The Foxfire Book of Simple Living Celebrating Fifty Years of Listenin', Laughin', and Learnin'

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780804173100
• ISBN10: 0804173109
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-08-23
• Publisher: Anchor

Summary

First published in 1972, The Foxfire Book was a surprise bestseller that brought Appalachia's philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers. Whether you wanted to hunt game, bake the old-fashioned way, or learn the art of successful moonshining, The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center had a contact who could teach you how with clear, step-by-step instructions.

Today, Foxfire's mission remains the same, and The Foxfire Book of Simple Living is both a rich look back at five decades of collected wisdom, as well as an intriguing look forward at the artists and craftsman who are working to preserve the Appalachian tradition for future generations. We hear from doll and soap makers who continue to use and adapt the time-tested methods outlined in The Foxfire Book, not to mention hunters, blacksmiths, musicians, and carpenters whose respect for those who preceded them enhances their own art. We see how the mountain community has responded to the films, books, and plays that have tried (and sometimes failed) to represent them. And, above all, by listening to the voices of those who came before, we celebrate the people who have preserved the stories, crafts, and customs that define life in the Appalachian mountain region.

Author Biography

Founded in 1966, FOXFIRE is a nonprofit education organization. Foxfire's learner-centered, community-based approach is advocated through The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center and grounded in the Southern Appalachian culture that promotes a sense of place and appreciation of local people and culture as essential educational tools.

Table of Contents

Fifty Years and Counting
An introduction from Ann Moore, Foxfire President and Executive Director

Making Real Human Connections
A note from editors Kaye Carver Collins and Jonathan Blackstock

Wisdom of Our Elders
            Livin’ High On The Hog

VANISHING ARTS

Community and Gratitude

The Art of Making Cornshuck Dolls and Real Connections 
    An interview with Beth Kelley Zorbanos

Mountain Folk Art at Its Peak 
    An interview with Local folk artist Eric Legge

Mother Vine and King Kudzu
     An interview with Kudzu artists Joleen Oh and Cleve Phillips

Making What We Need By Hand

Making Soap, Living Clean, and Giving Thanks
     A day of crafting with Jenny, T. J., Briar, and Moses Stevens

How to Make Rope the Old-Timey Way 
     Kermit Rood teaches students to make old-fashioned rope

Joe Williams’ Point of Life! 
      Joe Williams tells of his experience making bark berry buckets

The “Gourd” Life 
      An interview with gourd artist Priscilla Wilson

The Art of Making Furniture by Hand 
      John Roper shares his love for wood, tools, and a vanishing art
 
Storytelling

Tiger Mountain’s Storyteller
       An interview with renowned local storyteller, Janie P. Taylor

Legends That Will Never Die
       Cherokee Storyteller, Davy Arch

The Oral Tradition: Preserving Tales that Shaped a Nation
      Jerry Wolfe, Cherokee Storyteller, shares stories of the Cherokee People

Mawmaw’s Stories
      Mountain tales told by Bonnie Shirley
 
Blacksmithing

 The Hammer and the Forge
      Dan Maxwell on the trade of blacksmithing

David Burress: The Makings of a True Appalachian Blacksmith
      An interview with John C. Campbell, Folk School Ferrier
 
Hunting and Protecting
 
The Art of Making Turkey Calls
   An interview with Dale Holland, North Carolina turkey-call maker
Traditional Weaponry
   William Swimmer demonstrates construction of primitive weaponry
 
Wisdom of Our Elders
Virtuous Living
 
 
THE WORLD IS WATCHING
 
Hollywood Comes a Calling

The Great Locomotive Chase
   Local residents on the production of the 1956 film 

Deliverance Shall Come
   A community responds to the 1972 film 

 “I never expected the novel would be published.”
   An interview with North Georgia author Olive Ann Burns

The Making of the Foxfire Play and Movie
    Foxfire students’ experiences 

Appalachia Goodbye
    Laura Monk and High Cotton create a video at the Foxfire Heritage Center
 
Wisdom of Our Elders
    Making Do With What We Have
 
PICKIN' AND GRINNIN'

Oliver Rice and Curtis Blackwell
   Two old-time musicians reminisce

The Blackwell Tradition
   An interview with second-generation bluegrass musician, Shane Blackwell

I’ve Been Everywhere, Man
   An interview with traditional bluegrass musician Rodney Worley

The Art of a Luthier: Making the Lord’s Trees Sing
   An interview with Danny White
 
Wisdom of Our Elders
My Most Valuable Possession
                        
REMEMBERING WHEN THE WORLD WAS BLACK AND WHITE
 
“I’ve Traveled a Bit, Yet I Keep Coming Back Like Iron Filings to a Magnet”
   An interview with James Still

The Big Cat
   Baseball star Johnny Mize recalls his raising in the Appalachian foothills

Sock Suppers, Cake Walks, Cotton Pickin’, and A Water Lily Quilt 
   Frances Harbin shares her memories

Front Porch Stories 
   An interview with Edgar Owens

Hearts Touched and Healed 
   An interview with Lois and Clarence Martin

Self-Proclaimed “Black Sheep”
     Mischievous Antics with Malcolm Dillard

“It Has Been Wonderful, Really!”
     The Unique Life of Beanie Ramey

From the Mountains to the Mansion and Back Home
     An Interview with Zell and Shirley Miller

“A Little Good in Everybody”
     An abundance of love from Susie Hembree Dockins
 
Wisdom of Our Elders
            “Train up a child in the way he should go”: Advice on Child Rearing 
            Women of Appalachia
 
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
 
Student Spotlight

From Pencils to PCs
  Former student Laurie Brunson Altieri discusses changes in the magazine

Highlighting a Former Student
An interview with Foxfire alumnus, Allison Adams
 
 
Experiencing Arts and Crafts
    Southeastern Art and Craft Festivals
 
Editors and Staff
    Biographical Sketches
 
Contributors
   Contacts, Students, and Readers