on-again, off-again girlfriend Kathy Westmoreland, who harmonized with the Sweet Inspirations. When it got to be too much, all but one of the women walked off stage mid-performance in Norfolk on July 21st. They had decided to quit then and there, but finally agreed to make the trip to the Gate City without saying whether they’d go on or not. After a heartfelt apology from Elvis, all but Kathy performed at the Coliseum on the 22nd. One reviewer declared the show that night, “better than ever.” After returning to the dentist’s office for a follow-up, Kathy met with Elvis as he sat on his bed in karate pajamas brandishing a gun in one hand and a gift-wrapped watch in the other. “Which do you want, this or this?” he asked. She nervously took the gift, agreeing to stay on until the end of the tour. More bewildering, the next afternoon all of those who were supposed to be flying on to Asheville for the final three nights of the tour discovered, upon arriving at the airport, that Elvis had left the tarmac and gone ahead without them. After the plane was sent back and they finally arrived at the Rodeway Inn, Elvis was in a contrite mood. Summoning the jeweler that traveled with a portable jewelry store in case he was feeling generous, Elvis purchased everything he had on him, with more flown in from Memphis, to be distributed to everyone in the roadshow. He took the $40,000 diamond ring off his finger to give to J.D. Sumner of The Stamps. When The King didn’t receive his customary standing ovations in Asheville, he doled out expensive trinkets to audience members, expending some $85,000 all together, then handed over his guitar to a random fan (who, just this year, tried unsuccessfully to sell it for $300,000). Like a man possessed, two days later he presented the Colonel with a Gulfstream jet and, on Sunday, July 27th, gave thirteen 1975 model Cadillacs totaling $140,000 to band members and another to a lady admiring his personal Caddy parked in front of the dealership. When she told him her birthday was coming up, Elvis had a check written so she could buy some new outfits, “to go with the car.” By his next Greensboro appearance on June 30, 1976, a theatrical practicality had taken over. Presley only pretended to play guitar, his moves now mere poses. The audience lapped it up nonetheless. Elton John met Elvis backstage a few nights before this show in Greensboro and stated, “He had dozens of people around him, supposedly looking after him, but he already looked like a corpse.” Every year in the Gate City Elvis wore a different outfit, in 1976 the Blue Egyptian Bird. When he wore this elaborately beaded getup for the first time in March he ripped the seat of his pants and made front pages headlines all around the world. Elvis in 1976 was described by close associate Red West as, “A boy in a man’s body who could not handle the celebrity he had now become. I had a sinking feeling that I would not see my best friend The Art & Soul of Greensboro
again. And I didn’t.” By spring of 1977 when he performed in Greensboro for the last time on April 21st, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll was on a years’ long rockin’ roller coaster of amphetamines and downers. A full-time nursing staff and a retinue of unknowing physicians in every time zone reportedly kept Elvis Presley medicated between near-fatal overdoses and brief bouts of drying out. Weighing in at over 250 pounds, with a little over a million dollars in his checking account and $500,000 a month in expenses, the King was effectively broke after a lifetime of hit records, movies and sold out concerts. Regardless of his precarious health and chemical dependencies, Presley needed to be constantly on the road to make ends meet. Opening venue for what would be the last ten weeks of concerts before his untimely death was Greensboro, about which Elvis declared from the stage in more coherent days: “Of all the places we’ve been to, you’re one of the most fantastic audiences we’ve had.” The enthusiastic capacity crowd of 16,500 at the Coliseum was treated to one of the strongest and most exuberant of what would be The King’s farewell performances. Wearing his golden Mexican Sundial suit, Elvis was feeling so frisky he sang three songs he’d long ago dropped from his repertoire: “Little Sister,” “Little Darlin’” and “Fever.” He could still send shrieking shock waves throughout the audience with a mere turn of his head but pelvic thrusts were a thing of the past. Action on the stage was reduced to dispensing as many scarves as possible, his naturally drowsy eyes now woozy winks. Small wonder. Elvis had been prescribed more than 5,300 pills while on the road, a mind-numbing cocktail of opioids, amphetamines and central nervous system depressants that included (get out your Physician’s Desk Reference): valmid, placidyl, valium, pentobarbital, phenobarbital, butabarbital, dilaudid, demerol, morphine, biphetamine, amytal, percodan, carbrital, dexedrine, cocaine hydrochloride but most especially codeine and quaaludes. In anticipation of an upcoming tour, which would have bypassed Greensboro in favor of Asheville and Fayetteville, 600 pills were dispensed for Presley on the day before departure. It wasn’t enough. Indicative of his compulsively crepuscular lifestyle, the last photo taken of Elvis was snapped by a waiting fan as The King returned to Graceland in the pre-dawn hours from a trip to the dentist. Hours later he was found dead of an overdose. It had been a little over twenty-one years after his first show here and just four months after his last. Elvis’ co-star Francine York appeared in dozens of motion pictures and memorable television shows like Lost in Space, Bewitched and Hot in Cleveland, starring with many a matinee idol. She even played a villainess on Batman. But The King made a lasting impression: “I will be going back to Graceland again this year with all expenses paid. It was sad being in his home for the first time in 2008 and seeing his white outfit on display with the cummerbund and watch him singing on the TV up to the left. I just loved him and find it difficult to watch his movies now, it just breaks my heart.” OH Billy Ingram is a frequent contributor to O.Henry. August 2016
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Story of a House
Towering Success A noble transformation for The Castle
By Maria Johnson • Photographs by Amy Freeman & Mekenzie Loli
A
book about a murder at 27 Flagship Cove threw a scare into prospective buyers Chris and Scott Shoener when they Googled the address in late 2014. A couple of clicks later, they learned that the book — which was titled 27 Flagship Cove and carried a photo of the Greensboro home on its cover, banishing any doubt about the location — was a work of fiction. The Shoeners and their kids, Olivia, Davis and Hannah, breathed a sigh of relief, and the 8,000-square foot home on the shore of Lake Jeanette got a green light again. The brick-and-stone structure had several features that Chris and Scott were looking for — open floor plan, garage space for at least three cars, proximity to
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the kids’ school — and a hard-to-describe quality that spoke to them. “We knew it when we saw it,” says Scott. “It was unique,” says Chris. “The kids called it The Castle.” The name came from the copper-topped stone turret on the front of the house, which the kids liked. They were also fond of the home’s large bedrooms, the rec-friendly daylight basement — which includes a home theater and opens onto a pool and patio — and the lakefront location. “Olivia loves to paddleboard, and we have a kayak, too,” says Chris. “The ability to launch from the backyard was huge.” The Shoeners (pronounced SHAY-ners) looked at more than a dozen homes before settling on The Castle. They gave their children a lot of say in the decision. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
It was a difficult time to uproot Davis and Olivia, who were in high school in Franklin, Tennessee, at the time. Hannah was a freshman at Auburn University. “It’s been an adjustment, but the kids have done a great job,” says Chris, an executive with clothing maker VF Corporation. The Flagship home is the family’s sixth. They’ve moved five times to follow Chris’s career with VF; this is the third time they’ve relocated to Greensboro. The first time, in 1991, they lived near The Cardinal development. The second time, in 1998, they lived in Oak Ridge, northwest of town. When they were transferred to Greensboro again, the Shoeners knew what to expect. “There wasn’t much resistance,” says Chris. “It’s a nice place to live and raise your family.” In Franklin, which is near Nashville, the family lived in a 4,000-squarefoot home. They weren’t looking to double their living space with the move to Greensboro, but by the time they checked off their must-haves, they ended up with a whopper. Chris had always enjoyed decorating the family’s homes herself, but she and Scott were ready for new furniture, and they wanted the decorating to be finished sooner rather than later, so Chris called in reinforcement. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
“I knew I’d labor over every little detail, so I decide it was time trust someone,” she says. She perused the portfolios of local interior designers who were linked to the website Houzz.com. She found many of their styles too traditional for her taste. Then she saw the work of Lisa Sherry Intérieurs of High Point. Despite the continental tilt of her business’s name, Sherry decorates with a casual, modern spirit. Relying on blacks, whites, grays and beiges to ground her rooms, Sherry spices her interiors with clean-lined furniture, flecks of color and lots of texture and whimsy. “I describe it as classic modern,” she says. “The bones are classic, but we twist it so the overall feel is updated. Within the classic modern, I’m all about organics. I love neutrals and textures.” The biggest challenge inside the Shoeners’ home was to balance the “seriousness of the architecture,” says Sherry. “Before, it was so sophisticated . . . we wanted to bring it down a little bit, take the formality out of it and make it livable. We wanted you to feel like you could walk in and put your feet up.” She has completed two rounds of design at the Shoeners’ home. Her first pass targeted what you see when you walk in: a two-story foyer August 2016
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
backed by an equally tall formal living room and flanked by a dining room and powder room. When the Shoeners bought The Castle — it last belonged to North Carolina commercial real estate mogul Jeff Schwarz, who died in 2015 — the home had an opulent Old World feeling, owing partly to marble galore. Floors, columns, a living room fireplace and a spiral staircase were hewn from the buff-colored stone. Dark walls, curtains and scrollwork fixtures added to the weighty vibe. The Shoeners wanted to lighten up. With Sherry’s help, they went with soft bluish-gray walls in the foyer and dining room. The dining room is remarkable for its layered, beaded drum-shade chandelier — think of an upside down wedding cake. “I love the texture,” says Sherry. “It has almost a macramé feel to it.” Another eye-grabber is a blown-up photo of the plaza outside the Louvre Museum in Paris. The photographer was Sherry’s husband, Ron Royals, a wellknown furniture photographer with a booming art-photo business. The circular dining table by Jonathan Charles Furniture is ingenious. When you rotate the tabletop, it “explodes” into four pie-shaped wedges and exposes an “X” of leaves between the wedges. The squared-off dining room chairs, by Verellen Home Collection in High Point, are covered in white linen. A few feet away, a rectangular farmhouse table anchors the foyer with a crop
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of interesting textures and shapes. Among them are a rust-colored horse-head sculpture, a faux topiary, feathers, green glass bottle, a stone and chrome pieces and a chunk of coral. The sightseeing continues by the circular staircase. A bust of a goat, affectionately called Pedro, rests on a pedestal. Pedro wears an assortment of hats and a couple of feathers. He never fails to make visitors smile. “We didn’t want to be so serious,” says Chris. “We had prom pictures here, and they all took turns with the goat.” The living room behind the foyer feels library-ish with its marble fireplace, frame-and-panel wooden walls and coffered ceiling. Again, Sherry helped to visually and viscerally lighten the room. She brought in whitewashed driftwood for high niches on both sides of the fireplace. On the floor, she placed a couple of white chenille swiveling tub chairs and a modern, custom-made tête-à-tête, a small gray sofa that mandates conversation by seating two people face-toface. The Shoeners’ two Siberian huskies love to loll on the shaggy Moroccan vintage wool accent rug that lies over a larger sea grass rug. “Because it’s already vintage, you can’t hurt it,” says Sherry. The Shoeners already owned a few of the room’s pieces: a clock-gear sculpture on the mantel; a baby grand piano; and a 12-by-5-foot mirror that leans against the wall next to the piano. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
“As big as this house is, that’s the only place that fits,” says Chris. The mirror’s reflection, along with the light from two stories of windows overlooking the lake, leavens the room. “You’re inside, but you feel like you can touch the outside,” says Scott. The powder room around the corner was modernized with large black-and-white print wallpaper, bone-like brass sconces with elongated Edison-style bulbs, and a dark-rimmed porthole mirror over the floating vanity. The Shoeners say they would never have put those elements together by themselves, but they’re happy with the result. “Lisa pushed us into things that we didn’t think we wanted,” says Scott. More nudging happened in the walkout basement, in Sherry’s second round of decorating. The basement wore a coat of dark khaki paint. The Shoeners’ first impulse was to lighten the walls, but Sherry convinced them to go darker, with slate gray walls and ceiling. Her thinking: Forget trying to lighten a room that doesn’t get much natural light. Instead, embrace the darkness and go for a moody, luxurious feeling. The result is a cool, dark man cave that accentuates the shine from can lights in the ceiling and from sunlight that filters through the windows and bounces off of the shiny cork and tile floors. Sherry urged the Shoeners to paint the woodwork around the stone-and-granite bar, but the couple stood firm, and Sherry admitted later they were right. Perhaps they plied her with their Yuengling on tap, a nod to Scott’s birthplace of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where the brewer is based. With a pool table that accommodates a table tennis top; a foosball table; an old-school video arcade machine and a fireplace, the Shoeners’ basement probably contains more entertainment than all of the bars in Pottsville put together. Son Davis’s friends love the games and plentiful supply of Gatorade and soda. They also give thumbsup to the theater room. Most home theaters try to look like, well, theaters with deluxe oversized seats. “I’m not a fan of brown leather, which is what you usually see in home theaters,” says Sherry. “Not gonna do it.” The Shoeners went with her suggestion: blocky, denim sofas and chairs, which make the room looks more like a den than a knock-off theater. Sherry finished the room with gray linen walls, tawny faux fur throws, wood block tables and a black-white-and-gray carpet with a jagged, stain-hiding pattern. “It’s like a cross between a movie-theater carpet and an EKG,” jokes Scott. The Shoeners updated all of the home’s audio and visual components, along with lighting and security, with the help of Advanced Tech Systems Inc. of Greensboro. Sherry’s signature was softer in daughter Olivia’s room, also a part of the second design phase. Standouts include a campaign-style iron canopy bed; a birdcage-style chandelier; a mod black desk lamp and drum shade with matching molded “S”-shape chair; and clear acrylic bedside lamps. The three-sided window seat was already there. Sherry worked with Olivia to choose pink, white and black prints for custom seat cushions and pillows.
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“We wanted it to be youthful, but not too kiddy and not too seamy,” says Sherry. Olivia’s guitars decorate one wall. Some of her favorite images are stuck to the walls with outlines of easily removed washi tape. “That was a really fun, inexpensive way to hang art,” says Sherry. “We just printed out things she liked. By taping them to the wall, she can add or subtract easily along the way.” Next up for overhaul: the Shoeners’ kitchen, master bedroom and bath. The family looks forward to Phase Three. So does Sherry. “What I loved is that they were really open to me pushing their boundaries a little bit and trusting me to do what I felt was best for the space,” Sherry says. “They were open to new ideas. That trust level is important, and it makes for the best clients.” OH Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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Starry Eyed
By Ash Alder
Welcoming the Harvest
August is a poem you can taste. Swollen fruit beckons us to the garden, the orchard, the roadside stand, and for some of us, the trailing vines that wind along the woodland path. The air intoxicates us with notes of wild honey and dandelion. Damselflies dance between milkweed and goldenrod, fiery sunsets fade into star-studded twilight, and come nightfall, the crickets and katydids gift us with song. Nothing gold can stay, they lament. And so we savor each delicious moment. The Wheel of the Year, an annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals (or sabbats) observed by modern pagans, includes a grain harvest celebration called Lammas (loaf mass) on August 1. Also called August Eve, the first harvest festival of the year includes a feast of thanksgiving, the first sheaf of wheat ritually baked into a sacred loaf said to embody the spirit of the grain. Regardless of which seasonal festivals you choose to observe, now’s as good a time as any to consider the abundance of the season, especially when you’re slicing that thick Cherokee Purple for the perfect ’mater sandwich. And as you sow your autumn garden — beets, carrots, peas and greens — try whispering a little song of thanks into the soil and see what follows: a new delicious season of magic, no doubt. Another harvest. But for now, listen to the katydids.
The gladiolus, or ‘sword lily,’ is the birth flower of August. Bright and showy, they symbolize a heart “pierced with love.” Astronomically speaking, there’s a lot to pierce the heart with love this month: the Perseid meteor shower, for instance, which happens August 11–13 and is visible worldwide. Predawn is the best time to see it, and since the quarter moon will have set by 1 a.m., the dark sky should be an ideal canvas for this (pardon) stellar show. Native Americans called the full moon of August the “Sturgeon” or “Green Corn” moon. On August 18, see what you’re inspired to call it. And if you’re prone to set intentions, the full moon is prime time. It’s also a good night for onion braiding, an ancient way to store bulbs pulled from the garden in late July. Some believe that onion braids offer protection, but they’re simply lovely. You need no reason more.
“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.” — Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Taste of Summer
National Peach Month is here. A fun fact: True wild peaches (small and sour) are only found in China, where the fruit is said to have mystical properties and grant longevity to those who eat them. Our peaches (plump and sugary) have magical qualities, too. Don’t believe it? Sink your teeth into a just-picked one and see if you don’t grin like a sweet-toothed squirrel. Also, August 3 marks National Watermelon Day. Slice one for a picnic in the backyard, where the kids can make a sport of seed spitting. Since watermelons are more than 90 percent water, they’re a tasty way to help stay hydrated on hot summer days. Slip them into salads and salsas, or treat yourself to something even sweeter, like a mint and watermelon soda float. The following recipe (and a delicious homegrown watermelon) came from a friend: Fresh Mint and Watermelon Float 2 1/2 cups fresh watermelon chunks 12–15 fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped 12 oz club soda or carbonated water Vanilla ice cream In a blender, combine watermelon, mint and water. Blend and pulse quickly for 30–60 seconds (or until watermelon breaks down). The blending will “de-carbonate” the water, but it should still have some fizz. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl to remove seeds. Fill two glasses with vanilla ice cream and pour watermelon soda over top. Garnish with additional fresh mint. Serves two. OH
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August 2016 Gouached Ashore
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August 1–4 SUMMER FILM FEST. 7 p.m. Class issues rule in Hitchcock’s Under Capricorn (8/1); Kermit and Miss Piggy go to Gotham in The Muppets Take Manhattan (8/2); don’t go near the water for fear of Jaws (8/3); see The Duke in his first A-lister role in Stagecoach (8/4). Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
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Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 333-7460 or greenhillnc.org.
August 1–September 4 AUTODIDACTS. See the products of natural talent at Inside the Outside: Five Self-Taught Artists from the Louis-Dreyfus Foundation. Weatherspoon Museum of Art, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
August 1–September 18
HOPPERS HERE. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are home again. NewBridge Bank Park, 408 Bellemeade Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 268-2255 or www.milb.com.
TWOFER. Two exhibitions share a common curator: Matisse Drawings Curated by Ellsworth Kelly from The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation Collection and Plant Lithographs by Ellsworth Kelly 1964–1966. Weatherspoon Museum of Art, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 334-5770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
GOUACHED ASHORE. Works that evoke the North Carolina coast are the focus of Coastal Works Infocus. Greenhill, 200 North Davie
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August 1–7
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August 1–October 16 THANK YOU, CLARIBEL AND ETTA. See lithographs and bronze sculptures, the focus of Henri Matisse: Selections from the Claribel and Etta Cone Collection. Weatherspoon Museum of Art, 500 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 3345770 or weatherspoon.uncg.edu.
August 1–October30 SECCA AND YE SHALL FIND! Don’t miss With Open Eyes, an exhibition of Wake Forest’s Student Union art collection. Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), 750 Marguerite Drive, Winston-Salem. Info: (336) 725-1904 or secca.org.
August 2 AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet Terry Williams, author of Con Men: Hustling in New York. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar
Shake - n -Drake
Wax Works
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Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. FOREIGN FILM FEST. 7 p.m. The Public Library’s International Film Festival continues with Second Coming, an English film starring Idris Alba, about repercussions of a surprise pregnancy. Glenwood Library, 1901 West Florida Street, Greensboro. Info: greensborolibrary.org.
August 2 NO SEEUMS AND MUSEUM. 7:30 p.m. Sit back on a lawn chair or blanket for an outdoor screening of Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb at Historical Park. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org.
August 5 THE BEST MEDICINE. 7 p.m. Counselor, comic and author David Granirer illustrates the The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Au Current
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healing power of humor with his show, Stand Up for Mental Health. Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 3332605 or carolinatheatre.com.
AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 7 p.m. Or rather, poets, poets, including Coen Crisp. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 5 & 6 TO ETCH HIS OWN. 9:30 a.m. John Gail and Arts Alliance Greensboro host a two-day etching workshop for $150 per person with a $20 materials fee. Cultural Center, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. Info: artsalliancegso.org.
IMPROV THEATER. 8 p.m. They wrote, staged and rehearsed it — just today. See the experiment, “A Play in a Day,” courtesy of The Drama Center and Greensboro Playwrights’ Forum. Stephen Hyers Theatre, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. Info: thedramacenter.com.
August 6
August 7
MELON-CHOLY, BABY! 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Celebrate the season at Wild Watermelon Day, featuring melon-themed games, lessons and slices of summer’s iconic fruit from The Fresh Market — and save some for our furry friends. Greensboro Science Center, 4301 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro. Info: (336) 288-3769, ext. 0 or greensborosciencecenter.org.
AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 3 p.m. Meet poets Bennett Myers (Across Time) and Mark SmithSoto (Time Pieces). Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 7631919 or scuppernongbooks.com. MUSEP. 6:30 p.m. Greensboro Concert Band strikes up some classical and pops. Lindley Park, August 2016
O.Henry 81
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS!
Treating every patient
like family
August Arts Calendar Starmount Drive at West Market Street and Wendover Avenue, Greensboro. Info: musep.info.
August 8–11 SUMMER FILM FEST. 7 p.m. A spy ring takes over London in Hitchcock’s Sabotage (8/8); Atticus Finch fights for justice in To Kill a Mockingbird (8/9); chills will go up and down your spine at Grease (8/10); a love triangle is at the center of one of bad-film-turned-cult-classic, The Room (8/11). Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 3332605 or carolinatheatre.com.
August 9 DO-RAY-MI. 7 p.m. Grammy Award–winning singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne strums and hums along with bandmembers from My Morning Jacket. White Oak Amphitheatre, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 7453000 or livenation.com.
August 10 You should be treated with respect and care when you visit your Greensboro dentist… as if you were a member of the family. Trust Dr. Farless to meet your family and cosmetic dentistry needs and provide the comfort and peace of mind you deserve!
Call today to schedule an appointment (336) 282-2868 Like us on Facebook
AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet novelist Danny Johnson, author of The Last Road Home. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 12 AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet sci-fi novelist Edmund Schubert, author of This Giant Leap. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 13 FOREIGN FILM FEST. 1 p.m. Set in 19th-century France, Marie’s Story follows the obstacles a young nun faces to educate a deaf and blind girl. Hemphill Library, 2301 West Vandalia Road, Greensboro. Info: greensborolibrary.org.
2511 Oakcrest Ave, Greensboro, NC 27408
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82 O.Henry
August 2016
GAFF-AWS. 8 p.m. Courtesy of Jim Gaffigan, comedian, actor and author, who brings his “Fully Dressed” laff riot to town. White Oak Amphitheatre, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar Tickets: (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com. SAY IT, AGAIN! 10 p.m. (Doors open at 8 p.m.). Rock-funk, Middle Eastern, electronica and video projections inform the out-of-sight sounds of The Mantras. Blind Tiger, 1819 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 272-9888 or theblindtiger.com.
Southern Hospitality wit h a French Accent • Private dinner parties • Cocktail parties
• Cooking classes • Personal chef service
August 12–14 & 18–21 BRINGING DOWN THE (PORTER)HOUSE. It’s moved up a month: 5 by O.Henry starts its run and continues through September. (See “Short Stories,” page 12). Greensboro Historical Museum, 130 Summit Avenue, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 838-3006 or 5byohenry.bpt.me.
August 13 & 14; 17 & 28 FER(RUM) TRADE. 10 a.m. (Saturdays); 1 p.m. (Sundays). Forge, check. Bellows, check. Hammer, check. Tongs, check. Check out the Blacksmith. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 8851859 or highpointmuseum.org.
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August 14 ART-A-THON. 2–4 p.m. Catch performances and other activities at City Arts’ Open House. Firstfloor atrium, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. City-arts.org MUSEP. 6 p.m. The Sonic Prophets deliver some blues and rock, followed by funk from doby (featured in last month’s O.Henry). Gateway Gardens, 2924 East Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Info: musep.info.
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August 15–18 SUMMER FILM FEST. 7 p.m. Jimmy Stewart is a man obsessed in Hitchcock’s Vertigo (8/15); it’s a freak-comedy show in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (8/16); Frankie and Annette twist by the sea in Beach Blanket Bingo (8/17); und was ist das? Sci-fi, German style, in Metropolis. Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
August 15–21 WYN-SOME. Pros, amateurs and golf fans gather once again for the Wyndham Championship. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
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August 2016
O.Henry 83
The
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84 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar Sedgefield Country Club, 3201 Forsyth Drive, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 379-1570 or wyndhamchampionship.com.
August 16 VET BEHIND THE OARS. 2 p.m. Kayaking lessons, fishing, cookout and a night of paddling for vets and military families are on tap for Outdoor Veterans Day, courtesy of Greensboro Parks and Recreation and Heal Our Heroes. Lake Brandt Marina, 5949 Lake Brandt Road, Greensboro. To register: call Bob Uber at (336) 430-8414 or healourhearoes.org.
August 16–22
on view at InFocus. Opening reception starts at 5:30 p.m. on 8/17. Greenhill, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 333-7460 or greenhillnc.org.mu
August 18 ALMA ’MATERS. 6:30 p.m. Learn all about heirloom tomatoes from Tracy Lounsbury, Ph.D., gardener of Bethabara Community Garden and manager of the Wachovia Garden of the Salem Congregation at Old Salem. Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden, 215 South Main Street, Kernersville. To register: (336) 996-7888 or cienerbotanicalgarden.org.
HOPPERS HERE. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are home again. NewBridge Bank Park, 408 Bellemeade Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 268-2255 or www.milb.com.
GREAT SCOTT. 7:30 p.m. That would be Jill Scott, soulful singer, songwriter and Grammy Award winner. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.
August 17–September 18
August 19
TAYLOR MADE. As in, Taylor White, a Raleigh-based artist whose figure paintings go
AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an
Hoppers Here
16 -22
8/
American Icon. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. FOREIGN FILM FEST. 7 p.m. A Bulgarian film, The Lesson, illustrates the extremes that a financially strapped elementary school must
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 85
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86 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar resort to in order to survive. Central Library, 219 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: greensborolibrary.org.
August 20 STROLLWAY. 8 a.m. Meaning, historic Washington Street. Take a guided walking tour of this once-thriving business and entertainment district in the black community with historian Glenn Chavis. Changing Tides Cultural Center, 613 Washington Street, High Point. To register: (336) 885-1859.
ssure Full Court Pre
20-27
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ART FOR ALL. 7 p.m. And it’s free for all. Check out Expression of Self, an exhibition of photography, music, fashion, dance, food and more. Artistic Motion School of Arts, 800 Smith Street, Greensboro. Info: artisticmotiondance.com. TUNES AND TITTERS. 8 p.m. The August edition of Jabberwalk delivers music and comedy with the likes of Dear Blanca, Evan Williams, Corporate Fandango and more. Crown at Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 333-2605 or carolinatheatre.com.
August 20 & 21 OLD SCHOOL. 10 a.m. (8/20); 1 p.m. (8/21). Costumed interpreters present “Readin’ Writin’ and ’Rithmetic,” a look at colonial-style education, replete with spelling bee. High Point Museum, 1859 East Lexington Avenue, High Point. Info: (336) 885-1859 or highpointmuseum.org.
August 20–27 FULL COURT PRESSURE. Keep your eye on the ball at the Winston-Salem Open. Wake Forest Tennis Center, 100 West 32nd Street, Winston-Salem. Tickets: (336) 758-6409 or winstonsalemopen.com.
August 21 AUTHORS, AUTHORS. 3 p.m. Joesph Mills reads from his poetry collection, Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Shirley Deane reads from her memoir An Unreasonable Woman; and you are invited to read your works at Writers’ Group of the Triad open mic event. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 329-3768 or triadwriters.org.
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Our Passion for Service is Our Highest Mission
August Arts Calendar MUSEP. 6 p.m. The Radials croon contemporary country, and at 7:15 Banna brings Irish ballads and more to Shelter No. 7. Country Park, 3905 Nathanael Greene Drive, Greensboro (park in Jaycee Park Parking lot). Info: musep.info.
August 22 At Old North State Trust, LLC, our primary commitment is to provide high level, local service tailored to the unique requirements of each individual client. Our passion for service is our highest mission. Give us a call today at 336-272-9944 to see how we can help you. • Trust & Financial Services • Estate Planning & Administration Michael Spohn President
Susan Beard Sr. Wealth Advisor
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Shea Abernethy Investment Strategist
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AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet novelist Jesse Donaldson, author of The More They Disappear. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 23 SHAKE ’N’ DRAKE. 6:30 p.m. Or rather, shake with Drake, Grammy Award–winning hip-hop artist who’ll be flinging some raps on his “Summer Sixteen” tour with Future and special guests. White Oak Amphitheatre, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 745-3000 or livenation.com. AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Ed Gray will discuss his novel about the Lost Colony, Left In the Wind. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 26 WAX WORKS. Catch a lunch and learn at 11:30 followed by a reception at 6 p.m. for Curt Butler’s “encaustic” paintings, created with heat applied to pigment and wax on canvas. Tyler White O’Brien Gallery, 307 State Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 279-1124 or tylerwhitegallery.com.
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88 O.Henry
August 2016
WORDS WITH FRIENDS. 10:15 a.m. Bring a pen, paper or charged laptop and join novelist/ memoirist Olivia Rivera for a creative writing prompts session, courtesy of Writers’ Group of the Triad. Sacred Garden Bookstore, 211 West Fisher Avenue, Greensboro. Info: Email Cynthia Schaub at schaub.cynthia@yahoo.com AU CURRENT. 7:30 p.m. Listen to the, er, electrifying sounds of rock legends AC/DC. Greensboro Coliseum, 1921 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Tickets: (800) 745-3000 or ticketmaster.com. The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar AUTHOR, AUTHOR. 7 p.m. Meet publisher John Goslee and poet Chris Campanioni of C&R Press. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
August 28 MUSEP. 6 p.m. Wally West Little Big Band plays two sets’ worth of jazz. LeBauer Park, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro. Info: musep.info.
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FOREIGN FILM FEST. 7 p.m. Academy Award nominee Theeb, from Jordan, follows a Bedouin boy’s desert adventure in 1916 with his brother and a British officer. Hemphill Library, 2301 West Vandalia Road, Greensboro. Info: greensborolibrary.org.
RESTORING hair loss, RESTORING volume back to the face, neck, chest, and back of hands; and SHRINKING color and size of scars & stretch marks!
Areas to be treated are anesthetized heavily with topical BLT (benzocaine, lidocaine, & tetracaine). For hair restoration, injectable 1% lidocaine with epinephrine is used for anesthesia (in addition to BLT). The mixture of PRP is injected under the skin. A nanopen is used to create more channels (intradermal) for the PRP. This mixture is injected into the targeted treatment areas. Treatment frequency varies depending on severity of pathology. Some may only need 1 treatment!
Experience LESS
WEEKLY HAPPENINGS Mondays BUZZING. 10 a.m. Your busy little bees engage in a Busy Bees preschool program focusing on music, movement, garden exploration and fun in the kitchen, at the Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Preregistration: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com. CHAT-EAU. Noon. French leave? Au contraire! Join French Table, a conversation group. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com.
AFTER
2 Intradermal PRP procedures 4 weeks apart; after photo taken 6 months post 1st PRP procedure. BEFORE
AFTER
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Your PRP has the capability of… REDUCING Tendon, Nerve, Ligament, Joint, Cartilage, and Bursa Pain! 20ml of your whole blood is drawn up, mixed with an anti-coagulant (blood thinner), and centrifuged. The PRP (platelets and plasma) is separated from the whole blood. PRP is mixed with an anesthetic and a “kick starter” of the healing process, 10% calcium chloride. This mixture is injected into the targeted treatment areas AFTER they have been sprayed with ethyl chloride (“cold anesthetic spray”). Treatment frequency may vary depending on the severity of pathology.
August 30–September 1 HOPPERS HERE. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are home again. NewBridge Bank Park, 408 Bellemeade Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 268-2255 or www.milb.com.
BEFORE
Your PRP has the capability of…
HOWL-ELUJAH CHORUS. 8 p.m. (Doors open at 7 p.m.) Guitar Wolf, billed as a “Japanese Garage Rock Power Trio,” fires up the stage. Blind Tiger, 1819 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 272-9888 or theblindtiger.com.
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The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 89
Food & Dining 90 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar Tuesdays READ ALL ABOUT IT. Treat your little ones to storytimes: BookWorms (ages 12–24 months) meets at 10 a.m.; Time for Twos meets at 11 a.m. Storyroom; Family Storytime for all ages meets at 6:30 p.m. High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 883-3666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com. PICKIN’ AND GRINNIN’. 6 until 9 p.m. Y’all come for Songs from a Southern Kitchen — live music featuring Laurelyn Dossett, Scott Manring and guests at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, 1421 Westover Terrace, Greensboro. Info: (336) 3700707 or lucky32.com/greensboro_music.htm.
Wednesdays TO MARKET, TO MARKET. 7 a.m. until noon. The produce is fresh and the cut fleurs belles. They can be yours mid-week, through December. Greensboro Farmers Curb Market, 501 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro. Info: gsofarmersmarket.org.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
MUSSELS, WINE & MUSIC. 7 until 10 p.m. Mussels with house-cut fries for $15, wines from $10–15 a bottle and live music by Evan Olson and Jessica Mashburn — at Print Works Bistro, 702 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 379-0699 or printworksbistro.com/live_music.htm.
Thursdays
ONCE UPON A TIME. 2 p.m. Afterschool Storytime convenes for children of all ages. Storyroom, High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 8833666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com.
ALL THAT JAZZ. 5:30 until 8 p.m. Hear live, local jazz featuring Dave Fox and Neill Clegg, and special guests Howard Eaton (8/4), Jessica Mashburn (8/11), Sarah Strable (8/25). Joey Barnes and Turner Battle relieve Fox and Clegg on 8/18. All performances are at the O. Henry Hotel Social Lobby Bar. No cover. 624 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: (336) 854-2000 or www.ohenryhotel.com/jazz.htm.
TWICE UPON A TIME. 11 a.m. Preschool Storytime convenes for children ages 3–5. Storyroom, High Point Public Library, 901 North Main Street, High Point. Info: (336) 8833666 or highpointpubliclibrary.com.
JAZZ NIGHT. 7 p.m. Fresh-ground, freshbrewed coffee is served with a side of jazz at Tate Street Coffee House, 334 Tate Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 275-2754 or tatestreetcoffeehouse.com.
August 2016
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Some like it hoT FeaturiNg Curt Butler Artist reception: August 26 • 6-8 pm
Come see New eNCaustiC PaiNtiNgs
Arts & Culture
by Curt Butler.
The word encaustic literally means to “burn in” and involves a heating tool with the addition of colored pigments or oil paints mixed into the wax. Curt sometimes puts the wax and pigment on cold & melts it with a heat gun, and at other times he starts with hot wax directly on the canvas. He layers with multiple color combinations that enhance the surface with both brushwork and palette knife work.
Lunch & Learn with Curt, 11:30am-1pm 307 State St. & www.tylerwhitegallery.com
5
30th Anniversary Season
tyler white o’Brien gallery 307 state street, greensboro
(336) 279-1124
www.tylerwhitegallery.com
5 short stories on stage, with live vintage music August 12 - 21
by
(new dates)
O. Henry To purchase tickets call: 800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com Playwright Joseph Hoesl Director Barbara Britton
92 O.Henry
August 2016
thanks to our sponsor
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August Arts Calendar OPEN MIC COMEDY. 8–9:35 p.m. Local pros and amateurs take the mic at the Idiot Box, 348 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 274-2699 or idiotboxers.com.
Fridays THE HALF OF IT. 5 p.m. Enjoy the hands-on exhibits and activities for half the cost of admission at $4 Fun Fridays. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com.
Fridays & Saturdays NIGHTMARES ON ELM STREET. 8 p.m. A 90-minute, historical, candlelit ghost walking tour of Downtown Greensboro. Tickets: (336) 905-4060 or carolinahistoryandhaunts.com/information.
Saturdays TO MARKET, TO MARKET. 7 a.m. until noon. The produce is still fresh and the cut fleurs still belles. Greensboro Farmers Curb Market,
501 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro. Info: gsofarmersmarket.org. THRICE UPON A TIME. 11 a.m. Hear a good yarn at Children’s Storytime. Scuppernong Books, 304 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 763-1919 or scuppernongbooks.com. IMPROV COMEDY. 10 p.m. on Saturday, plus an 8 p.m. show appropriate for the whole family. The Idiot Boxers create scenes on the spot and build upon the ideas of others, creating shows that are one-of-a-kind — at the Idiot Box, 348 South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 2742699 or idiotboxers.com.
MISSING YOUR GRANDMA? 3 p.m. until it’s gone. Tuck into Chef Felicia’s skillet-fried chicken, and mop that cornbread in, your choice, giblet gravy or potlikker. Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, 1421 Westover Terrace, Greensboro. Info: (336) 370-0707 or lucky32.com/fried_chicken.htm. To add an event, email us at ohenrymagcalendar@ gmail.com by the first of the month prior to the event.
Sundays HALF FOR HALF-PINTS. 1 p.m. And grownups, too. A $4 admission, as opposed to the usual $8, will allow you entry to exhibits and more. Greensboro Children’s Museum, 220 North Church Street, Greensboro. Info: (336) 574-2898 or gcmuseum.com.
Arts & Culture
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 93
Arts & Culture
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
An Eclectic Exhibit ROCK
Clayworks & Sculptures by Shockley Traub
PAPER
Watercolor & mixed media by Katie Armistead
SCISSORS
Unique handmade gifts by Jody Wade
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday • August 12 5:30-8:30 pm Show will run through Saturday September 3
Irving Park Fine Art &Frame 2105-A West Cornwallis Drive • Greensboro, NC
336.274.6717
94 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Good Night Moon
Gala and Silent Auction
Saturday, September 17, 2016 6-9 pm
Gateway Gardens
2924 E. Gate City Blvd.
Catered Food Stations . Wine . Beer Music . Moon & Star Gazing Aerial Artists Tickets on sale now at GreensboroBeautiful.org or by calling 336-373-2199
AT GATEWAY GARDENS
Sponsored in part by Bob Krumroy, First Citizens Bank, Stearns Financial Group, and Jon Bell, with support from AdPress, Exclamations! Catering, O. Henry Magazine, Southern Event Rental, and Gibbs Hundred Brewing Company
- A Benefit for Greensboro Beautiful -
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Dolce Dimora C o m e Vi s i t O u r R e ta i l S t o r e ! 1616 Battleground Avenue, Suite D-1 Greensboro, NC 27408
336.691.0051
mcmanus2@bellsouth.net w w w. R a n d y M c M a n u s D e s i g n s . c o m The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Tablescapes,Bedding,Bath and More Matouk | Pine Cone Hill | Bella Notte Linens | Peacock Alley | Yves DeLorme | Sferra Linens Dash & Albert Rugs | Simon Pearce | Juliska | PJ Harlow Sleepwear
1616-H Battleground Ave. | 336.282.9572 | Monday-Friday: 10am-5pm | Saturday: 11am-4pm
www.dolcedimora.com
August 2016
O.Henry 95
SUMMER CONCERT S E R I E S
National Bluegrass recording artists
CHATHAM
CO. LINE
SATURDAY
AUGUST 20 7-9 PM Dynamic and captivating, Chatham County Line are equally capable of classically hard-driving bluegrass and sparse, haunting ballads. The key to their sound lays in the close collaboration of the band’s four members: Dave Wilson (guitar), John Teer (mandolin, fiddle), Chandler Holt (banjo), and Greg Readling (bass). In person, the band is a marvel of rugged soulfulness, veering from winningly loose to thrillingly tight. It’s readily apparent that these four men share a profound friendship, and love what they do.
Remember your chair. No pets or coolers. www.reidsvillenc.gov.
OPEN To
THE PUBLIC
ADMISSION:
FREE
REDISCOVER YOUR NATURAL BEAUTY F U L L S E R V I C E S A L O N A N D S PA
5703-A HUNT CLUB ROAD GREENSBORO, NC 27410 336.294.2299
Color. Clarity. Detail.
Practicing Commercial Real Estate by the Golden Rule
Available in prescription. STYLE SHOWN: VENUS POOLS ©2016 Maui Jim, Inc.
Bill Strickland, CCIM Commercial Real Estate Broker/REALTOR 2222 Patterson St # A • Greensboro, NC 27407
336.369.5974 | bstrickland@bipinc.com
Phone (336) 852-7107 • Toll Free (866) 327-1732 www.house-of-eyes.com Only one block from the coliseum.
www.bipinc.com 96 O.Henry
August 2016
MJ-3175 House of Eyes Print Ad.indd 1
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
4/4/16 10:11 AM
TRUST YOUR HOME TO THE VERY BEST! We are the Preferred Remodeling & Repair Contractor in the Triad
We Service What We Sell & Offer Personal Attention
336-854-9222 • www.HartApplianceCenter.com
2201 Patterson Street, Greensboro, NC (2 Blocks from the Coliseum) Mon. - Fri.: 9:30am - 5:30 pm Sat. 10 am - 2 pm • Closed Sunday
Transforming Triad Homes for Over 30 Years! LiCenSeD / inSUReD - GC. LiC #57314 - CeRTifieD ePA RenovAToRS - RRP0945
Complete Home Remodeling • Commercial Upfits • Additions • Structural Repairs Attic & Garage Conversions • Kitchens • Bathrooms • Decks & Sunrooms
Business & Services
REPAIR | REMODEL | RENOVATE
EvEryonE nEEDs A
vAcAtion Come experience the difference
Indoor/Outdoor Luxury Lodging Professional Grooming Doggie Daycare Nature Walks World Class Training Lots of Cuddle and Play Time
7630 Royster Road, Greensboro P: 336.644.1095 F: 336.644.9404 www.countrykennelboarding.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 97
The Eclectic Artwork of
KEVIN RUTAN
Life & Home
Find out what your neighbors already know and have! Call for appointments:
336.312.0099
• Luxury Overnight Accommodations • 4 Diamond Rated French Restaurant • Wedding Ceremonies & Receptions • Private Event & Retreats • Cooking Classes & Wine Dinners
Annual Group Trips to France
Exquisite OLd IRVING PARK
C R A F T S M A N S h I P
1604 BIRCh LANE Handmade Brick • Walnut Flooring Extensive Storage • Third Floor Bonus Room $1,549,000
MICHELLE PORTER MP
L E T ’ S
G E T
M O V I N G !
...turning dreams into an address REALTOR®, BROKER, MBA, ABR, CSP, GRI, CRS, SFR, CPM
• homes@michelleporter.com www.michelleporter.com ©2015 BHH Affiiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.
98 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
by
FRANK LYMAN
Life & Home
transition to fall in great style
307 F Pisgah Road - TheVillage at N. Elm Greensboro, NC 27455 - (336) 288-6488
NEW PRICE! This gracious 5 bedroom, 4 1/2 bath home was built in 1937 and sits on 2 lots ( .92 acres) in the heart of Sunset Hills. This lovely Tudor Revival home is offered at $732,000
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 99
Tile & Flooring
REHAB RESULTS WITH
M A R ION
One on One rehabilitation May not require doctor’s referral.
Empowering Dreams. Embracing Legacies.
CERAMIC TILE • MARBLE • VINYL • CARPET • HARDWOOD
Life & Home
Relax ~ We’ve got this covered.
Products Porcelain & Ceramic Tile • Marble & Granite • Cork Brick & Stone • Hardwood • Luxury Vinyl Tile • Carpet
Dr. John O’Halloran
PT, DPT, OCS, ATC, CSCS, Cert MDT
services
336-501-5351
Mon-Thur 9am-5pm & Friday 9am-3pm 4719 Pleasant Garden Road, Pleasant Garden 336-674-8839 | www.mariontile.com
ohalloranphysicaltherapy.com
Bathroom Remodeling • Kitchen floors & Backsplashes Tile Repairs & Cleaning Service • Complete installation service by qualified craftsmen
501 W Market Street, Greensboro (Inside the Bryan Family YMCA)
Call Jake and Johnnye for your best move yet.
Jake Letterman (336) 338-0136
100 O.Henry
August 2016
Johnnye Letterman (336) 601-6012 The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Area Schools Directory School Name Caldwell Academy
2900 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 665-1161 www.caldwellacademy.org
Canterbury School
5400 Old Lake Jeanette Road Greensboro, NC 27455 (336) 288-2007 www.canterburygso.org
Greensboro Day School 5401 Lawndale Drive Greensboro, NC 27455 (336) 288-8590 www.greensboroday.org
Greensboro Montessori School 2856 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 669-0119 www.thegms.org
High Point Christian Academy 800 Phillips Avenue High Point, NC 27262 (336) 841-8702 www.hpcacougars.org
High Point Friends School 800-A Quaker Lane High Point, NC 27262 (336) 886-5516 www.hpfs.org
Focus A classical Christian school emphasizing the liberal arts, mentoring relationships, and integrated studies. Offers excellent fine arts and athletics programs. Extended-day and variable tuition available.
A PreK-8 Episcopal School with strong academics and a focus on educating the whole child - mind, body and spirit. Extended day and financial assistance available. Guilford County’s premier PreK-12 college preparatory school with challenging academics, focus on honor and values, providing unsurpassed resources and outstanding teachers. Our mission is to develop the intellectual, ethical, and interpersonal foundations students need to become constructive contributors to the world.
Grades Preschool -12th
Enrollment Students: Faculty 860
PreK–8th
380
PreK– 12th
800
Greensboro’s only authentic Montessori school where toddlers to teens achieve academic Toddler excellence through hands-on, multi-disciplinary learning. Students organically develop real(18 mo.) world skills in leadership, time management, –8th grade problem solving and social responsibility through Montessori’s innovative approach to education.
HPCA provides an academically rigorous environment rooted in a Biblical worldview. We are committed to Christ- Preschool -12th centered, quality education and academic excellence in partnership with family and church within a loving, caring atmosphere. High Point Friends School instills academic excellence, self-confidence and leadership skills through experiential Preschool learning, extracurricular activities, and –8th service learning opportunities for students in Preschool – 8th grade.
240
650
196
9:1
8:1
8:1
Under 3 years, 6:1; 4 years and above, 10:1
16:1
14:1
New Garden Friends School New Garden Friends School is the Triad’s 1128 New Garden Rd 2015 Pleasant Ridge Rd Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 299-0964 www.ngfs.org
Noble Academy
3310 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410 (336) 282-7044 www.nobleknights.org
Our Lady of Grace School 201 S. Chapman Street Greensboro, NC 27403 (336) 275-1522 www.olgsch.org
The Piedmont School
815 Old Mill Road High Point, NC 27265 (336) 883-0992 www.thepiedmontschool.com
St. Pius X Catholic School 2200 N. Elm Street Greensboro, NC 27408 (336) 273-9865 www.spxschool.com
only independent preschool through 12th grade school guided by Quaker faith and practice, and built upon the long-held standards of rigorous and extraordinary Friends schools. A K-12 independent school that specializes in working with students with an ADHD/LD diagnosis. Strong academics along with athletics, music, art, and drama are offered. Academic excellence with faith and family values. New programs include Panther Cub 3 yr. old class, and two new special education programs for Reading/Writing disabilities and Autism. A wonderful K-10 independent school dedicated to providing an outstanding educational environment for students with an ADHD/LD diagnosis. Strong academics enhanced by music, art, drama, and athletics.
Catholic elementary/middle school emphasizing Christian values and academic excellence in a nurturing environment.
Westchester Country Day School Westchester Country Day is a college preparatory school teaching and 2045 N. Old Greensboro Road guiding students in grades PK-12 High Point, NC 27265 to strive for excellence in moral and (336) 869-2128 ethical conduct, academics, the arts, www.westchestercds.org and athletics.
Preschool –12th
284
8:1
K–12th
175
8:1
3 years old to 8th grade
250+
12:1
75
6:1 word study, language arts, math. 12:1 all other subjects.
K–11th
PK–8th
PK–12
th
440
425
15:1
16:1
Admission Requirements Open to all qualified students based upon academic records, admissions testing, personal interview, and teacher recommendations. Requirements vary per grade level but include: application, teacher evaluation forms, developmental assessment or classroom visit, transcripts from current school. Admission on a rolling basis. Begin accepting applications in the fall for admission to the following school year. For complete details, please visit www.greensboroday.org Meet with Admissions Director. Classroom visit and teacher assessment (for students age 3 and older). Admissions is on a rolling basis; inquiries, tours and interviews are on-going. For specific requirements please visit hpcacougars.org.
Tuition $1,200$10,395
$5,600 - $8,000 (PreK) $16,240 (K-8)
$6,580 $22,500
$8,232-$15,300
$7,125 - $9,305
Admission is based on academic records, placement $1,875-$6,000 testing, and teacher (Preschool); recommendations. A $9,597 (Lower); classroom visitation is also required prior to admittance. $10,242 (Middle) Admission on a rolling basis. Begin accepting applications in the fall for admission to the following school year. For complete details, please visit www.ngfs.org Students need to have an average to above average IQ score and a diagnosis of ADHD and/or learning difference (we recognize CAPD) and a current psych-ed evaluation. Admission on a rolling basis.
$4,800-$18,800
K - $14,000 Grades 1-12 - $19,130 $19,960 $3,500 $7,860
Application form, school transcript, current preschool teacher assessment, immunization form and admissions screening test.
(see website for special programs)
Enrollment is on a rolling basis. Requirements include an average to above average IQ, and either an ADHD diagnosis or another diagnosed learning disorder.
$16,840 Grades 1-10, $13,925 Kindergarten. NC grants available.
K-8 applicants must participate in a standardized assessment conducted by ABC Educational Services, Inc. Please visit www.spxschool.com for more information or contact the admissions office at 336-273-9865 to schedule a campus tour.
Admissions is on a rolling basis. Please visit www.westchestercds.org for more details or call the admissions office at (336) 8224005 to schedule a tour.
$5,400 $8,376
$2,463 $16,990
Special Advertising Section
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102 O.Henry
1724 Battleground Ave. Suite 104 Greensboro, NC 27408
August 2016
1738 Battleground Ave • Irving Park Plaza Shopping Center • (336) 273-3566
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
GreenScene
Tonya Peoples, Sheanna Petty
United Way Community Speaker Series Hosted by Women's Leadership Monday, May 23, 2016 Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Anita Graham, Dianne Roe, Susan Wiseman, Peggy Glaser
Ben Cone Jessica Thomas, Katie Glaser
Ann Beasley, Saudia Johnson Nathaniel Davis, Jenny Caviness, Joel Cransford, Jessica Clack, Brian James
Mary Magrinat, Jane Reynolds
Jen & Polly Strasser, Linda Sloan
Alan Cone, Liz Murray, Sally Cone
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online @ www.ohenrymag.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 103
Experience
Gentle Dental Care
Relaxed Atmosphere!
in Our
Let Dr. Welch and His Caring Team Help You Achieve a Brighter, Whiter Smile in a Comfortable Setting. Find us on Facebook Facebook.com/DrScottWelch
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We make you Smile! 336.288.4499
www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com
Greensboro, NC 27401 336-272-5157
2016-D New Garden Road Greensboro, NC 27410 www.
DrScottWelch .com
Located in the Brassfield area, 1 block from Battleground Ave.
Buying Selling or
Start with a Top Real Estate Team that knows the Triad.
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Kim Mathis REALTOR®, Broker
(336) 339-7757
Kim Mathis
104 O.Henry
Sterling Norins
August 2016
kimsmathis@gmail.com The Art & Soul of Greensboro
GreenScene
Deborah Hooper, Pat Danahy
Kincaid Albers, Eric Newsome
Opportunity Greensboro Fellows Program Reception Thursday, June 16, 2016
Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Sheridan Moser, Makayla Lester, Beth Mannella
Madeline Cleeff, Bryan Toney, Lisanne Bluemel
Rebecca Deitz, Mandi Ballard, Shamira Azlan
Daniel Woodruff, Timisha Henley, Darrien Staton, Kyle Del Valle
Steve Rendle, Brent Christensen
Britney Barber, Jasmine Forte
Pamela Barrett, Carole Bruce, Donna DeMaio
Deborah Hooper, Kathy Manning, Megan Maebry
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Zack Matheny, Cecelia Thompson, Laura Way
Marissa Pierre, Jasmine Forte, LaTaija Peterson, Kim Sink, Diane Rumley
August 2016
O.Henry 105
For all life’s special occasions. 336.833.2253
Westover Gallery of Shops
1310 Westover Terrace, Ste 110 • Greensboro, NC
Gathering of Friends SpeakeR SeRieS
MeRiditH MaRtens state of the ART • north carolina
Wednesday, September 28th Champagne Brunch • 11 AM
NY Times Bestselling Author
Laura Schroff Starmount Forest Country Club
Wednesday, October 12th Luncheon • 11:30 AM
Acclaimed Journalist
Amy Robach Sheraton Four Seasons
Friday, October 28th Dinner • 7 PM
NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback
Jim Kelly Jill Kelly with his wife
Grandover Resort & Conference Center
Benefiting Sponsorships and Reservations available at www.earlier.org OR 336.286.6620
106 O.Henry
August 2016
Reproductions from Original Oil Paintings High Quality Paper or Metal Plates Sizes range 16x20 up to 40x60 • Prices start at $270
www.meridithmartens.com MeridithMartens.Artist • 910.692.9448
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
GreenScene
Russell & Julius Harper
Brooke & Orlando Dage
EMF Chamber Crawl
Eastern Music Festival & Classical Revolution Saturday, June 18, 2016 Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Marc Samet, Deborah Kintzing, Cathy & John Weaver
Stan & Dot Harper
Jayme Currie, Ryan Chabon Mark Engebretson, Emily Loboda, Gabe Danserau
Susan Fanche & Eva Engebretson
Jorge & Elizabeth Ochoa
Sue & Dave Long Andon Adeloye & Angelica Milton
Anne & Roy Carlson
Judy Herron, Alisha Wielfaert
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
August 2016
O.Henry 107
GreenScene
Spencer Conover, Caitlin Smith
Ed & Cassandra Simmons
Levitt AMP Greensboro Music Series/MUSEP Barber Park Amphitheater Sunday, June 19, 2016
Photographs by Lynn Donovan
Brian & Julie Cook RAK Kreager, Betty Peraldo
Kahri Henderson, Jaquana Gainey
Anita & Briana Steele
Maria Reece, Mario & Yosselin Santos, Nancy Perez, Marlen Santos w
Alan, Carmen & Mitchell Hedrick
Willie & LeVonder Sherman
Tom Philion, Patti Sanchez
Kaitlin Willbanks, Klaudia Wojciechowska Denise & Truth Warren
Susan, Ali, Eric & Waylon Moye
Luther Falls, Alejandra Vazquez, Ivette Rico, Valy Vazquez
108 O.Henry
August 2016
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
It’s time to catch up on your Summer Reading Irving Park
Chesnutt - Tisdale Team
1101 Sunset Drive
Irving Park brick home overlooking the golf course. Great open floor plan with Master on main level, Great Room plus 4 additional BRs / 5 full & 2 half Bas. Open kitchen/breakfast/den. Open porches & attached garage. Price upon request.
Xan Tisdale 336-601-2337
2700 Lake Forest
Elegant & gracious Georgian classic home on large lake lot. Spacious main level bedroom and bath. 5 BRs, 4.5 BAs, tall ceilings & heavy crown moldings. Lower level in-law suite. Price upon request
1703 Willow Wick Drive
Wonderful New Irving Park brick story & a half home. Master Bedroom on main level, hardwood floors throughout main level. 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, Plantation shutters, Sunroom, Bonus Room, Deck & garden space. Carport with storage & workshop.
Wine!
Kay Chesnutt 336-202-9687
Xan.Tisdale@bhhsyostandlittle.com Kay.Chesnutt@bhhsyostandlittle.com ©2016 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.
State Street Anue Ligne • Alison Sheri • Bel Kazan • Elena Wang Gretchen Scott Designs • JP Mattie & More
!
Brian Smyth Winemaker
! !
THEDOGS.COM OPEN DAILY FOR TASTINGS FLOYD, VIRGINIA
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
507 State Street, Greensboro NC 27405 336-275-7645 • Mon - Sat 11am - 6pm www.LilloBella.com August 2016
O.Henry 109
Premiere Custom Design & Retail Jewelry Since 1969
State Street
Yamamori Ltd.
501 State Street, Greensboro, NC 336.274.4533 YamamoriLtd.com
Hours: 10:00-5:30 Monday - Friday, 10:00-3:00 Saturday And By Appointment
Come In and See Our Selection of Asian Arts and Curios; Japanese Woodblock Prints, Laquerware, Nippon Porcelain, Yixing Teapots...and More!
Enhance Your Natural Beauty With Our Specials
The
* s p e c i a l s a r e g o o d t h ro u g h au g u s t 31 s t
The triad’s greek restaurant for 48 years
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obagi and pca skin care products
each 1.0 mil oF Filler
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110 O.Henry August 2016
Breakfast coming soon in Mid-August AllYour Traditional Lunch: Mon - Fri 11:00-2:00 Favorites with Dinner: Tues - Sat 5:30-10:00 a Greek Twist! 416 North Eugene Street
Dr. Contogiannis has been Selected as One of America’s Top Plastic Surgeons
Mary Ann Contogiannis, M.D.
Authentic reek Cusine including LLamb,, Gyro, Souvlaki, Fresh Seafood Vegetarian
336.333.9022
336.273.3306
211 State Street • Greensboro www.PlasticSurgeryChoices.com
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
The Accidental Astrologer
Auspicious August Have your cake — and half the icing too
By Astrid Stellanova
I’ve always
gotten a kick out of how August born Leos are creative types — extroverted and full of drama. But August born Virgos are analytical types, who like working hard and being of service. This explains how come August is a lot of things to a lot of people: the month, for instance, we celebrate National Golf, Picnics, Peaches and, last but not least, Romance Awareness Month — with something for both sides of the spectrum to get a big old kick out of, Star Children. Ad astra — Astrid
Leo (July 23–August 22) Gluttony is still a character defect, last time I checked. And when someone brings you a birthday cake, that does not mean you can scrape all the icing off, eat it till your stomach hurts and leave the plain old bald cake sitting there for everybody else. You know what you like, and once you’ve gone after it, you don’t care one iota if that sticks in someone’s craw as you swallow the last bite. Celebrate yourself, Honey Child, but remember that might mean you leave at least half the icing on the cake for your friends. Virgo (August 23–September 22 There was a time when being retro wasn’t cool. You missed that memo. Now you’ve grown into yourself and the time is finally right. Just keep that chin up and let everybody think you were simply way too cool to ever give a fiddle-fart what everybody else thought. Then become that person, Sugar. Libra (September 23–October 22) Somebody ought to thank you, Captain Obvious. You have mastered the finer points of things that most people might think everyone sees. But they don’t, and you know it. So be true to yourself, Child, and let the jokes roll off your straight back. Busting out with a cuss word is not a good way to exercise your vocabulary. Scorpio (October 23–November 21) It has been an uphill climb for you, you’re hot and bothered, and your brain is as fried as a pork rind. Just when one weight rolls away another seems to find you. It’s easy to be you, because nobody else would take the job. But it sure is going to have its perks; be patient. Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Some think you are too big for your britches and have nowhere to hide. Maybe you are. But maybe you have the right to stand up for yourself and not be overlooked or miss being counted. Everything sure isn’t what it appears. Like my bumper sticker says, honk if you love a good argument. Capricorn (December 22–January 19) You are still standing back, still wondering if you have what it takes. Seriously? Does Dolly Parton let a bad hair day keep her off the stage? No, Honey. Your life didn’t start yesterday and leave you behind. It starts this very second so don’t miss it.
The Art & Soul of Greensboro
Aquarius (January 20–February 18) What’s keeping you from the greatness you are born to enjoy? One degree of separation, my sweet pea. Only one. If you still want it, go for it. Unseen hands are reaching to help, and even if they are calloused, take them and dance. Pisces (February 19–March 20) Your honor student and your dog may be smarter than everybody else. But, Child, does that mean you are — all the time? Don’t confuse pity with understanding. Also, don’t waste your last dime buying them lottery tickets, either. Aries (March 21-April 19) Are pork and beans your two major food groups? Is Pigeon Forge your idea of heaven? Don’t apologize. Are you sure you want to be someone other than who you really are? Bless your heart. You are just fine as you are, and pass me the Texas Pete. Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your reasoning lately makes no kind of sense. That’s like confusing collards with grits. When the whole mess in front of you is over and the collard stink clears from the room, the good news is your mind is going to clear, too. Blue skies are coming. Gemini (May 21–June 20) Does your heart go pitter-patter when you hear a Harley? Is there a part of you that won’t be tamed? You let loose with the national anthem like you wrote it and make everybody smile. These passions are what make others love you, Sugar. Live your life out loud. Cancer (June 21–July 22) There’s a fine line between speaking your truth and using it like a blunt object. You scared your friends and neighbors, hollering as if that makes your argument one bit stronger. Sugar, it didn’t. Elvis died in August. The Mona Lisa was stolen in August more than a century ago — and it took two years to recover. It’s a tricky month ahead. But you don’t have to take that long to get a grip. OH
For years, Astrid Stellanova owned and operated Curl Up and Dye Beauty Salon in the boondocks of North Carolina until arthritic fingers and her popular astrological readings provoked a new career path.
August 2016
O.Henry 111
O.Henry Ending
Things That Go Burp in the Night
By David Claude Bailey
Even in this hi-tech age of
vigilant home security systems, things still go bump in the night. And what sound is more frightening than the thump of a tablet or laptop sliding off the bed onto the floor?
“It’s just my iPad,” my wife, Anne said in a semislumber. “Happens all the time.” What doesn’t happen all the time, I learned when I brought her morning cup of Earl Grey in bed the next morning, was the screen going black save for an ominous, flickering blue aura on one edge. I’ve watched as my wife has become addicted to watching ospreys hatch in Washington state; getting all hot and bothered while slinging barbs on Facebook at relatives with opposing political views; and, worst of all, howling aloud after watching another YouTube “Funniest Cat Video Ever.” Selfishly, I like her being iConnected. I can ask Anne to put things on our social calendar, issue reminders (Emergency: We’re almost out of kimchi) and make urgent requests (Let’s have Korean barbecued pork belly for supper tonight, requiring said kimchi). The tone of voice she assumed the morning after the drop was the same one she used when our springer spaniel had its first seizure — grave without any opening for humor. We needed to go to the Apple Store, she announced, a place she knows I despise. “Can’t I first send out an email asking for advice?” I wondered aloud. “You can do whatever you want, but I’m going to the Apple Store as soon as I can get an appointment,” was the reply. Email dispatched. Within seconds, O.Henry’s resident comic wrote, “Drop it again. LOL.” Meanwhile I’d been trolling the Internet for advice. At www.ifixit.com, I found a number of distressed iPad owners with either poor typing skills or bad grammar or a poor command of English or a combination thereof. “Hi my touch panel is broke but screen is warking I am change the screen but after I fix all part screen not come on but sound is coming what I can do please,” wondered Roofi. Someone named Haris suggested: “Try to tap it with your hand on its back frequently and then press power button.” A flurry of grateful responses followed agreeing that spanking your iPad is not a bad thing.
112 O.Henry August 2016
I waited until Anne was out in the garden and took her iPad to the woodshed. Nothing. The genius at the Apple Store was oh-so-sympathetic and confirmed that Anne’s iPad was still alive by plugging it into his MacBook Air. The screen, however, had broken off all relations with the rest of the computer. The geniuses at the Apple Store, like all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, don’t do repairs. But for a mere $279, Anne could get a refurbished iPad and they’d help her retrieve from the iCloud all her stored and treasured URLs for the World’s Funniest Cat Videos, not to mention the password to the Starz site where she can view Outlander episodes a day early. I asked the genius how broken an iPad had to be before they’d refuse it as trade-in for refurbishment. Couldn’t I just take it apart to see if I could fix it?? Anne looked at me as if I had suggested performing DIY brain surgery on our spaniel. The genius was a little shaken. I could try it, and if I brought back anything resembling an iPad, they’d swap it. With Anne’s blessing I took my friend’s LOL advice and dropped it on our car’s floor mat from a height of about a foot. The luminous, cheerful blue of the startup screen blinked on and, Maria and I were declared brilliant — until the screen went black again that night. I dropped it a few more times and the screen came back on looking like a tie-dyed T-shirt. Far out! Plan B: a rendezvous with one of iCracked’s local iTechs. Frank Harmuth assuaged our fears; what I had been doing was fine. “We call it burping the iPad,” he said at the Starbucks in Barnes & Noble’s at Friendly. Wrapping Anne’s in a weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal he “burped” it again — to no effect. A few alternate moves produced temporary flashes of luminescent blue. “I don’t want to break the screen,” Frank said, explaining that it was attached to the computer by a male and female connection via a wiring harness. The original drop had resulted in a sort of coitus interruptus. Jiggling and lightly tapping the iPad usually restored the lost spark, so to speak — until it needed burping again, he explained. Noticing that he was afraid to give it the Maria and David treatment, I said, “Can I try it?” I did a hard drop from the height of a few feet onto Starbucks’ hardwood table and Bingo: IfixedIt. The cats are back. The latest political diatribe comes via Facebook. Anne’s watching her bird chick cams again. Outlander’s in the queue. And I’m now known, at least around our house, as the resident iGenius. OH David Bailey, O.Henry’s editor at large, doesn’t suggest hard burping your iPad or trying to iFix your laptop without Frank Marmuth’s expert guidance via FrankH@iTechs.com.
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