North Carolina Literature in a Global Context
“Ye gods and small towns.” I said, sighing and raising both arms in the air. “I give up. The wheels of progress passed this place right by and kept on rolling.” Mama Alice laughed. She said she could see both sides. She wanted
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Littleboro to stay small, be a place
COURTESY OF ST. MARTIN’S PUBLISHING GROUP; JACKET DESIGN BY DAVID BALDEOSINGH ROTSTEIN, ILLUSTRATION BY TOM HALLMAN
explores the effects of progress that small Southern towns have gone through and currently endure. The lone employee of the B&B and old-time friend of Mama Alice, Ida Plum Duckett, who seems to know more about the town than she lets on, tells Beth, “You don’t know the ways of Littleboro anymore. Things change underneath more than they change where you can see them and it’s not always for the better” (188). Moose recognizes that the tenor and success of small towns evolve (and sometimes devolve, depending on whom you ask) with the march of “progress.” Beth remembers talking with Mama Alice on the subject:
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where everybody knew their neighbors and that still had shops downtown. I said I would like it to stay small, old-fashioned and picturesque, but I also wanted it to be able to have a bookstore that didn’t just sell Bibles and Bible-school supplies. (80)
As one can find in one of Mama Alice’s recipe books, Moose sprinkles healthy doses of insights into the culture of the Southern small town, complete with church bells on Sunday mornings, neighbors bringing cakes over to commiserate after a recent death, a statue of a Confederate soldier still standing watch in front of the old courthouse, and any place you want to go being within a reasonable walking distance. Anyone who has grown up in similar towns in North Carolina will recognize such things as the town newspaper, the Littleboro Messenger, always called “The
Ira David Wood III received the 2014 Fine Arts Award for his prominent work on stage and screen. Born in Rocky Mount, NC, and raised in Enfield, NC, Wood currently resides in Raleigh. Many know him for playing Scrooge for forty years in the stage production of A Christmas Carol at Raleigh’s Theater in the Park, where he serves as Executive Director. He has also performed leading roles in Paul Green’s The Lost Colony, playing both Sir Walter Raleigh and Old Tom. Wood’s original plays include Eros & Illinois (1978) and Requiem for a King (1986), both of which were performed off-Broadway. Wood’s previous honors include the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the State of North Carolina, The Morrison Award from the Roanoke Island Historical Association, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UNC School of the Arts. In 2010, he was inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame. n
RIGHT Ira David Wood III wearing his North Carolina Award medal, presented to him by Governor Pat McCrory, Raleigh, NC, 13 Nov. 2014
PHOTOGRAPH BY MATHEW WAEHNER; COURTESY OF NC OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
IRA DAVID WOOD III RECEIVES THE 2014 NORTH CAROLINA AWARD FOR FINE ARTS
Mess” by the townfolk. Events of the Littleboro Women’s Club and Junior Women’s Club are covered on the front page, but in Littleboro, one can find more information at Juanita’s Beauty Shop than by reading “The Mess.” n