“He looks like the kind of guy that would knock over the water pitcher to get to the potatoes … “ — Philanthropist Henry Rollins on Thomas Wolfe “I remember reading a chunk of Wolfe’s Of Time and the River on stage in Asheville,” Henry Rollins recalled by phone recently. No one at that bygone … Read more
It’s funny to live in a city whose geography and culture are so entwined with a classic novel — and even funnier when that classic isn’t read half as much as it used to be. Asheville haunted Thomas Wolfe, and now he returns the favor by haunting Asheville. Or Altamont, as Wolfe named the city … Read more
Damian Higgins gave himself the stage name Dieselboy because of his, as he puts it, “boyish” interests. For anyone unfamiliar with the Philadelphia-based DJ’s work, his latest mix CD, The Dungeonmaster’s Guide (System Recordings, 2004), double-exposes Higgins’ adolescent side right from the get-go. Its opening Dungeons & Dragons-themed spoken-word reading is by Peter Cullen, the … Read more
Abbeville, Ga., is home to the Wild Hog Festival, while Coalinga, Calif., boasts the Horned Toad Festival and Derby. Not to be outdone, the town of Brevard is preparing to launch its first-annual White Squirrel Festival. The event’s theme? “Go Nuts!” Of course. Brevard is one of reportedly only four areas in America where white … Read more
For the record In the rhinestone jacket that is WNC, West Asheville’s escalating hipness is the newest synthetic ruby. And neighborhood entrepreneurs are apparently hoping that everyone west of the French Broad dresses exclusively vintage, drinks only espresso and microbrews, requires exceptionally funky hairstyling and budgets at least $30 a week for music. So before … Read more
Back in 1979 — when Mark Rosenstein and his then-partners opened The Market Place Restaurant at its original location on Market Street — downtown was largely a ghost town with few businesses and plenty of boarded-up store fronts. “There wasn’t much happening,” remembers Rosenstein. Opening the restaurant was a risk, he admits, but he liked … Read more
When people first learn of my involvement in restoring the Thomas Wolfe House, they generally ask two questions. The first one is, “Why in the heck has it taken so long?” Photos courtesy Pack Memorial Libraryand Thomas Wolfe Memorial The Old Kentucky Home in the 1930s, and in 2004, following six years of museum-quality restoration … Read more
When someone asks “Can you recommend a tree for my landscape?” my first impulse is to jump up and down and say: “Look around you in the gardens and woods. There are so many choices, so many options — just pick one!” But that’s just it. There are so many choices and so many options, … Read more
“Historic preservation and restoration is what makes Asheville Asheville.” — Bill Wescott, president of The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County If you’ve lived in Asheville long enough, you may remember the dilapidated little cottage that once sat directly across from the Asheville Transit bus terminal exit on Ashland Avenue. Though down-at-the-heels, the tiny … Read more
