The Oysterback Tales

by Chappell, Helen

• ISBN13: 9780801880605
• ISBN10: 0801880602
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-06
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

Once you find yourself in Oysterback, you may never want to leave. Nothing beats Desiree Grinch's corn soup at the Blue Crab Tavern. There's never a wait at The Curl Up 'N Dye Salon de Beaute. In season, you can buy your produce (as you pay your respects) at Dreedle's Funeral Parlor. There's bingo every Tuesday at the V.F.D. The Mosquito Festival is next week. And when the moon hangs over Widgeon Marsh as full and yellow as one of Miss Nettie's oyster fritters, you'll know you're in a place like no other. Since 1988, readers of the Baltimore Sun have delighted in regular visits to Oysterback -- Helen Chappell's mythical town on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Chappell's stories capture the unique charm of rural life on the Shore, and her memorable characters typify the folksy strength and eccentricity of the natives. "In Oysterback," as the town's Captain Saloman observes, "we have characters we haven't even used yet."

Author Biography

Helen Chappell has published more than twenty-five books, including The Chesapeake Book of the Dead, also available from Johns Hopkins. A journalist, teacher, and freelance, she lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where she covers the waterfront for several publications.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Honorary Citizens of Oysterback	ix
From Professor Shepherd's History of Oysterback	1	(2)
The Silver Cord Is Broken, the Golden Bowl Is Loose: Read All about It in the Oysterback Bugeye	3	(4)
Bargain Day over to Omar's Store	7	(2)
Ferrus T. Buckett Deals with Hard Times	9	(3)
Hudson Swann Eludes the Law	12	(4)
How Ferrus T. Buckett Foretold the Oscars	16	(3)
Over to Omar Hinton's Store	19	(3)
Tales from the Classifieds: More Stuff from the Bugeye	22	(3)
Huddie Ponders the Ultimate Question	25	(3)
The Wisdom of Miss Nettie's Fritters	28	(4)
After the Funeral of Haney Sparks	32	(4)
The Prince of Tilghman Island	36	(3)
Latest News from the Oysterback Bugeye	39	(3)
Half a Boy and Half a Man	42	(2)
Floater	44	(2)
Summer Calendar, from the Oysterback Bugeye	46	(3)
Reflections on an Oysterback Wedding	49	(3)
Snake Wingate Proposes, God Disposes	52	(3)
We Was All Right, Huddie	55	(2)
Desiree and Earl Don Rekindle the Magic	57	(3)
Even a Jonah Can Have a Piece of Luck	60	(3)
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream	63	(2)
Fried Chicken and the Religious Right	65	(4)
What's News from the Oysterback Bugeye: Entertainment News from Our Hometown Paper	69	(3)
Desiree Meets the God of Excess	72	(3)
The Midnight Waterman Escort Service	75	(3)
Junie Redmond's Day in Court	78	(3)
It's Safer up Here	81	(2)
A Modest Proposal at the Town Meeting	83	(2)
Letters to the Oysterback Bugeye	85	(3)
Girls' Night Out	88	(2)
Quite Quaint They Ain't	90	(2)
A Voice from the Past	92	(2)
This Just in from the Bugeye	94	(3)
The Devil, Steve Meachum, and All Their Works	97	(3)
Angels Unawares	100	(3)
Last Call	103	(2)
Where They Take Christmas Seriously	105	(3)
Make a Joyful Noise	108	(2)
Philo Redux	110	(3)
Talking and Writing Good Oysterback: A Foreigner's Guide by Professor Shepherd	113