O.Henry
short stories Your Guide to the Good Life in the Triad
O.Goodness
If you read the artist profile on Stephen Hale in last month’s O.Henry, then you probably know why he grows a handlebar mustache about this time each year. Because William Sydney Porter wore one. See Hale as Porter (aka O.Henry) September 6–9 or 13–16 during the Greensboro Historical Museum’s annual production of 5 by O.Henry, which features five of O.Henry’s short stories — some heartfelt, some just plumb funny — adapted for the stage by playwright Joseph Hoesl and packaged together with charming musical interludes. Call the Triad Stage Box Office at (336) 272-0160 for tickets, which are $15 for general admission, $12 for members, seniors and students. But the vintage barbershop music doesn’t stop there. On September 21, Hale and the 5 by O.Henry crew will take center stage again, this time at the O.Henry Hotel, to kick off 17 Days and celebrate William Sydney Porter’s 150th birthday with a gourmet dinner from America’s Gilded Age to benefit the Greensboro Historical Museum. “Dinner with O.Henry,” co-sponsored by O.Henry magazine and the O.Henry Hotel, features an exquisite five-course menu conceptualized by Green Valley Grill executive chef Leigh Hesling, plus period music and entertainment. Seats are $150 each. For reservations and more information, call (336) 617-0090 by September 14. AW
12 O.Henry
September 2012
Beer run
Here’s an idea: Go on a run, and then reward yourself with an ice-cold beer afterward because you know you deserve it. Or, better yet, sign up for the Race the Bar beer run that starts and ends at Natty Greene’s Pub & Brewing Company (345 South Elm Street, Greensboro) on September 22. After the race — 5k and 10k — runners are invited to Natty Greene’s birthday party, where those of age get two free beers to trick them into thinking they’re dancing better than they actually are to the live music. Race gun fires at 3 p.m. For tickets and information, visit www.racethebar.com. AW
stranger to Fiction
As a rock-star writer for the News & Record during the 1970s and ’80s, Greta Tilley, now Greta Medlin, specialized in long stories that never minded deadlines. “You’re not writing a book,” editors reminded the five-foot-three fireball with a Teletype tongue and a gossamer touch. Now, 25 years later, she’s done just that. The Tender Void is available from Amazon in paperback for $18.95, $9.99 for the Kindle version. A tale of childlike love lost and found, the story is hung on the slight and sweaty frame of South Carolina newspaper columnist Cooper Barnet, a lovable, aimless soul who collects misfit friends like socks collect lint. South Carolinians and music lovers, especially, will appreciate the iconic references woven into a story that deals with weighty topics — mental deficiencies, race, parental rights — in such a natural way that you don’t realize you’re thinking about Important Stuff. At the end, the only thing that might puzzle readers is why Medlin, now 65 and winner of the Ernie Pyle Award, a National Headliner, and two American Society of News Editors prizes, took so long to write a book. The answer is life. She tended to friends, dogs, divorce, new love and her mother, who recently died in Charleston, South Carolina, where Medlin spends most of her time when she’s not speeding to Greensboro to check on her house and friends here. Her novel will make you laugh. Make you cry. Make you yearn for the next one. But you might want to pop a Tru-Ade and sit a spell. MJ
The Art & Soul of Greensboro