Entry

Journey for Joedel (1970)

Although a movie was based on his The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man, Guy Owen considered Journey for Joedel his best novel. For it, he won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The esteemed novelist Walker Percy described Journey for Joedel as “touching, tender, and highly readable.”

Entry

Dismal Swamp Cannal

The Dismal Swamp Canal, originally chartered in 1790, connects the Albemarle Sound and the Chesapeake Bay. Opened in 1805, the Dismal Swamp Canal created a passage between northeastern North Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia. By the mid-1820s, the Dismal Swamp Canal was widened and deepened enough for reliable commercial traffic. As a result, international trade shifted from Albemarle Sound towns, like Edenton, to Norfolk, Virginia.  Today the Dismal Swamp Canal is primarily used for recreational boating.

Entry

Madison County (1851)

Madison County is located in North Carolina’s mountains along the Tennessee border. It was formed in 1851 out of Buncombe and Yancey Counties, and was named for President James Madison.  Marshall, the county seat, was incorporated in 1863.

Entry

Wayne County (1779)

Wayne County was formed from Dobbs County in 1779 in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain.  Wayne County is named after “Mad Anthony” Wayne, one of George Washington’s most trusted generals.  Goldsboro is the county seat, and Wayne is also home to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.  Wayne is also the home of numerous cultural institutions and events.

Commentary

Novel Easily Could Desscribe Political Debates of Today

Fiction is more than entertainment.  It informs readers about the times in which it was written. An Inch of Snow (1964) is such a novel.  It was written by William E. Cobb, a Burke County Republican, who served as a minority leader in the North Carolina Senate and served as the North Carolina Republican Chairman.

Commentary

Echoes From the Past

A recent history column briefly described An Inch of Snow (1964), an out-of-print novel depicting a state legislative race in North Carolina.  It was more than entertainment depicting small-town North Carolina life. The novel’s fictitious speeches by Democratic and Republican candidates reflect the actual economic concerns of North Carolinians in the 1960s.  The arguments offered are often repeated nowadays in print and on air and behind debate podiums and at dinner tables across the state.

Commentary

Guy Owen's Fiction Trancends Its Rural North Carolina Settings

North Carolina native Guy Owen uses his personal experiences growing up to shape his fictional works. Owen’s work is particularly regional, and in many ways local to North Carolina. But in his fiction, he transcends the rural North Carolina setting and addresses broader and more universal themes. 

Entry

Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg is a United States Army base located west of Fayetteville, North Carolina and is the one of the largest military bases in the world. Covering 251 square miles in four different counties, Fort Bragg is home to the U.S. Army’s Airborne Forces and Special Forces and also houses U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command.