Now in its sixth year, the Spring Literary Festival on the campus of Western Carolina University boasts deep roots. The event is sponsored by WCU’s Visiting Writers Series, which has brought local luminaries (Fred Chappell, Kathryn Stripling Byer) nationally known authors (Li-Young Lee, Thomas Lux) and internationally prominent writers (Eavan Boland, Menna Elfyn) to Cullowhee. … Read more
“I loved and respected Kitty as a woman from my mother’s generation who refused to follow the ‘rules,’” writes local photographer Alice Sebrell in an artist statement. “I loved her bravery, audacity, and her extraordinary embrace of life.” Even though late ceramist Kitty Couch spent the first half of her adult life as a traditional … Read more
Asheville City Council member Robin Cape says she wasn’t trying to pour gasoline on the fire when she asked for a Council discussion on the idea of a moratorium on downtown development. She just wanted to hear options from the city attorney and perhaps gauge where her fellow Council members stood on the matter. But … Read more
Top Drawer wants to get into the minds of Asheville’s notable fashion forecasters, trend-setters and style icons. In this series, we ask boutique owners and designers what inspires them, and what tips they have to pass along. Here, Gigi Reneé, clothing designer and owner of retro boutique Vintage Moon (46 Commerce St., Asheville, 225-2768), gives … Read more
The item wasn’t even on the agenda, but at their March 25 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners got an earful from residents of the Mills Gap Road area, adjacent to the contaminated CTS industrial site. The residents had come out in force to oppose a proposed rezoning of land near the site, but … Read more
• April 3: Reception for John Carroll, Ron McKee, Joe Dunn and Mike Fryar, candidates for the Buncombe Board of Commissioners, at the home of John and Vicky Wynn, 18 Stuyvesant Crescent, Biltmore Forest, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The public is invited. For further information call Vicky Wynn at 277-0217. • April 7 and … Read more
A lot of entrepreneurs launch a business to fulfill a dream. Some, however, go a step further, using their original startup as a steppingstone to bigger things. Felicia Thurman of Asheville fits squarely in the latter category. Driven: Felicia Thurman, 23, is passionate about her new pedicab service, which is slated to open May — … Read more
The guitarist, Henry Whitter, slid his chair across the floor to bring his instrument a little closer to the recording machine’s sound-gathering horn. A harmonica dangled from his neck on a wire truss; he made a tentative puff on it and looked over to the man behind the controls. Click on the image above to … Read more
Not many of us have the dedication, good fortune or funds that enable today’s better known plant hunters to trek into the wilderness in China, South Africa or Mexico in search of wildflowers. Sun-seekers: Joe-pye weed and Turk’s-cap lilies are showy late-summer flowers. Photos By Christopher Carrie We can, however, follow in the footsteps of … Read more
Members of Tsuga, the hemlock genus, are found in portions of Asia, the Pacific Northwest and the Eastern U.S. Through much of these species’ ranges, they’ve been afflicted—for who knows how long—by an insect known as the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). But in each instance, groups of predatory beetles hold the pest in check. … Read more
