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FEATURES
51 On the Way Home Poem by Linda Annas Ferguson
52 Off the Record
We asked our phototgraphers to think outside the cardboard sleeve. The results? Record setting.
60 The Show Must Go On By Billy Ingram
UNCSA's Chancellor Cole looks to the school's bright future
64 Modern Life By Maria Johnson
Based in Greensboro, the NC Dance Festival celebrates its 35th anniversary of showcasing the state'c best contemporary dancers
72 The View Finders By Cassie Bustamante
O.Henry photographer Amy Freeman focuses on family
85 September Almanac By Ashley Walshe
Cover PhotograPh: Laura L. gingeriCh
What: Joni Mitchell/clouds
Who: erika leap
styling by: Julie borshak
PhotograPh this Page by a my Freeman
DEPARTMENTS
COMPASSION, INTEGRITY, EXPERTISE
MAGAZINE
voLume 15, no. 9
“I have a fancy that every city has a voice.” www.ohenrymag.com
PUBLISHER
David Woronoff david@thepilot.com
Andie Rose, Creative Director andiesouthernpines@gmail.com
Cassie Bustamante, Editor cassie@ohenrymag.com
Jim Dodson, Editor at Large jwdauthor@gmail.com
Keith Borshak, Senior Designer
Campbell Pringle, Design Intern
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Cynthia Adams, David Claude Bailey, Maria Johnson
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Betsy Blake, Lynn Donovan, Amy Freeman, John Gessner, Laura L. Gingerich, Brandi Scott, Becky VanderVeen, Bert VanderVeen, Mark Wagoner
CONTRIBUTORS
Harry Blair, Anne Blythe, Susan Campbell, Jasmine Comer, Ross Howell Jr., Billy Ingram, Tom Maxwell, Gerry O’Neill, Liza Roberts, Stephen E. Smith, Zora Stellanova, Ashley Walshe, Amberly Glitz Weber
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Tune in to learn about a number of City services, that can improve your quality of life, such as:
• Affordable Housing Resources
• Emergency Preparedness
• Emergency Response
• Housing Rights
• Language Access Services
• Library Services
• Minority-Owned Business Resources
• Parks and Recreation
• Police and Community Relations
• Safety & Security
• and More
Forever Home
Turns out, you can’t stay forever
by Cassie bustamante
When my only daughter,
Emmy, was born 18-and-a-half years ago, I was immediately overwhelmed. With love, sure, but mostly with life. I already had a 17-month-old toddler, Sawyer, at home. My husband, Chris, traveled a lot for work. How on Earth was I going to survive with two little ones in diapers by myself? Now, it’s been just a couple of weeks since we sent Emmy off to her first year of college at Penn State, and I don’t know how I will manage without her here.
While Sawyer was a busy, on-the-move preschooler, Emmy, from a very early age, could sit and color contentedly for hours. I remember leaving her once, just 2 at the time, in our playroom so I could tend to Sawyer upstairs in our little split-foyer home. I felt panicky during the minutes I was away from her, but, when I returned, she sat in the same chair, still happily doodling with crayons in an array of bright colors. Before taking my seat next to
her, I stared in wonder. Who was this calm, creative child?
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all Crayola rainbows and tissuepaper butterflies. With that artistic spirit comes a bit of environmental chaos. In fact, numerous studies have linked messiness with creativity. I can confirm that the spot where I sit in my home writing for this very magazine is surrounded by an impending avalanche of books, magazines, pens and papers threatening to send a half-drunk cup of room-temperature coffee flying onto the rug. Emmy’s space was her bedroom and, boy, did she express herself within its walls. For my own sanity, I usually just kept the door shut. Out of sight, out of mind. And, yes, I know this is rich coming from someone who’s just declared her space a wreck too.
But, on occasion, I’d spend the better part of my day giving her bedroom a thorough cleaning while she was in school, blissfully unaware of my intrusion. Armed with trash bags to stuff with garbage and donations, I’d sift through every nook and cranny. It was a challenge, to say the least, but the reward was worth it: little glimpses into her sparkling soul. In her desk drawers, I’d discover illustrated fairy tales she’d written. On the walls of her closet, she’d hung pictures of hearts and stars with motivational sayings, things like “You were meant to shine bright.”
She’s always used a mix of words and colors to communicate;
September at Weymouth Center
it’s no wonder she ended up working on her Grimsley High School yearbook and plans to study journalism. Once, when she was 8 and had gotten in trouble, she left me a note on our kitchen island: “I am sorry for the way I acted. I was being a total jerk. It’s just that a lot of people have been mean to me. Love, Emmy. P.S. I hope you understand.” How can you stay mad at that?
Generally, she shied away from reading her own writing aloud, but, every once in a while, she couldn’t resist. Two weeks after leaving me that heartbreaking note, she penned a tune she titled “Forever Home.” Thankfully, 37-year-old me had the foresight to capture the moment she sang it to me, her crystal-blue eyes twinkling as she smiled proudly.
Now, a decade later, I’m back at home after loading all of her worldly belongings into our SUV and dropping her off in State College, Penn. My finger hovers for a moment and then I hit play on that video. Her squeaky little voice fills my ears as tears fill my eyes:
Forever home, you’re never alone
You’re always with someone,
Say hello, say goodbye,
Say hello, change your mind,
’Cause you’re with someone, And even if you’re not,
You’ll still have us.
Once again, I feel overwhelmed. Somehow, I managed to get through those years of having two little ones in diapers. So much, in fact, that a decade later, we even decided to add a third, Wilder, who is almost as old as Emmy was when she wrote that song. And no, I don’t know how to keep going without her here every day, but I know I will. And I hope that she knows that no matter where life leads her over the next four years and beyond, we are always with her and we remain her steadfast “Forever Home.” OH
Cassie Bustamante is editor of O.Henry magazine.
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Gone East
How a love affair that never happened changed my life
by Jim DoDson
September may be the ultimate month of change.
As summer’s lease runs out, the garden fades, and days become noticeably shorter and sometimes even cooler, hinting at autumn on the doorstep. After Labor Day, summer’s farewell gig, in 39 percent of American households — those with school-age kids — the days bring new schedules and an accelerated pace of life.
Just down the street, a dear neighbor’s firstborn is settling into her dorm at Penn State University. Her mom admits to having tender emotions over this rite of passage.
I know the feeling well. I remember driving both my children to their respective universities in Vermont and North Carolina, sharing stories with their mother on the way about their growing up and marveling how time could possibly have passed so quickly. Without question, dropping my kids off at college was a ritual of parting that stirred both pride and emotion.
On a funnier note, September’s arrival reminds me of my own unexpected journey to East Carolina University half a century ago. On a blazing afternoon, my folks dropped me off at Aycock dorm, now Legacy Hall, with my bicycle, a new window fan and 50 bucks for the university food plan.
Not surprisingly, my mom hugged and kissed me, and wiped away a tiny tear; my dad merely smiled and wished me good luck. He also looked visibly relieved.
“You made the right decision, son,” he said. “I think you’ll really enjoy it here.”
The previous winter, you see, I fell hard for a beautiful French exchange student at my high school named Francoise Roux. During the last few weeks before she headed home to France, we had a twoweek courtship that included long walks and deep conversations about life, love and the future.
I was too nervous to kiss her. Instead, on the last night before she flew away, sitting together by a lake in a park, I played her a traditional French lullaby on my guitar, an ancient song her father sang to her when she was little. During the drive back to her host’s residence, we even discussed the crazy idea that, when I graduated in the spring, I might forego college in America for the time being in favor of finding a newspaper job in France so we could stay together.
As we said goodbye under the porch light, she leaned forward and gave me our first — and last — kiss.
It was a sweet but improbable dream. Yet, having won
Greensboro’s annual O. Henry Writing Award the previous spring (and consumed far too much Ernest Hemingway for my own good), I decided to skip applying to college and seek a job in Paris. Touting my “major” writing award and one full summer internship at my hometown newspaper, I brazenly applied for a job as a stringer for the International Herald Tribune’s Paris bureau.
Amazingly, I never heard back from the famous newspaper.
Come middle May, still waiting for a reply, I was having lunch with my dad at his favorite deli when he casually wondered why “we” hadn’t yet heard from the four colleges I’d applied to for admission.
“Actually, Dad,” I said, “I didn’t apply to them. I have a better plan in mind.”
I sketched out my grand scheme to spend a year working in Paris, where I would cover important news stories and gain valuable life experience in the same “City of Lights” that he fell in love with during the last days of World War II. I mentioned that I was waiting for a job offer from the International Herald Tribune.
He listened politely and smiled. At least he didn’t laugh out loud. He was an adman with a poet’s heart.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain pretty French girl named Francoise, would it?”
“Not really,” I said. “Well, a little bit.”
He nodded, evidently understanding. “Unfortunately, Bo, you will have to get a draft number this September. And if you get a low number and aren’t in a college somewhere, you might well be drafted. That will break your mother’s heart. How about this idea?”
He suggested that I simply get admitted to a college somewhere — anywhere — until we could see how things panned out with the draft. There were rumors that Nixon might soon end it. Until then, a college deferment would keep me from going to Vietnam.
Reluctantly, I took his advice and applied to several top universities. None had room for me, though UNC-Chapel Hill said I could apply for the spring term. Too late to be of use.
On a lark at the end of May, my buddy Virgil Hudson said he was going down to East Carolina University for an orientation weekend and invited me to tag along. I’d never been east of Raleigh.
On our way into Greenville that beautiful spring afternoon, we passed the Kappa Alpha fraternity house, where a lively keg party
was happening on the lawn. I’d never seen more beautiful girls in my life. Young love, as sages warn, is both fickle and fleeting.
“Hey, Virge,” I said, “could you drop me off at the admissions office?”
The office was about to close, but the kind admissions director allowed me to phone my guidance counselor back home and have my transcripts faxed. I filled out the form and paid the $30 admission fee on the spot, leaving me 10 bucks for the weekend.
By some miracle I still can’t fathom, ECU took me in.
The first thing I did on the September morning before classes got underway was get on my bike and ride due east toward New Bern. As a son of the western hills, I simply wanted to see what this new, green countryside looked like.
The land was flat as a pancake and the old highway wound through beautiful farm fields and dense pine forests. A couple hours later, I stopped at a roadside produce stand to buy a peach and had a nice conversation with an older farming couple who’d been married since the Great Depression.
I had no idea how far I’d pedaled. “Why, sonny, you only have 10 more miles to New Bern,” the old gent told me with a soft cackle. I got back to my dorm room after dusk — having fallen in a different sort of love.
There was something about this vast, green land with its rich, black soil and friendly people that quietly took hold of my heart.
My freshman year turned out to be a joy. My professors were ter rific, and my new friend and future roommate was a lanky country
kid from Watts Crossroads, wherever the hell that was. His name was Hugh Kluttz.
We are best friends to this day.
Having “gone east and fallen in love,” as my mother liked to tell her chums at church, I became features editor of the school newspaper — artfully named The Fountainhead — where I wrote a silly column that undoubtedly shaped my writing life.
In 2002, upon being named Outstanding Alumni for my books and journalism career, I confessed to an audience of old friends and university bigwigs that “going east and becoming an accidental Pirate turned out to be the smartest move of my young life — one I indirectly owe to a beautiful French exchange student I never saw again.”
Funny how life surprises us. A few years ago, out of the blue, I received a charming email from Francoise Roux, wondering if I was the same “romantic boy who once played me a lullaby on his guitar?”
We’ve exchanged many emails since then, sharing how our lives have gone along since that first and last kiss under the porch light. Francoise is a devoted grandmother and I’m about to become a firsttime grandfather around Christmas. Soon enough, I'll be playing that old French lullaby to a new baby girl, marveling alongside my daughter and her husband as they embark on their own, uncharted journey. OH
Jim Dodson is the founding editor of O.Henry. His 17th book, The
QW HAPPENINGS & NEWS
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Sage Gardener
With the end of summer comes the inevitable garden turnover, and the Sage Gardener is thinking about what he can grow without even stepping foot outdoors. You can get a kit delivered right to your front door, from $20 for a 10-piece ensemble found on Amazon all the way to an $899, smart technology, hydroponic, LED-lit, automatically-watered unit (remote camera extra) from Gardyn.com. But a quick survey of my friends suggests you don’t have to break the bank to bring the outdoors in. “I buy basil and parsley at the local Harris Teeter and torture them until they wither,” says an artist friend. “I’ve begun to notice that when I go by the baby plants in the produce aisle, they’ve started recoiling at me.”
Another friend fills her kitchen with herbs from Trader Joe’s, popping the ones that don’t thrive from the pot into the frying pan. Her partner has labeled the sunny little corner of their kitchen, “The Rainforest.” She’s found that mint in particular thrives like kudzu until Derby Day, when it tends to disappear.
Another friend restricts his indoor gardening to chives, which he snips and puts on salads and baked potatoes. My wife and I have found that “mowable” plants are the best bet for our window garden: herbs or leaf lettuce, spinach, endive and Swiss chard. We also grow root veggies for their edible greens. Think beets, turnips, mustard greens and radishes.
A friend in New York City warns that you need the right angle of sun for certain plants to thrive: “The growing season on our south-facing back deck lacks the early spring warmth of North
Carolina, but my reliable winter-overs are lovage, chives and sage. This year’s sage plants are almost teenagers.”
A hiking buddy who actually harvested tomatoes from her potted plants says, “I’m no expert but I’ve learned the importance of light, food and water. The key lies in figuring out how much of each, when, and then adjusting the ratio to fit their needs.”
O.Henry colleague Maria Johnson takes her struggling plants to “the urgent plant-care clinic at Plants & Answers on Spring Garden Drive for a quick diagnosis.” If declared fatally wilted on arrival, “there are plenty of healthy replacements to choose from.”
If you’re really serious about all this, I suggest that you google “indoor garden links by Guilford County Master Gardeners.” Or check out a primer written by an extension agent in Person County, who, among many other tips, suggests using equal portions of peat and vermiculite for your soil; fertilizing your plants with a water soluble 15-30-15 formula; and choosing the right window or spot on the patio so that fruiting plants get at least 12 hours of bright light a day. Finally, remember, says the gardeningin-the-kitchen magician, that, except for root and leaf plants such as carrots and lettuce, “vegetables must be artificially pollinated for fruit development. Pollination can be accomplished by taking the powdery pollen from the bead-like anthers with a camel’s hair brush and placing it upon the stalk-like pistil.” And by now we all know plants respond well to music, so may I suggest you set the mood with your Marvin Gaye album? Because it’s time for your plants to get it on.
— David Claude Bailey
Just One Thing
Harriet Tubman, Mohandas Gandhi, Frederick Douglas and, seen here, Marian Anderson are just some of the familiar figures artist William H. Johnson (1901–1970) painted in his mid-1930s Fighters for Freedom series. Born to a poor African American family in Florence, S.C., in 1901, Johnson left his hometown behind at the age of 17, following his dreams of being an artist to the Big Apple. There, he worked a variety of odd jobs, saving money to put himself through the National Academy of Design and later serving as general handyman at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Mass., where he studied with painter Charles Webster Hawthorne. It was Hawthorne who influenced Johnson’s bold use of color, seen throughout this series, which was created to honor African American activists. Featured were scientists, teachers and performers, as well as international heads of state who were valiantly working toward peace. Among his Fighters stands Marian Anderson, mouth open in song. A contralto, she was the first Black soloist to perform at both the Metropolitan Opera and the White House. In 1939, just a few years before Johnson painted this series, the head of the Daughters of the American Revolution denied Anderson permission to perform at the DAR Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin. Subsequently, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from DAR and, just a couple months later, presented Anderson with the Spingarn Medal, which recognizes outstanding achievement by an African American. Anderson died in 1993 at the age of 96. You can admire her vibrant, colorful portrait, along with several Fighters for Freedom, at Weatherspoon Art Museum’s exhibit, Sept. 6–Nov. 29. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions_list/ fighters-for-freedom-william-h-johnson-picturing-justice.
Window on the Past
Among the vast vinyl collection of the Greensboro History Museum, one shines brightly — the 1976 Rick Dees gold record of the satyrical novelty song "Disco Duck." Dees, who graduated from Grimsley decades ago, is still rocking a smashing radio broadcasting career. You can tune in to his voice on his syndicated Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown, and, if you're a really lucky duck, you might catch him going quack-quack, quack-quack.
Unsolicited Advice
You’ve seen them already, the early signs of fall. No, we’re not talking about foliage — this is North Carolina, folks. But Starbucks released its seasonal menu late last month, so don’t be surprised to catch a whiff of pumpkin spice on someone’s breath. Get used to it. How about some ideas to get into the spirit of the season, Southern style?
Haul out the flannel shirt! But rip off the sleeves for a look that says, “I love fall!” Or, “Wanna hop on my hog?” Either way, we’re into it. And you can repurpose the sleeve by filling it with maize to use as a door draft stopper for when the fall breezes actually start blowing.
Forget the steaming cup of mulled cider. Since we’re in Piedmont North Carolina and it’s still September, cool off with a chilled cider slushy. Sugar, spice and loads of crushed ice. And a dash of brandy for the 21+ crowd.
Crank up the oven for fall baking. Think chocolate-chip pumpkin bread, homemade cider donuts or apple spice cake, the cozy scent of cinnamon and nutmeg wafting throughout your home. Just don’t forget to also crank up the AC, or hints of perspiration will also be in the air.
Alpaca fun for everyone!
Come enjoy our alpaca farm and all it has to offer! We offer tours by appointment. Open shopping hours in our farm store. See our website for more information.
Blandwood, with its historic charm and architectural beauty, offers a unique setting for our 2 Annual Bourbon Festival. Hosting the event here not only celebrates the rich history of this Greensboro treasure but also supports its ongoing preservation. As a guest, you have the chance to enjoy and contribute to Blandwood’s legacy
Virgo
(August 23-September 22)
Perhaps this will come as a shock: You don’t have all the an swers. Let the mystery ignite your passion this month. Let it be juicy. Let it break your snarky gremlin of an ego. When Mercury guides your focus inward on Sept. 2, mind the negative self-talk as you strive toward new growth. On the 19th, Venus will shine a spotlight on unrealistic expectations. Take note. And on the 21st, the new moon and solar eclipse spell new beginnings. But not without a pickle of an ending.
Tea leaf “fortunes” for the rest of you:
Libra (September 23 – October 22)
Inhale and lengthen the spine; exhale and gently twist.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
Taste as you go.
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
Just say what you mean.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Lace up your dirt-kicking boots.
PARADE of HOMES
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
It’s time for a new novel.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
Deep clean the fridge, stat.
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
Bring your journal along.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
Three words: Almond oil, darling.
Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
Your only job is to listen.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
Someone needs a salt bath.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
Sign up for the workshop. OH
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DO FALL YOUR WAY
Curious on what you may find in our downtowns? Experience the vibrant charm of fall by strolling our downtowns and experience our small-town charm. Discover local shops, quaint bookstores, clothing boutiques and galleries featuring artisan crafts.
Mark your calendars!
Autumn Fest – October 4th
Hook & Line: Thompson Music & Arts Heritage Festival – Oct. 10th & 11th
OBSN Pow Wow – Oct. 11th & 12th
You’ll find small surprises lead to big memories in Alamance County.
by m aria Johnson
A New Lens on Life
The case of the masked bandit and his five-finger discount
Years ago, when our sons were little, they gave me a Mother’s Day gift.
Their eyes gleamed as I peeled away the wrapping paper.
“Oh,” I said, aware of the tender hearts in front of me. “A LEGO set. How . . . cool!”
“Look, Mom!” they bubbled as they grabbed the box from me, flipped it over and pointed to pictures of all of the things that could be made with the multicolored bricks. “Isn’t it great?”
“It is great,” I said.
And I meant it. Because I knew how they meant it. Inside that box were hours — OK, maybe minutes, considering my impatience and their facility with LEGOs — of a shared experience, of making something together.
They knew I would be down, as in down on the floor, with anything they wanted to do. That was a compliment that I treasured. And, honestly, whenever I went with their flow, I experienced the joy of knowing them more deeply, of learning something new and, often, of cracking up at the result of our collaboration.
Fast forward to the moment when I unwrapped a gift from my husband, Jeff, on our recent anniversary.
“Oh,” I said. “A solar-powered . . . Bluetooth-enabled . . . motion-activated . . . bird-cam-feeder . . . equipped with AI identification . . . and a voice alarm. How . . . cool.”
His eyes were gleaming. Once installed, the bird-cam-feeder would be easily the most technologically advanced device in our home. OK, just outside our home.
I realized that the gift represented something we could do together, even though he’s way more into birds than I am. Plus, I had to admit his choice made sense, given the events of the past year. To wit:
• I did ask for, he did give me, and I did love reading Amy Tan’s nonfiction work, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a beautifully illustrated book about how Tan survived COVID by becoming an intense observer, and sketcher, of birds.
• I do luvvvvvv watching, and re-watching, the adventures of avid birder and ace Detective Cordelia Cupp in the brilliantly absurd Netflix series, The Residence. (Seriously, Netflix execs, what are you thinking by not renewing that show?)
• I did express enthusiasm, in a polite way, when a friend described his bird-cam-feeder equipped with AI identification.
• Also tangentially true: I have been known to commit aspirational gifting. Consider the pickleball paddles I gave Jeff a couple of birthdays ago. (“Look, honey! Aren’t they great?!” I said, rising from the table to demonstrate my dinking technique.)
But back to our fine feathered friends: Basically, I like watching birders more than birds, which is why I enjoyed watching Jeff carefully determine the best location for the bird-cam-feeder, in front of our garden Buddha, who understandably wears a slight smile.
He — Jeff, not Buddha — spent many hours figuring out how to mount the bird-cam-feeder (atop a black metal pole); how to make the couplings aesthetically pleasing to me (no radiator clamps allowed); and how to use the app that would notify us whenever the camera spotted a creature.
The first sightings, I must say, were of some truly scary specimens: The Sweaty-Headed Sucker Pluckers.
That’s right. Us. The camera picked us up every time we walked by, headed to the garden to pinch the suckers from our tomato plants.
Jeff tweaked the phone-based app settings to detect only creatures that alighted on the feeder. At first, I was amazed at the different birds that stopped in for a beak full.
There was our friend, the cardinal.
And a purple finch.
And a house sparrow.
And a Carolina wren.
And a thrush.
And a titmouse.
And another titmouse.
And, OK, another titmouse.
And then came the crows.
Oh. Em. Gee.
The crows.
Here, I would like to make a prediction: When the world as we know it comes to an end, it will not become the the planet of the apes. No. It will become the planet of the crows, an obviously superior species that knows how to work together for mutual benefit.
I say “obviously” because once they discovered the bird-cam-
feeder, it was a nonstop milo-millet-cracked-corn-and-sunflowerseed hoedown in our side yard.
You know how revelers toss beads from floats in Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans?
Like that. Only instead of throwing beads, the captain of the Crow Krewe would hop up on the perch, bob side to side, and sling seed to all of his crow buds on the ground until, voila, no more beads.
I mean seeds.
This happened over and over again, until Jeff went into the app and figured out how to sound the alarm to scare off unwanted diners.
BZZZZZZ! Gone.
We were satisfied. For a minute. Then we noticed that the feeder would be full of seed at sunset and empty in the morning.
Hmm. Most birds around here, owls notwithstanding, do not feed at night.
Further, the camera recorded no birds overnight.
“Barnacle goose,” AI declared.
Huh?
A few frames later, we observed a closeup of sharp little teeth.
“Bonin petrel,” said AI, suggesting a seabird that nests on Pacific islands.
A few frames later, we made out a bushy tail.
“Mute swan,” AI ventured.
A few pics hence, we saw a pointy snout with a sliver of a dark mask.
We didn’t care what the AI bird brain said.
It was a raccoon.
We looked at each other. But how?
We dived into the literature and found out that raccoons have thumbs, which means they can grasp things, like aesthetically pleasing black iron poles, and climb said poles, hand-over-hand, past dome-shaped baffles, to arrive at sunflower seed jackpots.
Nom-nom-nom.
Suddenly, we were aware of a pattern, not that it mattered.
starring that insidious urban bandit, the raccoon, which, in truth, I would have been tempted to think of as cute, if not for the fact that it was cleaning out my bird-cam-feeder, which I was suddenly very possessive of.
Ask any politician about the unifying emotions of people who feel they are threatened by “others,” even if the others are, you know, raccoons.
The fortification began.
Problem solver that he is, Jeff hopped on the internet to search “raccoon baffles.” He found one model, a widemouth, metal pipe that no raccoon could get a grip on, for $60.
His Scottish heritage — best paraphrased as, “By God, I’ll not pay $60 for a two-foot length of stove pipe”— prompt ed him to drive to a rural hardware store to buy . . . wait for it . . . a two-foot length of stove pipe for $20.
Which meant that very night I hit “Place Your Order” on the $40 skin cream I’d been dithering about for weeks. It’s yet another way that we balance each other.
But I digress.
The point is, after many more hours at his workbench, Jeff installed the homemade raccoon baffle, and now we are now the proud owners of a maximum-security bird-cam-feeder, which is highly effective.
How do we know?
The morning after installation, there was plenty of seed for the morning feeders.
And, upon closer inspection, we saw that the stove pipe was covered with muddy, five-fingered handprints that appeared to be sliding downward.
(Insert sound of raccoon fingernails scraping black stove pipe, followed by sharp-toothed expletives.)
We looked at each other and cracked up. OH
Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry magazine. Email her at ohenrymaria@gmail.com.
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Horrors at Sea
The sordid tale of the Zorg
By Stephen e. Smith
A few chapters into Siddharth
Kara’s The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery, you might consider putting the book aside. After all, we live in a world fraught with grievance. Why burden ourselves with crimes committed 245 years ago?
The answer is obvious: Ancient injustices are the source of contemporary injustices. Cruelty begets cruelty. So you’ll likely continue reading The Zorg, despite the graphic inhumanity it depicts.
Kara is an author and activist who studies modern slavery. He has written several books on slavery and child labor, including the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Cobalt Red, and he has much to tell us in his thoroughly researched and skillfully crafted narrative of the Zorg massacre, which serves as a disturbing yet obligatory lesson for contemporary audiences.
In late 1780, the Zorg, a Dutch ship, set sail for Africa’s Gold Coast to take on a cargo of Africans to be sold in the New World. Such slaving enterprises were common. It’s estimated that more than 12 million captive human beings were transported on 35,000 voyages between the 16th and mid-19th centuries, so the Zorg was unusual only in the exceptional misfortunes that befell its crew and captive cargo.
After reaching its initial destination in Africa, the Zorg was captured by British privateers, and the ship was loaded with more than 440 enslaved humans, twice the number it was equipped to carry. The British captain, who had little experience commanding a slave ship, and his crew were ill-prepared to make the journey; nevertheless, they set sail for Jamaica. Poor seamanship, faulty navigation, rough seas, and a lack of food and water plagued the enterprise. The Zorg missed Jamaica and had to retrace its journey. The human cargo suffered greatly, sickness took its toll on the crew, and the ship’s water supply ran low. Eventually, the crew had to decide who would live and who would die.
The first to be tossed overboard were the women and chil-
dren, followed by the weaker male captives. It was a heartless and brutal business, and 140 human beings were sacrificed for the “greater good.”
Such atrocities were not uncommon in the slave trade. Still, Kara’s graphic, novelistic description of these events is compelling without being gratuitous. The massacre of the innocent Black captives will be disturbing for anyone unfamiliar with the horrors of the Middle Passage, and those readers schooled in the inhumanity of the slave trade will find themselves moved to a new level of compassion. Kara’s skills as a writer and his deft storytelling bring history to life, and readers with any sense of empathy will react with genuine horror.
But the story of the Zorg doesn’t end there. When the captain, crew and surviving slaves found their way to Jamaica, the slave trading syndicate that had financed the voyage made a claim against the insurers of the enterprise, hoping to recoup the value of the human cargo that had been jettisoned. A trial followed, and a jury found that the murder of Africans was legal — they were simply a commodity — and the insurers must pay. Each lost slave was valued at $70, about the price of a horse.
Still, the controversy might have faded from memory — what was the loss of a few African captives? — but it was soon learned that the Zorg had arrived in Jamaica with a surplus of fresh water that had been taken aboard during a storm at sea. With the water supply replenished, the crew continued to dispose of the weaker captives so they might obtain more insurance money — in other words, the captain and crew committed insurance fraud. The verdict was appealed, and a protracted legal battle ensued between the insurers and the trading syndicate. The resulting public uproar catapulted the sensational story onto the front pages of
England’s most prominent newspapers, transforming what might have been an insignificant controversy into a protracted struggle that would end the English slave trade with the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which in turn ignited the abolitionist movement in the United States. It would take the cataclysmic Civil War to decide the matter in America.
Slavery may be outlawed in every country, but it persists. According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk Free, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration, 49.6 million people live in modern slavery in forced labor and forced marriage, and roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children. The concept of slavery — the notion that a dominant culture or race remains superior to a once enslaved race — has not been purged from our hearts and minds.
For readers who aren’t interested in history but are fascinated by horrific tales, The Zorg fits the bill. The Russian writer Maxim Gorky, who knew something about imprisonment and slavery, understood our fascination with the terrible. “I know of genuine horrors, everyday terrors,” he wrote, “and I have the undeniable right to excite you unpleasantly by telling you about them in order that you may know how we live and under what circumstances. A low and unclean life it is, and that is the truth . . . one must not be sentimental, nor hide the grim truth with the motley words of beautiful lies. Let us face life as it is.”
At the very least, Kara’s skillfully crafted narrative will leave readers wondering how future generations will perceive the inequities and struggles of the tragic times we live in.
The Zorg will be available online and in bookstores Oct. 14. OH
Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. His most recent book, The Year We Danced: A Memoir, is the recipient of a 2025 Feathered Quill Book Award.
Influence + Conversation, 2024
War p & Weft
The color-jangled painting of Barbara Campbell Thomas
By Liza RoBeRtS
The paintings of Barbara Campbell
Thomas are often warped, subtly but unmistakably. Their geometry, the linear shapes and pieces and colors that comprise them, have a slightly distorted quality. Rectangles implied, but some appear to have had a bounce or inhaled a lungful of air. Others seem to have been shaken up or spun around. That’s partly due to the kinetic energy they capture, which seems to indicate recent — even ongoing — movement.
It’s also because they are surprising. Campbell Thomas calls these works paintings, but a careful look makes it clear they are made mostly of pieced fabric. They’re quiltlike, hand-sewn, dimensional.
Stretched in unexpected ways. And then painted.
“The pulling and the tension is still an important part of it,” she says. “It’s become even more magical. I spend all of this time in this initial phase, and I kind of have an idea of what it’s going to look like when I finish. Then I put it up, and it’s interesting to see what has been pulled and how the image has come to life in a different way.”
Dear Star, 2024
Campbell Thomas is the director of the School of Art at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and has taught there for more than two decades. Her resume is filled with solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries around the country. Last year alone, her work was shown in solo and two-person exhibitions in Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Columbus, Ohio. She has been awarded a number of prestigious residencies including at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and has been a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship.
When she takes on a new body of work (like the 10 paintings she’s currently preparing for a November exhibition at Charlotte’s Hidell Brooks
Gallery), she approaches it with the businesslike, stepby-step planning of a senior academic administrator — but she executes that work with daring and intuition.
Campbell Thomas has learned to navigate this duality effectively with time, even as her art has become increasingly complex and her process more fully immersive.
“The piecing and sewing portion has become more complicated and elaborate, involving a lot more small pieces of fabric,” she says.
“I’m understanding that layer of the process in a deeper way, so I’m spending more time in that part of the process.” The stretching of the pieced fabric, which creates its cantilevered quality, comes next.
Once this “ground” of her paintings is set, Campbell Thomas hangs them all around her in her studio. In that way, her physi-
cal space can better reflect her “headspace,” she says, “and then the imagery: I understand better what it wants to be.” She can visualize how paint and collage will eventually come together upon these sewn surfaces: “The visual movement of the pieces feels like the big strokes,” she says, “and the collage will be how I refine them, add nuances or cover things that need to be pushed back down. The paintings become more refined. I begin to understand how to contend with the edges.”
Inside and Out
The studio where she does this work, next to her house in rural Climax, is about 14 miles south of Greensboro. It is a colorjangled, layered collage of a space, overflowing with textiles, history, tradition, mysticism, books, paints and threads and fabrics of every imaginable color, pattern, size and shape.
What’s outside — the fields and trees and open expanse of nature — is just as important. “I live out in the country and walking has been very important to me for my whole life. Walking on country roads, being in a beautiful landscape, has always been a touchstone,” she says.
Lately, Campbell Thomas has been trying to create “landscapes” of a different sort. “What would it be to create landscapes that are suggestive of our interior landscape? How do we create spaciousness for ourselves internally? I’ve been thinking about inhabiting a body, and what it means to inhibit a body
the kids head back to school and the holiday season approaches, it’s the perfect time to refresh your home with new window treatments, pillows, upholstery and more.
Barbara Campbell Thomas
that feels somehow spacious internally.”
The fractalized nature of her paintings, and the way they often begin in the center and move out to the edges, is her way of representing that phenomenon: “That’s me grappling with that question: How do we inhibit interior spaciousness?’
Fabric as Paint
Navigating dichotomies fuels other types of her work, too. The line where quilting ends and painting begins is one more puzzle to ponder, as is the difference between a painting (or, her version of a painting) and a quilt (a distinct form of art which she also makes).
It’s something she’s often asked about, and something she thinks about a lot. But even as piecing and sewing has be-
CELEBRATING91YEARS
come a more comprehensive part of her painting process, she has no doubt that what she makes are paintings. “My orientation as an artist is born in paint, absolutely, and the framework I still operate within has matured and evolved from an understanding of paint as a material,” she says. “That continues to inform everything.”
That dialogue began many years ago with her mother. She’s the one who taught her daughter how to quilt. But it extends through her family tree, to her grandmother and great-grandmothers, makers and stitchers and quilters all. Campbell Thomas has their names listed on her studio wall as inspiration and as a reminder of her heritage. The art journals she carefully keeps are bound with cloth covers made by her mother, who sends her a regular supply.
In these journals, she examines her process and her purpose. Abstraction, she says, allows her to say things she can’t with more literal or figurative types of work. “I’m really fascinated with my sense that there is more to the world than what we can see, and of course that starts to tap into realms of the spirit,” she says. “On the one hand, I’m engaging in this intensely material endeavor, through paint; through fabric. But there’s also this way that this engagement, which is now well over 20 years for me, is a way into spirit.” OH
Liza Roberts is the author of Art of the State; Celebrating the Art of North Carolina.
Central Medallion, 2024
If Life is a Highway, Where’s the Off Ramp?
Tales of peril on the open road
By Cynthia a damS
Recent legislature forbidding distracted driving briefly flickered in the news. Its marketing featured a driver speeding along with a shaggy dog, its head hanging out the window.
Plenty of us recall a time when children or pets could pretty much ride anywhere they would fit inside a vehicle. Heck, even plopped on open-air truck beds. Which is actually still legal for farmers going to and from market.
The 1950s and ’60s ushered in a new era for family travels, and plenty of us couldn’t wait to hit the road. My imaginary friend, Pixie, and I had no trouble squeezing into the family sedan or Dad’s old pickup at any opportunity — I loved riding standing up beside my father with my left arm looped around his neck. There was always room for Pixie beside me, of course.
A nation newly traversed by interstates, thanks to initiatives by President Eisenhower, made a journey a heckuva lot easier. (My Great Uncle Miles regaled us with stories about him and his brother John navigating a trek westward in a “Tin Lizzie,” an atlas their only guide. Upon reaching the Rockies, Uncle Miles said the Model T ended their crossing by rolling backwards down the mountain, having insufficient engine power.
But now the road was open and calling, and rural folk were catching the travel bug.
A friend recalled squeezing above the back seat into the rear window niche of a two-toned, yellow-and-white ’56 Chevy destined for the nation’s capital. (He, too, grew up in a time before children’s safety car seats, seatbelts or any safety constraints.)
“You’d be arrested now,” he chuckled, recalling napping in that window nook as the family vehicle set off. His grandmother, along with his mother, and great uncle and aunt “piled into one car and drove seven hours.”
He woke as they rolled to a stop when they neared D.C., his aunt seeking directions to the closest dime store. He was ordered to remain in the car with his uncle, forestalling the inevitable begging for a toy.
His Aunt Nettie huffed back after leaving the dime store, “We’re going home!”
His crestfallen mother entreated, “But why?”
“You can tell all you need to know about a town by the quality of their dime store,” she answered scornfully. “We haven’t lost anything here.”
His Uncle Elmer turned the Chevy around, driving straight back to Burlington.
Whatever happened in the dime store was not discussed. Did they fail to stock her favorite snuff? “Aunt Nettie was a closet snuff dipper. Beehive [brand].”
I remembered a misadventure of my own in my aunt’s drabgreen, ungainly Plymouth she’d named Zesta.
One summer’s morning, my aunt and my mother packed the car for a husband-free trip to Cherry Grove, a family beach, suitcases strapped to the roof.
There was ample room for 5-year-old me to stand on the Naugahyde rear seat and watch the road retreating behind us as morning dissolved into afternoon. Pixie, my compact friend who looked exactly like Speedy in the Alka-Seltzer ads, was not along for the adventure.
Suddenly, the green Samsonite cases the two sisters had lashed to the roof broke free and I delightedly watched them
bounce along the highway in our wake. Out spilled pajamas, clothing, toiletries and unmentionables. I giggled as motorists did their best to avoid them, veering wildly behind us.
My mother swiveled around. “What is so funny?”
I pointed to the scene behind us. “Our clothes! In the highway!”
My mother screamed.
My aunt screeched to the side of the road, Zesta’s white-wall tires kicking up a dust cyclone.
“What in the world?” my mother shouted at me. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Our aunt was a striking woman, leggy, tanned and outdoorsy. More than one driver slowed just to get a better look at the blonde wearing beige Bermuda shorts, a halter top and white Keds. I myself couldn’t take my eyes off my aunt as she gathered up our belongings as best she could, darting in and out of traffic. Passing cars tooted.
My mother, the prissy one, shouted at her older sister to be careful as she stood cautiously by in a sundress, her hair and makeup just so.
My aunt rescued some pieces from the ditches and roadside, all of it soiled. We continued on our way, the sisters sobered and quiet. “I had a brand-new bottle of Tweed cologne,” my aunt sighed.
“Did ya’ll get new clothes,” asked my friend as we laughed about our road trips gone sideways.
“Of course not,” I answered.
Once at Cherry Grove, we would sit in the sand and eat grape popsicles, plus I rode the surf in an inflatable float.
I still had my blue bathing suit, which I called my “bathing soup.” And my Teddy, too, which I was wise enough to know could not have survived being stuffed into the airless suitcase.
Pixie was away on an Alaskan adventure, which was just as well, I decided. There would be much to tell him when we both returned. OH
Cynthia Adam is a contributing editor to O.Henry magazine.
Surprise Sightings
The rarest of hummingbirds
not be imagining things. Typically, late summer is when I receive a report or two from hosts who have glimpsed a rare pale-colored hummingbird. Birds in unusual plumage tend to be noticed and, given the network of bird enthusiasts I am familiar with, reports of unusual hummingbirds find their way to my phone or computer pretty quickly.
White hummingbirds include both leucistic (pale individuals) as well as true albinos (completely lacking pigment). Gray or tan hummers are more likely than full albinos. Light-colored individuals have normal, dark-colored soft parts such as dark eyes, feet and bills. Albinos, on the other hand, are very rare. These snow-white birds sport pink eyes, feet and bills, and have been documented fewer than 10 times in North Carolina. To date, only three have been banded and studied closely in our state.
It isn’t unusual for people to think they are seeing a moth rather than a hummingbird when they encounter a white individual, not realizing that these beautiful creatures are even possible. In fact, we know very little about white hummingbirds. Opportunities to study these unique individuals are few and far between. What we do know is that they
tend to appear in July or August as young of the year and do not survive into their second season. White feathers are very brittle and likely cannot withstand the stress of rapid wing beats and long-distance migration. Another very curious characteristic is that all these eye-catching birds have been females. So, it’s likely that this trait is genetically sex linked.
The first white hummer I managed to band was a creamy bird in Taylortown, near Pinehurst, over 20 years ago. She was an aggressive individual that roamed the neighborhood terrorizing the other ruby-throateds. The first true albino I documented was in Apex, and that individual was even more aggressive; chasing all the other birds that made the mistake of entering her airspace. To have a chance of studying a white hummer, I must get word of it quickly before the bird heads out on fall migration. I have missed more than one by less than a day.
Just recently I heard about a white hummer in the Triangle area. Excited, I followed up and received permission to try to band the bird. She was mixed in with dozens of other hummingbirds using feeders and flowers on a rural property outside Chapel Hill. Although it took two tries, I was able to get her in-hand. This beautiful hummer was very pale, but had some gray in the tail as well as some tan marbling on the back. Her eyes, bill and feet were still the expected black color.
I hope to hear about another of these tiny marvels before all of the hummingbirds in central North Carolina have headed south. Each one is so unique. OH
Susan Campbell would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. Her email is susan@ncaves.com.
By BiLLy ingR am
Chalk it up to DNA?
The Right Puffs
All aboard for a goo-goo-googly good time
Being born and raised in the Gate City undoubtedly fostered in me a lifelong love for trains, so christened by our proximity to a railway hub that, from 1851 until the present, has served as a vital artery mainlining material goods and shuttling fine folks from point A to point G. Low moaning emanating from nearby locomotive horns, in unison with an underlying soundtrack of discordant notes struck by squealing, steel wheels straining against their railings, invokes an elemental tonality closely associated, in my mind, with home.
In that spirit, I wandered over to one of the twice-weekly open houses at the Carolina Model Railroaders’ studio, located above downtown’s J. Douglas Galyon Depot. There, aficionados of miniature trains, whether teens or senior citizens, were engaged in laying tracks, assembling aesthetic surroundings and, with the turn of a dial, sending scale-model boxcars, carriages and cabooses speeding around their humble hamlets, surrounded by handmade houses and fake, plastic trees affixed to mossy, green plywood.
I first visited CMR, organized over a half-century ago, in 2016, when participants were simulating an Atlantic & Yadkin ride by rail from Greensboro to Winston-Salem, complete with familiar landmarks recreated with an impressive degree of accuracy. The current layout isn’t as elaborate, but the topography is in constant flux. It’s the journey, not the destination, that keeps everyone committed to continuing this all-American activity.
Brannon Carty is a young filmmaker I met recently who trained his documentarian lens on a different manner of miniature railroad, one criss-crossing the mythical island of Sodor, fluffy-clouded home to Thomas the Tank Engine: the stop-motion animated, toddler-oriented series touting morality tales that fuel youthful imaginations, wherever he whistles ’round the bend.
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends made its United Kingdom debut in 1984 before crossing the pond in 1989, when it was
integrated into PBS’ Shining Time Station, starring George Carlin. The show is based on a series of books that first appeared in the U.K. in 1945, written by Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry. Awdry’s idea was to entertain his son, Christopher, the Thomas tomes’ succeeding author.
Currently, the television program is broadcast in over 121 countries and translated into over 20 languages, suggesting an undeniable universal appeal.
“My older brother was into it when I was a young kid,” Carty says, explaining his budding early-2000s tele-crush. “He grew out of it, I didn’t.” Internet forums fueled his fascination, first in elementary school, then chuffing along into later years. “I was talking to all these other people about Thomas and it kind of evolved into being this community, which is really huge.” Part of the allure, Carty believes, comes from playing with the TV tie-in train sets sold in stores. “It’s the perfect storm of merchandising,” he says, paired with the show’s unique production. “It was shot on 35 millimeter so it doesn't look like any other kid show.”
Carty earned a bachelor of arts in media studies at UNCG. “2019 was my last year. I was doing an independent study with Professor Wells, who was into documentaries. He said, ‘Hey, do a doc over this semester and, that's it, you graduate.’” Not sufficiently interested in anything sociopolitical or overly serious, Carty says, “I knew a bunch of adult Thomas fans — I am one. So, I filmed them.” After completing his 45-minute digital dissertation and graduating, Carty decided to continue filming his story. Railroading five fellow filmmakers into his roundhouse, he says, “We wrapped our last interview in 2022 and finished the edit in November 2023.”
Carty recently returned from London, where his Kickstarterfunded documentary, An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact of Thomas the Tank Engine, was screened at a Thomas festival. The film focuses on the peregrinations of a cadre of likable lost boys, newly found, whose one-track minds refuse to apply brakes to a fervent reverence gleaned in earliest childhood memories. That adorable choo-choo
Serving
with the goo-goo-googly eyes chugging full steam ahead into their hearts.
This local locomotion picture also tunnels into the making of the television series, featuring extensive interviews with key contributors — the music producer, prop master, animators, picture book author, even Britt Allcroft, the clever British woman who created the original 1984 Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends animated
“Life
series. The assembled cast of characters are all clearly enchanted yet somewhat surprised by their grownup fans’ keen interest. Superbly shot, edited and paced by Carty and his crew, the film even landed Alec Baldwin, the American narrator for a few seasons.
Allcroft especially comes across as a very sweet, ordinary lady who had the foresight to purchase Thomas’ television rights when no apparent market existed. While it took three years to complete that first season, it was a chance meeting at one of the recording sessions that led to Ringo Starr becoming the program’s original narrator. Also of interest is how divergent, yet alike, the TV version is compared to the 1940s series of books it was based on.
Carty, an avid hiker and climber who’s into fitness, admits that Thomas doesn’t gel well with his less passive pastimes. But “a love for old movies, that’s what led me down this path.” An Unlikely Fandom premiered in November 2023. “Go big or go home,” says Carty ruefully. “We all pulled together to premiere it in the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, which ended up costing so much money.” They
flew in creator Britt Allcroft. “She was a little bit surprised that there were so many adult fans. I don't think she expected it to be so normalized.”
The flying monkeys bestowing awards of excellence have yet to carry this one to heights it deserves, nor has a distributor picked it up yet. Carty, who also narrates the documentary, notes it’s still early. “We've just been sort of touring [the film] for the last couple years. I know The Guardian is about to do a piece on it, which we hope will get someone interested.”
A theory posits that tots tuning into Thomas harbor a latent interest in model trains. Probably should’ve asked when I was down at the Depot watching those young-at-heart men putting their HOs through the paces I imagine Thomas feeling right at home clacking the tracks at Carolina Model Railroaders’ meetups. You may also; new members are welcome at cmrgreensboro.org.
Meanwhile, the erstwhile engine’s 80th Anniversary celebration will be pulling into nearby Spencer, when Day Out With Thomas: The Party Tour puff-puff-puffs up to the N.C. Transportation Museum, arriving September 26–28, then steaming into view again the very next weekend. It’s a genuine bargain at $30 a head, especially considering admission includes a ticket to ride the real Thomas the Tank Engine.
An Amtrak departure from GSO to Spencer will likely be a final opportunity for today’s young’uns to experience what catching a passenger train was like during the golden age of rail travel, to hear “All Aboard!” after entering our breathtaking, magnificently restored, 1927 Beaux-Arts-designed terminal, seemingly frozen in time. For now, anyway. Plans are afoot for the almost century-old Depot’s opulent lobby to be reimagined as a hip entertainment venue, for which I’m not on board. OH
Born and raised in Greensboro, Billy Ingram moved downtown in the 1990s after a career in Hollywood as a key member of the design team the ad world has dubbed, “The New York Yankees of Motion Picture Advertising.”
“Craig worked quickly and seamlessly to facilitate the purchase of our dream house in our dream neighborhood. No email or text was too early or too late in the day - she is truly an Energizer Bunny who makes things happen with the most cheerful disposition. We are so grateful to Craig and look forward to working with her for years to come.”
with Craig!
Fall for Two Fabulous Female Authors
Sunday, September 21 • 2:00- 4:00 p.m.
The arrival of autumn means it’s time to think about snuggling into a cozy nook with a good book. O.Henry magazine proudly welcomes two distinctly different, yet both brilliant, USA Today-bestselling authors from 2–4 p.m., Sunday, September 21, at Grandover Resort & Spa.
Historical fiction your genre? Winston-Salem’s own Sarah McCoy is the New York Times-bestselling author of 8 books, including her forthcoming Hollywood-starlet-turned-nun novel, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely? Looking to dig into a mysterious thriller as the days draw darker? Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today-bestselling and multi-award-winning author of 16 psychological thrillers, including her forthcoming All This Could Be Yours; plus, she has won 37 Emmys for TV investigative reporting. Enjoy a catered spread and sips, then sit down for a conversation with both women as we discuss research, inspiration and the writing process. Double the fun!
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Tickets: ticketmetriad.com
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On the Way Home
from my father’s funeral, a mime is performing on the corner, laid out on the concrete like a corpse, pulling herself up with an invisible rope as if hope were a cliff to climb, then levitates over a pretend chair as if preparing to eat, drinking an empty glass of air, her palms bringing into being the nuanced shape of bread to be broken. I sit on the edge of a scrap of plywood, a makeshift seat, perch as if on a ledge heeding the gravity of all the unsaid. Everything her eyes imply is about the last meal I shared with my father.
“Do you hear me?” she hints with her hands that have become her voice, her frown a phrase, a black drawn-on tear a lost syllable, then, as though life were something tangible, sets up an imaginary ladder, points to a nebulous cloud she intends to reach, waving goodbye as she begins to climb into the sky.
— Linda Annas Ferguson
Linda Annas Ferguson's novel, What the Mirrors Knew, was released in August.
WE ASKED OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS TO THINK OUTSIDE THE CARDBOARD SLEEVE. THE RESULTS? RECORD SETTING.
WHAT: Peter Frampton/Frampton comes Alive WHO: Julie Borshak WHERE: Keith Borshak’s studio Photograph: KEITH BORSHAK
WHAT: Lady Gaga/Fame
WHO: Leslie Gill
WHERE: Cohab.Space, High Point
Photograph: AMY FREEMAN
WHAT: B.B. King/Live in County Cook Jail
WHO: Tony Hall
Guitar borrowed from Steward Fortune
WHERE: Downtown on Washington Street
Photograph: MARK WAGONER
WHAT: Lionel Hampton/Silver Vibes
WHO: Byron Grimes
WHERE: Mark Wagoner’s music studio
Photograph: MARK WAGONER
WHAT:
WHERE: Kontoor Brands World Headquarters
The Rolling Stones/Sticky Fingers
Photograph: BECKY VANDERVeeN
WHAT: The Rolling Stones/Tattoo You
WHO: Nathan James Hall
WHERE: Legacy Irons Tattoo
Photograph: BERT VANDERVeeN
WHAT: Barbra Streisand/The Broadway Album
WHO: Cassie Bustamante as Barbra Streisand
Eloise McCain Hassell as Éponine, Les Misérables
J.P. Swisher as Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha
Ralph Shaw as Jim, Big River, Mary Ries as Peter, Peter Pan
Lee Kirkman as The Phantom, The Phantom of the Opera
A. Robinson Hassell as George M. Cohan, George M!
Amber Engel as Eva Perón, Evita Pam Wheeler as Elphaba, Wicked
Chip Potter as Jesus, Jesus Christ Superstar
Carole Lindsey-Potter as The Witch, Into the Woods
Album covers borrowed from the collections of Eloise & Robby Hassell, J.P. Swisher, Rachelle Walsh, Mark & Lynn Wagoner, Brenda Studt, Carole Lindsey-Potter, Lynn Donovan
WHERE: Carolina Theatre
Photograph: LYnn DONOVAN
WHAT: Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass/Whipped Cream & Other Delights
WHO: Venée Pawlowski
WHERE: Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie
Photograph: LYnn DONOVAN
UNCSA’S CHANCELLOR COLE LOOKS TO THE SCHOOL’S BRIGHT FUTURE
By Billy ingram
Over a quarter century has passed since my last visit to what was then simply known as “School of the Arts.” (Don’t call it that today — they’ve graduated!) Touring their campus over the summer, I was amazed at University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ expansion, with the addition of three enormous, Hollywood-style sound stages, extensive wardrobe and wig departments, an airplane hangar-sized set-painting facility, state-of-the-art imaging studio, and even a quaint city street backlot facade alongside a three-screen movie theater where the RiverRun International Film Festival is held each year. During that late-1990s visit, I donated a bundle of movie posters I had labored on years earlier in Tinsel Town, one of which (Superman IV ) was framed outside the theater’s entrance.
I have returned to meet with Brian Cole, now in his sixth term as chancellor of UNCSA. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the university and, while there will be cake — there’s always cake — Cole is aggressively fixated on a future fraught with unprecedented challenges fueled by rapidly evolving technology and ingrained predaceous business practices threatening to upend every aspect of the arts. He’s clearly up to the task.
UNCSA concentrates on five core disciplines: drama, music, filmmaking, visual arts and dance, with both high school and college curricula. Cole comes from the symphonic side. His pro career started when he apprenticed with the Cincinnati Symphony under the tutorage of one of music’s most eminent maestros, Grammy-winning Paavo Järvi. He went on to teach at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music before circling the globe waving his conductor’s wand before a multitude of illustrious orchestras.
“I think arts and artists are critical to our society and this place plays a critical role in producing those artists,” Cole asserts, seated in his window-rimmed chancellory overlooking a busy corner of campus. “Creativity is why we are successful — because artists are the ultimate problem solvers.”
UNCSA is home to a wealth of expert educators connected to and, in many cases, still actively participating in their attendant industries. “That hands-on experience is something we’re known for,” Cole says. “Producing people ready to create, being job-ready on day one, especially in the production areas. That’s not something other places can really claim to the same degree.” The school is on track for record enrollment this fall, maybe because of its
almost unmatched media exposure in recent months. “People know of us because of the training, but also because we’ve had this incredible impact on all these industries with some notable alumni who are doing amazing work.”
Our media landscape is inexorably shifting, Artificial Intelligence being well past its nascent six-fingered-hands phase. The unexpectedly rapid acceleration of AI’s ability to seamlessly (shamelessly?) complete complex artistic tasks is a pedal to the, ahem, mettle of anyone with creative aspirations.
“We’re having some substantive conversations right now about creating a strategy for this,” Cole says. “It is definitely starting to have a substantial effect on the film and TV industry, on the visual arts, and the music industry. It is an incredibly disruptive technology that has vast potential for good and bad.” A Chancellor’s Task Force has been convened to address how to navigate a new world emerging out of generative AI. “We’re looking at our industry partners who might be able to provide resources for students, faculty and staff. What are the positive ways this is already being used? What are the negatives and how can we get out in front of that?”
While a number of universities are investing heavily in AI, there’s a tendency to focus on so-called hard skills or STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). “I don’t hear as much from arts-training institutions. One of the most important things is, whether it’s music or a poster or a film, if you don’t hear or see the human’s voice in it, then it’s a failure.” Cole quotes a sports analogy coined by Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh about AI: “It’ll help you get down the field quicker, but it will never get you into the end zone.”
This administrator has faced game-changing outbreaks before, having barely transitioned from dean of the School of Music to chancellor when COVID shut everything down. “Solutions we came up with were incredible because of the passion and the creativity of the people on this campus,” says Cole, who may have had in mind that well-worn trope: The show must go on. “I have not seen any other institution in the country from that time period that was doing more, or, in many cases, anywhere near as much as we were and doing it safely.” Carrying on with musical, dance and drama performances, the students were on stage, but the audience caught it via livestream.
Chancellor Cole is equally mission driven when it comes to establishing an intellectual property paradigm for emerging talent.
What exactly would that look like? “A nonprofit media publishing arm promoting the work of the artists of our ecosystem,” he explains. Those artists include “alumni and faculty, but to some degree current students when they are in that launch period.” For now, UNCSA Media is primarily concentrating on music with plans to venture into other artistic avenues represented on campus. “We’ve got four or five albums out or in the works. The key to creative and career success in the future is leveraging the ownership of what you create. And often that had been the thing leveraged over artists.”
It’s called show business. Taylor Swift’s years-long, multimillion dollar effort to wrest control of her early albums and songwriter royalties is an au courant example of an artist signing a lopsided deal in exchange for industry advancement.
Cole recalls discussing that conundrum with legendary pop star John Oates over dinner one evening. “Hall & Oates is the most successful musical duo of all time, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame . . . you’d be surprised how much longer it took in their career to really make any money.”
Perhaps not as well known to the public is UNCSA’s live-in high school curriculum, which emphasizes artistic pursuits while simultaneously offering more conventional course work. “We have alums that come from very small towns and now they’re in really substantial, incredible careers in the arts,” notes Cole. “There was nothing for them in their hometown but they met someone who knew of this high school in North Carolina that was training students in the arts, where you could also have a great academic education as well. For North Carolina residents, there was no financial barrier — our state supports that.”
The chancellor aspires to enroll an additional hundred high schoolers once a larger dorm is completed. “We already have programs in music and dance and drama and visual arts. We want
Behind the Curtain
to certainly expand those but we also want to create a filmmaking concentration. I don’t think there is another one in the country at the high school level.”
As if Cole didn’t have enough to do on-campus, he is also overseeing one major off-campus project, an $85.3-million renovation of the Stevens Center. “It is essentially our biggest high-tech classroom and learning laboratory,” he says, “an important cultural center for professional organizations in our community and for what UNCSA does there.” When completed, it will be a venue where all departments collaborate to mount major productions utilizing actors, dancers, musicians, backstage crews, costume, lighting and set designers, even atypical variables like “animatronics and robotics technicians working in live entertainment. We’re very fortunate that, through the generosity of the state, we’re keeping those skills on pace as well.”
Cole still allows time for conducting, both in country and abroad but less so on campus.
“We have great artists and teachers here, so I don’t want to take too much away from them. For the last two years I conducted our Nutcracker production at the Tanger Center. Big success.” For 2025’s holiday tip-toeing at Tanger, however, Cole will pass the baton to someone else. “It’s good for students to work with different conductors — not just for the orchestra, but also the dancers.”
Reflecting on the passage of 60 scholastic cycles since that inaugural class of ’65, Chancellor Cole muses, “The founders were thinking we would be like the Juilliard of the South. And it very much was. Now I kind of think of Juilliard as the UNCSA of the Northeast.”
Just kindly try to refrain from referring to it as School of the Arts. OH
To apply for UNCSA’s high school programs, visit uncsa.edu/admissions/high-school/index.aspx.
Susan Turcot, whose parents live in Greensboro, went on to have a distinguished film and television lighting career in Hollywood after attending UNCSA. Her credits include mega-hits Independence Day, The Negotiator, Titanic, Panic Room, Pleasantville, The Rat Pack and The Bird Cage. Her skill set? Dimmer board, lighting and rigging, among other specialties.
Her proud parents, Bud and Sharon Turcot, rented out a Sedgefield theater for a private showing when Titanic premiered.
“They gave out tissues and Life Savers,” she recalls with a laugh. Guests filed out of the theater wiping their eyes and Susan regaled them with stories about the set, cast and crew at an afterparty. That Titanic gig, however, couldn’t have delighted her folks more as it grossed over $2 billion, becoming the highest grossing film of its time.
She self-deprecatingly jokes that only her parents’ friends know she has rubbed elbows with the rich and famous and
Cynthia a dams
never name drops. Turcot also worked on the top-rated TV sitcom Two and a Half Men. She didn’t enter UNCSA intending to specialize in dimmer board and rigging: “When I was there [at UNCSA], it was different.” She graduated in the 1980s with a concentration in design and production.
“Of course, there was no film [concentration] then, only theater. It was dance, drama, music, and design and production.”
Turcot left after graduation to pursue opportunities in California and found her niche. She keeps work options open, she says, even if she has been remiss about keeping her resume current. Now, at home in Los Angeles, where she has lived and worked most of her adult life, Turcot says a lot of her fellow graduates are active in the industry there.
In its 62 years, UNCSA has graduated alumni who work in a multiplicity of artistic careers, grabbing headlines well beyond the Triad. Many become notable musicians, actors, screenwriters, directors, producers and dancers. Much larger numbers who graduated from UNSCA’s five professional concentrations work behind the scenes in performing, visual and moving image arts.
UNCSA’s arts-based education produces many unsung heroes of the industry. Imagine a film when the lighting is too harsh — or dim. Or the sound is faulty. Or the casting is all wrong. Or the makeup and costumes are amateurish.
Those in “above the line” roles belong to composers, graphic designers, photographers, producers, directors, actors, musicians and writers. Those who execute on a technical, granular level, include “below the line” professions such as casting directors, production designers, costume designers, editors, cinematographers, camera work, set design, sound recording, makeup artists, sound, electrical and lighting technicians.
Many of those names are not always known to the arts and entertainment audiences. But you do know these talented alumni by their work.
Paul Tazewell, BFA ’86, concentrated in costume design and technology as a student from Akron, Ohio. Since then, he has steadily contributed to a body of creative work recognized as artistically and historically significant.
On March 2 earlier this year, Tazewell made school history when he won the Academy Award for Costume Design for Wicked, becoming the first UNCSA alum to win an Oscar.
He also made Oscar history as the first Black man to achieve that distinction. Plus, he has two Tonys on his shelf, for Death Becomes Her and Hamilton, plus a Primetime Emmy Award.
As an extra feather in the school’s cap, UNCSA quickly posted the news that Wicked was not only nominated in 10 different categories, but won two, scoring a second Oscar for production design. The original stage director, Joe Mantello, and the film’s casting director, Tiffany Little Canfield, both alums, contributed to the stage and screen versions.
Tazewell attributes much of his artistic identity to his N.C. alma mater.
“It was here that I first began to love myself — to trust my own voice. To trust my own vision of myself. And that love has shaped everything since,” he recently said in a commencement speech delivered to the school’s newest grads.
As UNCSA graduates have steadily migrated into professional careers in film, in touring productions, in music, and on Broadway — others are entering newer fields in digital media.
Photographer and director David LaChapelle attended high school at UNCSA, which he has since called his “big break.” This coming from a man whose early work was with Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. His museum-worthy body of work has appeared in the world’s top magazines plus a vast collection of music videos and includes signature photographs of celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Uma Thurman and Elton John.
Earlier this year, the North Carolina Museum of Art hosted two exhibitions of LaChapelle’s work. On display at its two locations in Winston-Salem and Raleigh were more than 80 prints, drawings and videos.
Tanase Popa, who graduated in 2006, studied stage management. Now, he pairs the right talent with the right project. He has since earned a Peabody and an AFI award, and has had multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his work in television and film. He has worked on popular series including Glee and American Horror Story.
The press-averse alum eschews the spotlight. “I want to be the one behind the scenes putting it together,” Popa said in a 2020 interview for the school’s website.
“I never looked at myself as someone who was creative in the sense that I need to write or be a director to put the pieces together that way. I always loved finding the right people for the right project.”
Not every career is spent on the Great White Way or working behind the Klieg lights of Hollywood. Training in production and design easily lends itself to work in an artful aspect of consumerism.
If you’ve shopped at Saks Fifth Avenue, you’ve seen the work of UNCSA alum Connor Matz, who directs the mega-retailer’s windows, visuals and interiors.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurial alum Destinee Steele has built a successful business and career in Florida working as a wig-andmakeup artist since her professional training at UNCSA.
In each case, their creative work is their calling card.
And when you’ve finished a movie that was so good, you just don’t want to leave the theater as the cast of characters behind the scenes scrolls on and on, remember that it’s a reminder how many people work in any production. These unsung creatives get little credit beyond the mention of their name.
Finish your popcorn and read on. Odds are good that those talents — with names like Turcot, Tazewell, Mantella, Canfield and Poppa — honed their skills at UNCSA. OH
Based in Greensboro, the NC
celebrates its 35th anniversary of showcasing the state’s best contemporary dancers
Dance Festival
By m aria Johnson • PhotograPhs By lynn donovan and Brandi sCott
Bathed in fluorescent studio lights and stepping lightly over a cushioned vinyl floor, Jiwon Ha shows her young students how to bolster a fellow dancer who wants to descend gracefully to the ground during a modern piece.
The mechanics are tricky, so Ha, who is remarkably
youthful at 40, demonstrates by leaning way over to her right. Dressed headto-toe in black, she appears as slight and springy as an eyelash.
Her left leg leaves the ground as she reaches the tipping point. She urges her charges to act quickly as gravity does its thing.
“Catch me! Catch me!” she says, hopping on her right foot to stay upright.
Four teenage girls — all students at Dance Project, a Greensboro-based nonprofit devoted to the art of choreographed movement — rush to grab her by the leg, arm and waist.
Suspended in mid-air, Ha uses the moment to teach: Once the counterweight is right, and the stress is balanced, it’s easy to land softly and rebound again. The underlying structure must be right.
It’s a concrete lesson in the importance of support.
The NC Dance Festival gets it.
On October 18, the annual gathering, which is organized by Dance Project, will mark 35 years as the primary showcase for the state’s modern dancers.
The mainstage program for that day will include some of Ha’s students, who’ll appear as a pre-professional group.
On November 7, the young cast will perform again at a special show for students who have been exposed to dance in local elementary, middle and high schools. Both times, the pre-professional dancers will execute a piece created by Ha, which expresses the emotions of adolescence.
“I want to create a dance piece that will connect with the artists and audience members as well,” Ha says. “I’m super-pumped to be a part of the North Carolina Dance Festival.”
Sure, Durham has the American Dance Festival, which pulls from a nationwide pool of talent, but Greensboro’s celebration is distinct because it focuses solely on modern dancers across the state.
That was the vision of the late Jan Van Dyke, who founded Dance Project as a harbor for her own performing company in
1973. Working with university dance programs around the state, Van Dyke launched the festival almost 20 years later, in 1991, with the goal of growing community support for dance.
The festival traveled from campus to campus for several years. Then came a phase of performing at off-campus venues. Since COVID, the festival has centered mostly on the Greensboro
Cultural Center’s cavernous Van Dyke Performance Space, a stage named for the festival’s founder, who died of cancer in 2015.
With Dance Project headquartered a couple of floors above, Van Dyke’s spirit still looms large in the cultural center and in the local dance community 10 years after her passing.
A celebration of her life, co-hosted by Dance Project and UNCG’s School of Dance, will be held on September 28 and will include light refreshments, storytelling and videos of Van Dyke’s work. The event would be a good place for the dance-curious to dip a toe into the festival.
“Some people are a little intimidated by dance — maybe they don’t understand it,” says Anne Morris, executive director of Dance Project and the festival. “We try to open the doors to understanding.”
In crafting the mainstage program for next month’s festival, Morris and her board of adjudicators, who reviewed submissions without knowing who the choreographers were, have tried to assemble a varied menu.
“We work really hard to curate a show that’s a pretty good mix of a lot of things,” says Morris, adding that viewers will see elements of hip-hop, ballet, tap and other genres.
Not charmed by the style of an individual piece?
“Stick around,” Morris urges. “You might find something you like.”
The festival lineup includes an appearance by Stewart/Owen Dance, a well-known company in Asheville. They will perform a work that was commissioned by the American Dance Festival.
“It involves fronts, putting on a mask to be what you think society expects of you,” says Morris. “At times, it has a vaudeville feel.”
Other mainstage artists include:
• Alyah Baker, an assistant professor of dance at UNC-Charlotte. Combining dance with feminist activism, she draws on the work of Black poets Nikki Giovanni and Lucille Clifton.
• Eric Mullis, choreographer and codirector of the Goodyear Arts space in Charlotte. The multi-talented Mullis is also a Fulbright Scholar and an associate professor of philosophy at Queens University. Fascinated by motion-capture technology, his performance will include video projections of color and movement.
• Chania Wilson, a native of Clayton and a 2021 gradu-
ate of UNCG’s School of Dance, will present an excerpt from her Duke University master’s thesis performance. The six-person work, called There is a Ladder, deals with documenting the experiences of Black women in dance.
The thought of returning to Greensboro brings back fond memories for the 26-year-old Wilson. She remembers visiting the city to attend a high school dance day at UNCG.
“I was blown away when I got here,” she says. “I loved the energy — how the community and faculty and students engaged. I thought it was the ideal college environment.”
As a student at UNCG, Wilson says, she was tried by circumstances. The university’s main dance studios were under renovation during her freshman year and her classes were scattered to other stages.
“I made a lot of memories sprinting across campus,” she says.
COVID arrived during her junior year, forcing her to attend classes via Zoom. She recalls being in her off-campus apartment on Spring Garden Street, putting a batch of banana bread in the oven, setting her laptop on the breakfast bar, joining an online class, and doing a West African dance in a 4-by-4-foot space she’d cleared by moving her couch aside.
“Doing West African dance on Zoom was interesting because of the drumming. Sometimes, there would be a lag, and I was like, ‘I know I’m not on beat, but I’m trying.’ It was definitely an era,” she says, laughing now about the experience.
“I think every generation has an element of, ‘Oh, we had to work through this to make us stronger.’ For me, I realized that I dance for the sake of being around other people and community.”
Jiwon Ha found similar comfort in the Piedmont’s dance community. She and her husband, John Ford, a software
developer from Greensboro, moved here from her native South Korea in 2016.
Ha was wary of relocating because of anti-immigrant sentiment expressed by some Americans during the national election year, but dance allowed her to make connections easily.
“I’m so grateful that dance is a universal thing,” she says. “Once we move the body, we are all the same.”
For a while, she struggled with understanding English, especially English soaked in Southern accents.
“Now I say ‘Y’all’ very naturally, and sweet tea is my new drink,” she says. “I’m grateful that I moved here at that time after all.”
As a dance teacher at Elon University, UNC School of the Arts, and Dance Project, Ha is experienced at guiding young students. She taught teenagers at a dance conservatory in South Korea. There, she says, the teacher-student dynamic is hierarchical. Here,
she says, the relationship is more egalitarian, with American students being prone to share ideas with teachers.
“They’re more vocal, which I appreciate,” she says. “It’s a newer generation, and I’m very grateful that I can work with them.”
Her rapport with students is evident in the studio, where she steers them with a keen eye while issuing gentle corrections and ample praise.
“Fall.”
“Rise.”
“Softly walking.”
“Reaching out.”
“Latching arms.”
“Eyes sparkling.”
“Good”
“Nice.”
“Beautiful.”
Ha uses the Graham technique, as in the legendary dancer Martha Graham, which emphasizes the contraction and release of spine. Cupping the hands and spiraling with an open, lifted chest are two hallmarks of the technique.
Ha is quick to demonstrate to her students, often dancing beside them. When they veer off course, she nudges them with a light touch to the arm or back. The dancers appreciate her handson approach.
“Jiwon is really specific, and I like that because it allows me to work on my technique and choreography while feeling really comfortable,” says 15-year-old Heba Shawgi, a student at The Early College at Guilford.
From dance, she says, she has learned lessons that apply to school and personal relationships as well.
“It’s important to be yourself and realize everybody makes mistakes,” Shawgi continues. “Everybody is going through the same learning process.”
Sitting on the floor, chatting with Ha after their class, the girls share what modern dance has meant to them: a place to build physical strength and skills; a place to find friendship and connection with like-minded people; and a place to grapple with emotions, especially the anxiety that can come from comparing oneself to others, whether in school or in the studio.
“It’s hard not to compare yourself to others,” says Sophie Kohlphenson, 17, a student at Weaver Academy. “You have to constantly remind yourself that you’re not gonna dance like the person next to you. It’s definitely a process I’m still trying to work through.”
The young dancers are quick to offer advice to festival-goers who might not be familiar with modern dance.
“I would just tell them to lean into it,” says Jessica Smith, 14, also a student at Weaver. “You can’t really make much of modern dance if you don’t take it all in.”
Sometimes a dance will provide an obvious story, they say. Other times, the works will be less narrative and more abstract, just as with paintings and other fine art.
“Everyone is going to interpret it differently,” says Sid Dixon, 16, a Grimsley High School student. “Take it how you want it. You don’t have to understand it to watch it.”
Later, Ha expands on their thoughts, providing a few more handholds — or footholds, as the case may be — for new audience members.
“Even if someone doesn’t know much about modern dance, there’s still a lot to enjoy: the physicality; the strength it takes; the emotion in the movement; or simply the satisfaction of watching a group move together as one,” she says.
“There’s also something really beautiful about its in-the-moment nature. It’s here, and then it’s gone, just like life. I hope all audience members can sit back and enjoy without feeling pressure to analyze.” OH
For details on the festival, including ticket information, go to danceproject.org.
The View Finders
O.Henry photographer Amy Freeman focuses on family
By Cassie Bustamante • PhotograPhs By a my Freeman
As any photographer knows, life can change in a flash. After years of hunting for a mountain retreat, O.Henry photographer Amy Freeman’s search became more urgent. Her family — husband, Peter, and son, Louis — needed a place where they could escape into nature while spending valuable time together. “It’s been a dream for a long time, a really long time,” she says.
“We’d been looking for years,” agrees Peter. Thirty years, in fact, since Louis was just a small child. They’d perused properties in Brevard, Asheville, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, you name it, sticking within the borders of North Carolina.
As many others did during the early days of COVID, Amy recalls, the family leaned even more into finding a peaceful getaway. “We decided one random Saturday we would go look up in the Roaring Gap area, but — accidentally — we didn’t get off early enough and we ended up on the Fancy Gap exit instead.” They’d crossed over into Southern Virginia. “And, we were like, this is kind of great.”
Suddenly, they had their sights set in a new direction across the North Carolina border just as a curveball came their way. In October 2020, Louis, then 32, was diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy type 1, a form of muscular dystrophy that leads to progressive weakness of the body’s muscles. For a long time, doctors thought perhaps Louis had Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Amy and Peter, however, weren’t so certain.
“Nothing ever made sense to me because he’s so smart, but just struggled in certain areas,” says Amy. Louis graduated from High Point University in 2011 with a bachelor of science degree and works at Freeman Kennett Architects, founded and co-owned by none other than his architect father, who’s been
in the business for over three decades. But Louis is not just book smart. In fact, Amy says, “You should follow him on TikTok. He’s got some hilarious videos. He has a wicked sense of humor.” (You can find him there at @musculardystrophy88.)
Armed with a diagnosis, their mountain home checklist now had new must-tick boxes. “Travel time,” says Peter. Anything longer than an hour-and-a-half in the car can be a challenge for Louis. “The other consideration, the biggest, was that we didn’t want to find a place where he’d have to go up a lot of steps.”
In order to afford the second home, the family decided Louis could move into a single-level downstairs apartment in Peter and Amy’s townhome and sell his place. He was willing to give it up if it meant they could have a mountain house, but they all still wanted their own spaces. “Architecturally, we were looking for a place that would give us separation under the same roof,” says Peter.
“We all need a break from each other,” he quips. Amy chuckles knowingly.
On Peter’s 60th birthday, just as the family was headed home from a weekend at the beach celebrating, Peter came across a home on Zillow that he thought they needed to see. Back in High Point the very next day, Peter called the listing agent. Right away, the family, including Coco the dog, who travels everywhere with them, hit the road and headed to Hillsville. The home provided every necessity they’d listed, including no steps and adequate separation of space.
Plus, the home offered even more than they could have imagined. Beetling on a rocky perch just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the house’s wraparound porch serves as a premium seat to the best show in town — Pilot Mountain amidst an ever-changing kaleidoscope of sky and stars.
“But,” Amy says, “we were like, I don’t think we can afford this.”
“It was super scary,” admits Peter. He consulted with his brother, Trey, who already owned a couple of properties, hoping he could advise them on making it work with their tight budget.
“Are we crazy?” Peter asked Trey.
Trey came to see the home and saw an opportunity. He offered to go in on the purchase and make the house an Airbnb rental 70% of the time, making the financial leap a lot less scary.
With Trey, the Freemans bought the home and quickly got to work, making basic cosmetic changes to prep it for rental. On the main level, the walls were painted a soft neutral. Amy selected Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. But their painter had the color matched at Sherwin Williams and, Amy says, “it was very different.” When she first saw it, she wept. “But I’ve learned to love it.”
Before, bedrooms were a carnival of color, in chartreuse-green, mustard and poppy-red. The Freemans had everything coated in calming, rentalfriendly neutrals. The previous owner left furnishings behind, so they repurposed what they could. An old gun cabinet was transformed into a bookcase. The rest, they cobbled together, bringing bits and pieces from home that had been passed down from their parents and were sitting in storage, like Amy’s father’s red, leather chair and her parents’ oriental rugs. They supplemented with items from Louis’ former condo, such as his sofa.
The once-plain fireplace — “it was just a hole,” says Amy — was decorated with large-scale, charcoal-gray tile grouted in high-contrast white. The tile had been leftover from their own bathroom floor at home. A proper mantel the couple ordered from Wayfair was the icing on the cake. Now, Amy says, visitors often comment on the fireplace. “And I am like, that’s my bathroom floor! I usually walk on that!”
In the kitchen, Amy says, they saved a ton of money by keeping the existing cabinetry and countertops. “We have a problem replacing something that’s perfectly good.”
“That’s our attitude,” agrees Peter. “We’re not cramping the landfill.”
With their inexpensive cosmetic updates, the house was ready to rent out to mountain-seeking vacationers. While the Airbnb share idea enabled the Freemans to purchase the house and they found much success with the rental, Amy says, “We found out very quickly that’s not why we got it.”
“Louis fell in love with it,” says Peter. “He kind of blossoms up there. And I think that made us feel really good, that he was kind of taking to it.”
Unlike Peter, Trey, who owns a house in Athens, Ga., and another in WaterColor, Fla., found he wasn’t able to get to Hillsville often. He wanted to rent the home out even more. Amy and Peter weren’t ready to give up what already little time they spent there. Their wheels started turning.
They were newly invigorated and determined to
find a way to buy out Trey. Amy blurts out, “We manifested it!”
Peter chuckles. “Well, we sold our office building.”
“OK, we sold our office building, but, I mean, I manifested it,” Amy says teasingly.
With the house now 100% theirs, the Freemans removed the Airbnb listing and got to work putting their personal stamp on the place.
“We love a project!” says Amy.
Unlike many couples who struggle DIYing together, Amy and Peter have always gotten along incredibly well throughout the process. “It really is amazing that I can almost finish her sentences and she can finish mine,” Peter says of planning designs with his wife.
Inside, they updated the kitchen by painting the cabinets a soft, spruce green and replacing the once brown-hued countertops with white quartz. What brought it all together was the backsplash tile, which came from “a new, cool sample” Peter had gotten in at the architecture firm that happened to match perfectly, Amy recalls.
“It is nice to be in the business,” says Peter.
They began bringing more personal pieces from home. A side table the couple purchased from Pier1 Imports the first year of their marriage features a little upside-down man holding a glass top. Amy recalls thinking that its $60 price tag was too rich for their newlywed blood. “Somehow,” she says, “it survived over the years.” Now, a true conversation starter, it sits next to the living room sofa.
A large Cordial Campari vintage marketing poster print Amy and Peter purchased at Rooster’s on State Street 25 years ago hangs on the kitchen wall. Nearby on a perpendicular wall, a caustic-wax painting that looks like a birch tree anchors a table and two stools. It was a birthday gift to Amy last year from her friend, local artist Dana Holliday. “It’s my most treasured piece of art.”
The biggest change they made was painting the exterior, which is constructed of hardy cypress, a dark shade of charcoal. “Peter walked around the house 1,000 times, considering, and finally decided he
wanted to go darker,” says Amy.
“Peter never brags on his design chops,” Amy continues, “but I am here to tell you he imagines things that I typically can’t wrap my brain around.” The Freemans originally thought they’d use a natural wood trim, but, around that time, Amy photographed a July 2023 story for O.Henry, “Beyond the Back Door.” She was inspired by an outbuilding Otto & Moore had renovated and painted a similar charcoal, but its door was a cool shade of blue. In the end, they opted for a “dark, greenish blue,” says Amy, and now the home blends in with the hardwoods that surround it.
While they still have other projects they’d like to slowly chip away at — perhaps an art studio — they’ve made the Hillsville home all theirs. “Now it doesn’t feel like we’re just going up to our Airbnb for the weekend,” says Amy. “It feels like home.”
Most Fridays, the family hops in the car, with Coco, of course, and heads to the Blue Ridge Mountains for the weekend. “We breathe the minute we get off of 74 and start to rise up the mountain,” says Peter, audibly exhaling.
Able to unplug for a bit, the Freemans spend their days visiting the nearby Floyd Farmers Market, Primland Resort or Chateau Morrisette, which was founded by William Morrisette of Greensboro’s Morrisette Paper Co. Current co-owner Melissa Morrisette, the founder’s daughter-in-law, has become an incredible friend. “We are welcomed like family when we are at the winery.”
And when they don’t feel like venturing out, the 4-acre property and its surrounding area offers plentiful rest and recreation. There’s fishing nearby, which Peter hopes to get into when he retires one day. Just 10 minutes from the house is a very short but beautiful hiking loop Amy loves to trod. But, she quips, even a trip to the mailbox can be a walk through nature’s wonder.
“Porch time, as we like to call it,” Amy says, is a favorite family pastime, and Peter agrees. The first thing he does every morning is step outside onto the expansive porch to take in the view.
“One of the things that Amy said years ago when we first started this process was, ‘I want to go somewhere with big sky,’” recalls Peter. “And that always stuck with me.” Looking out to Pilot Mountain in the distance, the sun setting off to the right in a rainbow of misty blues, golden oranges, all the way to fiery red, there’s no denying her wish was granted here. In fact, you can catch both the sunrise and sunset from this vantage point on the porch — and plenty of “big flyers,” including pileated woodpeckers.
“It just feels like you’re in a treehouse and nothing else in the world exists,” Amy muses.
But the biggest blessing this house has bestowed upon the Freemans is the freedom it’s given Louis. Once an avid snowboarder and golfer, Louis is yet again able to adventure outdoors, thanks to a side-by-side — a utility task vehicle (UTV) Amy was totally against at first. A fallen
tree that was blocking their driveway, however, changed her mind.
Up at the house by herself, she called her neighbors to see if they could help her clear the small tree. Mariah, who’s around Louis’ age, cruised on over on her side-by-side with a Bear Saw. She cut the tree and then used a winch attached to her side-by-side to pull the tree away. Immediately, Amy says, “I go in the house and call Peter and say, ‘Y’all can go ahead and get that side-by-side. I think we need one.’”
In fact, Amy says, she’s had to reframe her perspective on other things, too. “Nowadays,” she says, “we bring the party to us.” Rather than venturing out to visit friends, they welcome guests to stay at their Hillsville home with them. Two extra en-suite bedrooms, Amy notes, provide lots of privacy.
Life’s given the family unexpected circumstances, “but then you just realize that’s OK,” says Amy. If not for living under the same roof with Louis, “I would never have gotten his humor. I would have never been able to see that part and how strong and courageous he is.”
It’s a privilege, Peter agrees. Most parents, he adds, don’t get to know their children as adults in the way that they’ve been able to know Louis. “We all get so much more connected with the Earth and nature,” he says. And, it seems, to one another.
“We’re the three musketeers,” quips Amy. OH
ALMANAC September
By a shley Walshe
September is the letter you don’t see coming. The one you will memorize. The thorn and the balm for your aching heart. Dear one, summer writes in florid longhand. This won’t be easy. I love you, and I must go.
Your head spins. You can smell her on the pages, in the air, on your skin — the spicy-sweet amalgam of pepperbush, honeycomb and night-blooming jasmine. You steady yourself and keep reading.
Her tone is as soft as lamb’s ear, gentle as butterfly, warm as field mouse. Still, your heart feels like an orchard floor, each word a plummeting apple. Not just the fruit wears the bruise. You can never lose me, she writes. Close your eyes and feel me now.
Sunlight caresses your face, chest and shoulders. At once, you’re watching a movie reel of summer, recalling the riot of milkweed, the tangles of wild bramble, the deafening hum of cicadas.
Picnics and hammocks. Daydreams and dragonflies. Puffballs and palmfuls of berries. It’s all right here.
When you open your eyes, you notice a lightness in your chest — a shift.
Yes, a yellow leaf is falling. But, look. Wild muscadine climbs toward the dwindling sun, singing silent vows in golden light. You can chase me if you wish, she writes, her script now hurried. Or, you can be as fruit on vine: purple yet unbruised, ripe with sweetness and steadfast as the seeds you hold within you.
Bird Candy
If you think our flowering dogwoods put on a show in early spring — striking white (or pink) bracts popping against the still-leafless woods — just wait until month’s end, when its ripe berries bring in waves of avian passersby.
Of course, there are the usual suspects: mockingbirds and jays; woodpeckers and warblers; cardinals, catbirds, thrashers and thrushes. But if you’re lucky, those clusters of brilliant red berries could conjure migratory wonders such as the scarlet tanager, the rose-breasted grosbeak or even a rowdy troupe of cedar waxwings to your own front yard.
According to one online database (wildfoods4wildlife. com), the flowering dogwood berry ranks No. 29 on the “Top 75” list of wildlife-preferred berries and fruits. While blackberries top the list, flowering dogwood ranks above persimmon, plum and black cherry (note: ranks were determined by the number of species that eat said fruit, not by its palatability). If curated by tastiness — or mockingbird — sun-ripened figs would have surely made the cut.
Lucky Charms
On Sept. 19, three days before the Autumnal Equinox, look to the pre-dawn sky to catch a thin crescent moon hovering ever close to brilliant Venus. Although a lunar occultation of the Morning Star will be visible from Alaska and parts of Canada (that’s when the moon passes directly in front of the planet), we’ll witness a conjunction more akin to charms dangling from an invisible chain.
To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall.
— Ann Patchett
The A r ts
C.P. Logan • Carolina Theatre • Choral Arts Collective
Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro • Creative Greensboro
GreenHill Center for NC Art • Greensboro Ballet • Greensboro Symphony Guild
Hirsch Wellness • Marshall Muse Gallery • Music for a Great Space
Old Salem Museums & Gardens • Piedmont Craftsmen
Randolph County Tourism & Development Authority • Reynolda House
RhinoLeap • Seabolt Upholstery
Tanger Marketing • UNCG College of Visual & Performing Arts
Wake Forest Face to Face • Well-Spring
GROWING CULTURAL VIBRANCY IN GREENSBORO
GROWING CULTURAL VIBRANCY IN GREENSBORO
A culturally vibrant Greensboro is a community where all residents have access to diverse cultural, educational, and natural resources. The Community Foundation is proud to provide current grant support to these outstanding arts and culture organizations.
A culturally vibrant Greensboro is a community where all residents have access to diverse cultural, educational, and natural resources. The Community Foundation is proud to provide current grant support to these outstanding arts and culture organizations.
Cambodian Cultural Center of NC Casa Azul of Greensboro
Cambodian Cultural Center of NC Casa Azul of Greensboro
Preserves Cambodian heritage through culturally grounded youth programs in classical dance, Khmer language, civic engagement, and mentorship.
Preserves Cambodian heritage through culturally grounded youth programs in classical dance, Khmer language, civic engagement, and mentorship.
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
Preserves the culture of the Blues through cultural awareness education, live music, and community outreach activities that honor Blues traditions drawn from Black American folk traditions.
Preserves the culture of the Blues through cultural awareness education, live music, and community outreach activities that honor Blues traditions drawn from Black American folk traditions.
Provides the environment and resources for creative expression of Latino culture through arts, advocacy, and partnerships that build understanding and strengthen families.
Provides the environment and resources for creative expression of Latino culture through arts, advocacy, and partnerships that build understanding and strengthen families.
Public Art Endowment
Public Art Endowment
The Community Foundation also hosts the Public Art Endowment which funds the long-term and permanent placement of new and significant public artworks across our community.
The Community Foundation also hosts the Public Art Endowment which funds the long-term and permanent placement of new and significant public artworks across our community.
Royal Expressions Contemporary Dance
Royal Expressions Contemporary Dance
Produces intellectual and inspirational dance productions, professional-quality dance training, and outreach programs for underserved communities.
Produces intellectual and inspirational dance productions, professional-quality dance training, and outreach programs for underserved communities.
301 N. Elm St., Ste 100
301 N. Elm St., Ste 100
september 16, 2025
EARVIN “MAGIC” JOHNSON
A basketball legend and businessman spanning multiple industries and generations, he aims to help companies expand and foster a positive impact domestically and globally.
LJVM Coliseum
november 6, 2025
MITT ROMNEY
A statesman, businessman and former governor, senator and presidential nominee, he will offer in-depth insights into leadership, policy and America’s most pressing challenges.
Wait Chapel
february 26, 2026
LT. GEN. H. R. MCMASTER
A bestselling author, he served as National Security Advisor and retired as a lieutenant general from the United States Army after 34 years of service.
Wait Chapel
april 15, 2026
CYNTHIA ERIVO
Three-time Academy Award nominee and star of “Wicked,” she captivates audiences while serving as a fearless voice for women and people of color and setting new standards for diversity across the arts.
LJVM Coliseum
Shop Seagrove!
Handmade Pottery Capital of the United States
Kick off Fall 2025 by joining Seagrove Potters on the first two Saturdays in October in celebration of “American Craft Week”.
Find your perfect pottery pumpkin on the Potters’ Pumpkin Patch Trail along NC Pottery Highway 705, weekends, during the month of October at participating potters.
Get a head start on your holiday shopping and immerse yourself in the world of handcrafted artistry at the Seagrove Pottery Event Weekend, Saturday & Sunday, November 22nd & 23rd. It’s the perfect chance to find unique gifts, add to your own collection, and experience the rich tradition of Seagrove pottery in a festive, pre-holiday atmosphere. the
COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA
Oct. 17 | 8:00 PM legacy of the legendary jazz bandleader William James “Count” Basie
Oct. 25 | 7:30 PM a performance featuring works of UNCG School of Music faculty and students COLLAGE
EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE
Nov. 1 | 8:00 PM a New York City-based company rooted in African American & Latine street and club dances
LESLIE ODOM JR.
Jan. 10 | 8:00 PM a multifaceted, award-winning vocalist, songwriter, author, and actor
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE
Mar. 27 | 8:00 PM a leading figure in opera— as a singer and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry
Joseph M. Bryan, Jr. and The Cemala Foundation Underwriting Sponsors: Melissa Greer/Berkshire Hathaway and UNCG Housing and Residence Life Hospitality Sponsor: Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels Media Sponsor: Our State Magazine
CREATIVE GREENSBORO
The City’s Office for Arts and Culture
Culture. Creativity. Community.
Neal Gri n, III and and Darwin Smith.
Kenny Pieper, Murrine Bowls
Inspired living a t
Where every day is a standing
At Well-Spring, retirement is anything but ordinary. Nestled in northwest Greens boro, our Life Plan Community offers vibrant living, exceptional amenities and a deep commitment to lifelong learning and creativity.
One of our most treasured features? The Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre –a professional-grade, 340-seat venue that brings the arts to your doorstep. From resident-led performances and lectures to concerts, dance, and visiting artists, the theatre is a cultural centerpiece that inspires, entertains and connects.
Whether you're in the audience, behind the scenes or mingling in the theatre lobby with friends, there's always something magical happening at Well-Spring. Live with purpose. Thrive with creativity. Discover Well-Spring.
Schedule a tour today at well-spring.org or call us at (336) 579-5600. well-spring.org
The Marshall Muse Gallery is a creative, welcoming, and inspired space for all where art, community, and imagination come together.
Creative Opportunities & Events
Fine Art Gallery
Pottery & Gift Gallery
11 Artist Studios
Art Classes for all Ages
Create & Sips
Yoga & Movement Classes
Custom Framing
Adult Workshops
Coffee, Tea & More
Kids Camps
Kids Creative Nights Out
Private Art Parties
First Fridays
Second Saturdays
Third Thursdays
Jazzy Sundays
Art Scavendar Hunts
Creative Self Care Days
Yoga by Candelight
Adult Classroom
Kids Classroom
Sip & See Galley Cafe
My Muse Station & more!
Coming This Fall
September 2025
Before attending any event, it’s best to check times, costs, status and location. Although we conscientiously use the most accurate and up-to-date information, the world is subject to change and errors occur!
SEPTEMBER EVENTS
September 1–30
MAKING CONNECTIONS . This installation of works from the Weatherspoon’s attic showcases the gallery as an academic museum with abiding connections to its campus, Greensboro and broader communities. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
CONSTANT/CHANGE . Explore the works of eight emerging North Carolina artists in this juried exhibition. Free. GreenHill Center for NC Art, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greenhillnc. org/exhibitions.
PATTERN RECOGNITION. Explore the power of pattern in this exhibit featuring works from the Weatherspoon collection. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
CONVERSATIONS IN BLACK . Take a walk through historical photographs and ephemera submitted by long-time Black residents of Greensboro. Ultimately, they will be digitized and made widely available, broadening access to the city’s rich heritage. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
September 1–7
ARTISTS AT EDGEWOOD. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Meet the last two of this summer’s 30 artists-in-residence, Lonnie Webster and Tim Boyd, at Elliott Daingerfield’s restored historic cottage in Blowing Rock. Free.
Cirque du Soleil
September 4-7 • First Horizon Coliseum
Main Street and Ginny Stevens Lane, Blowing Rock. Info: artistsatedgewood.org.
September 2–7
IT’S SHOWTIME. Times vary. Beetlejuice, a darkly comedic musical based on the original Tim Burton film tells the story of a haunting couple, an angsty teen and the ghost with the most. Tickets: $30+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/ events.
September 3
READING THE WORLD. 7–8 p.m. Discover and discuss contemporary authors’ works in translation, such as this month’s pick — The Other Profile by Irene Graziosi. Free. Online. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/events.
September 4–7
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL. The 15-year-old
show entitled OVO is revamped and reimagined with new sets and dazzling acrobatic feats. Tickets: $67.35+. First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/ events.
September 4
COMMUNITY STUDY SESH. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Explore art and video games with Gabrielle Zevin, author of the bestselling novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, along with John Borchert, director of UNCG’s Network for the Cultural Study of Videogaming. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart. org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions.
September 5–20
ENVISIONING FOLK . Explore how contemporary artists interpret and preserve folk traditions through their creative
practices at this exhibit that celebrates the enduring power of folk art; public reception and opening from 6–9 p.m., Sept. 5. Free. Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov/departments/ creative-greensboro
September 5–7
APPLEFEST. Enjoy three days of live music, rides, silent auctions, raffles and entertainment benefitting Little Pink Houses of Hope, an organization that supports breast cancer patients and their families. Tickets: $10+; cancer survivors and children 12 and under, free. 7618 Laurens Lane, Gibsonville. Info: facebook.com/applefest.
September 5
FIRST FRIDAY STORYTIME. 10–10:30 a.m. Bring your young children outside to enjoy engaging books, playful movement and cheerful songs with a member of the Youth Librarians team from Greensboro Public Library. The first 15 families can snag a free book courtesy of Ready for School, Ready for Life and The Basics Guilford. Free. Woven Works Park, 401 Cumberland St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway.org/events.
FIRST FRIDAY. 6–9 p.m. Head downtown for a night of live music and happenings stretching all the way from LeBauer Park and the Greensboro Cultural Center to the South End. Free. Downtown Greensboro. Info: downtowngreensboro.org/first-friday.
FIRST FRIDAY MUSIC. 6–8:30 p.m. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a live set by A.R.C.Y., a dynamic professional duo performing a vibrant mix of pop, rock, and Latin music.Free. GreenHill Center for NC Art, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greenhillnc. org/events.
SOULAR FLARES. 6–9 p.m. Line dance while the band plays “Wobble,” “Boots on the Ground,” and other linedancing hits. Free. Stephen D. Hyers Theatre at the Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov/departments/ creative-greensboro.
EASTON CORBIN. 7:30 p.m. The artist who’s “A Little More Country Than That,” takes the stage. Tickets: $40+. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com/events.
September 6–30
FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM. Peruse paintings by Harlem Renaissance artist William H. Johnson created specifically to pay tribute to African American activists. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
September 6, 11, 13, 27
LIVE MUSIC. 6:30 p.m. Enjoy live music from an array of artists including Burdette Music Duo, 7 Lakes Band and Jamie Trout. Free. Starworks Cafe & Tap Room, 100 Russell Drive, Star. Info: starworksnc.org/starworks-events.
September 6
MIRAMAR & MARITZAIDA. 7:30 p.m. Celebrate the sounds of Latin romanticism and cultural revival as two bold voices in bolero music share the stage for one night. Tickets: $25. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com/events.
September 7 & 28
KARAOKE & LINE DANCING. 4–7 p.m. Two of your fav activities merge for one evening of fun with DJ Energizer. Free. Center City Park, 200 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: greensborodowntownparks.org/calendar.
September 8
NAME THAT BIRD. 5:30–7 p.m. The Piedmont Bird Club guides a leisurely stroll while teaching beginner bird identification. Free, registration recommended. Morehead Park Trailhead, 475 Spring Garden St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway.org/events.
September 9–14
N.C. COMEDY FESTIVAL. Times vary. Catch comedians from around the state in this festival of laughs that takes place at two neighboring venues plus
september calendar
Winston-Salem’s Marketplace Cinemas. Tickets: $9.13+. The Idiot Box, 503 N. Greene St., Greensboro; Next Door Beer Bar & Bottle Shop, 505 N. Greene St., Greensboro; Marketplace Cinemas, 2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. Info: idiotboxers.com.
September 9
Kenny G. 7:30 p.m. The Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer and record producer who created the smooth jazz genre hits the stage for an evening of soulful tunes. Tickets: $77.10+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events.
September 10
CASELLA SINFONIETTA. 7:30–9 p.m. Enjoy a faculty-student side-by-side concert of works by Steve Reich, Maria Schneider and Aaron Copland while a video of Martha Graham’s original choreography for “Appalachian Spring” plays. Free. Tew Recital Hall, 100 McIver St., Greensboro. Info: vpa.uncg.edu/events.
September 11
CURATOR’S TALK. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Exhibition curator Dr. Virginia Mecklenburg discusses William H. Johnson’s work, legacy, and his Fighters for Freedom series. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
BAD MOMZ OF COMEDY. 7 p.m. Hilarious moms share anecdotes that could be straight out of your own family’s living room. Tickets: $25+. In the Crown at the Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com/events.
NEW TO TOWN OR STARTING FRESH? 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Whether you’re new to town or your life has taken a new turn, the Greensboro Newcomers Club invites you to munch and mingle at its annual kickoff luncheon. Registration required: members, $20; nonmembers, $25. Union Grove Baptist Church, 5424 Union Grove Road, Oak Ridge. Email for details: info@greensboronewcomersclub.com.
September 12–14
N.C. FOLK FEST. Times vary. Enjoy a three-day celebration of cultural heritage through live music — featuring a multitude of local, global and roots artists — dance, handmade crafts, food and family fun. Free. Downtown Greensboro. Info: ncfolkfestival.com.
RODEO. Times vary. The Carolinas’ first Professional Bull Riders Team, Carolina Cowboys, returns for a rip-roarin’ ride during Cowboy Days. Tickets: $32.15+. First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 13
WALKING GREENWAY TOUR. 9–noon. Travel the 4-mile loop of the Downtown Greenway while learning about the project itself as well as local history, surrounding neighborhoods, public art installations, environmental stewardship, economic impact and more fun tidbits of information. Free. LoFi Park, 500 N. Eugene St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway.org/events.
SOULAR FLARES E.P. RELEASE. 6–9 p.m. While you’re downtown enjoying the N.C. Folk Fest, swing by to celebrate this local band’s latest compilation. Tickets: $15+. Stephen D. Hyers Theatre at the Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greensboro-nc.gov/departments/ creative-greensboro.
PUT A RING ON IT. 7 p.m. In this theatrical production, three brothers see women very differently. Tickets: $41.36+. High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point. Info: highpointtheatre. com/events.
FOLK FEST AFTER PARTY. 10 p.m. If you haven’t had enough live music, continue to jam with The Slys with William Hinson. Tickets: $15. Flat Iron, 221 Summit Ave., Greensboro. Info: flatirongso.com/events.
September 15
RECYCLING MYTHS. 5:30–6:30. Solid Waste & Recycling debunks common myths and reveals the truth about what can and cannot be tossed in the recy-
cling bin. Free. Downtown Greenway Meeting Place, 801 W. Smith St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway. org/events.
September 16–27
ART LIVES HERE. During this twoweek exhibition, peruse and bid on artist-donated pieces, with proceeds going toward Hirsch Wellness Healing Arts, which provides programming and classes to in-treatment cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and medical staff. Free. Gallery 1250 at Revolution Mill, 1250 Revolution Mill Drive, Suite 123, Greensboro. Info: hirschwellnessnetwork.org/art-lives-here.
September 16
SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE OPEN HOUSE. 7:30-8:30 p.m. Reel and jig your way into an evening of lively music, fun and friendly dancing — no partner or experience needed, but you must wear soft-soled shoes. (Regular classes meet Tuesdays from September through June.) Open house, free. Guilford Grange, 4909 Guilford School Road, Greensboro. Info: gsoscds.org.
September 17
KRISTIN HARMEL. 11:30 a.m. The New York Times -bestselling author, whose latest book is The Stolen Life of Colette Marveau , will present at the High Point Literary League meeting, followed by a book signing. Members only, but membership enrollment is open and the public may attend the signing following the lunch. High Point Country Club, 800 Country Club Drive, High Point. Info: hpliteraryleague.org.
YAPPY HOUR. 5:30–7:30 p.m. Bring your four-legged-and-leashed bestie to an evening of splashing, treats and mingling with community organizations and canine-centric companies. Free. LoFi Park, 500 N. Eugene St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway.org/events.
September 18
LEDISI. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $69.05+. Kick off High Point Theatre’s 50th season with a performance from this Grammywinning R&B artist. High Point Theatre,
220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point. Info: highpointtheatre.com/events.
September 19–21
POW WOW. Native Americans as well as locals are invited to come together to dance, sing, visit with old friends and meet new ones at the Guilford Native American Association’s annual Pow Wow. Country Park, 3802 Jaycee Park Drive, Greensboro. Tickets: $7+. Info: guilfordnative.com/annual-pow-wow.
September 19
ART TALK. Noon–1 p.m. Museum curator Elaine D. Gustafson and UNCG art historian Claire Ittner discuss William H. Johnson’s work. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
EL ADÍOS DE UNA GRANDE. 7:30 p.m. Chelo returns to the Greensboro stage one last time, accompanied by legends of the Regional Mexican Genre. Tickets: $82+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events.
ROYAL BINGO. 7 p.m. Brenda the Drag Queen hosts an evening of Green Queen Bingo for ages 15 and up. Tickets: $20+. Piedmont Hall, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
THE QUEENS. 8 p.m. Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Stephanie Mills hit the stage for a night of powerhouse megahits. Tickets: $113.95+. First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
SPEED FRIENDING. 5:30–7:30 p.m. Looking to make new friends and spark great conversation? Register for your age group’s time slot and come away with new buds. Free, registration required. LoFi Park, 500 N. Eugene St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway.org/events.
September 20–30
GLASS PUMPKIN PATCH. Take a stroll through and shop from a glimmering garden of more than 3,000 handblown glass gourds, pumpkins and seed
pods created by Starworks artists. Free. Starworks, 100 Russell Drive, Star. Info: starworksnc.org/starworks-events.
September 20
GREENSBORO PRIDE. 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Don your rainbow attire and celebrate the LGBTQIA2+ community with a street fest including a parade, vendors and eats. Free. South Elm Street, Greensboro. Info: greensboropride.org.
SUN & STARS GALA. Sip on cocktails and enjoy dinner before grooving to live country tunes from Parmale all to benefit Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center. Tickets: $500. Grandover Resort & Spa, 1000 Club Road, Greensboro. Info: wakehealth.edu/locations/ hospitals/high-point-medical-center/ high-point-regional-health-foundation/ sun-and-stars.
LADIES NIGHT OUT TOUR. 7 p.m. Dru Hill & 112 are joined by special guest Ginuwine for a night of smooth and sultry grooves. Tickets: $32.75+. White
Oak Amphitheatre, 1403 Berwick St., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
OLE 60. 8 p.m. This new-on-the-scene band brings their blend of grunge, blues and Southern charm. Tickets: $46.30+. Piedmont Hall, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/ events.
September 21
O.HENRY MAGAZINE AUTHOR SERIES. 2–4 p.m. Enjoy snacks and sips with two incredible USA Todaybestselling authors, Sarah McCoy and Hank Phillippi Ryan. McCoy dips into the past with her historical fiction novel Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely? while Ryan will discuss her thrilling mystery All This Could Be Yours. Tickets: $70–90. Grandover Resort & Spa, 1000 Club Road, Greensboro. Info: ticketmetriad. com/events/ohenry-magazine-authorseries-sarah-mccoy-hank-phillippi-ryan-9-21-2025.
SPIN THE BLOCK COMEDY TOUR. 7 p.m. Laugh your rear off as DC Young
Fly, Karlous Miller and Chico Bean take the stage. Tickets: $70.65+. First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 23–28
TALE AS OLD AS TIME. Candelabras, teapots and wardrobes come to life as bookish Belle finds herself locked in a mysterious castle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast . Tickets: $49.45+. Steven Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Info: tangercenter.com/events.
September 23
LORNA SHORE. The deathcore band from New Jersey is joined by special guests The Black Dahlia Murder, Shadow of Intent and Peeling Flesh. Tickets: $69.55+. Special Events Center at First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 24
UNCG JAZZ. 7:30 p.m. UNCG’s Jazz Ensembles I and II celebrate the blues in
LADIES CLOTHING, GIFTS, BABY, JEWELRY, GIFTS FOR THE HOME, TABLEWARE, DELICIOUS FOOD
september calendar
all its forms. Tickets: $7+. In the Crown at the Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre. com/events.
JAZZ NIGHT. 6:30 p.m. Sip brews and munch on tasty eats while tapping your feet to Soul Noises. Free. Starworks Cafe & Tap Room, 100 Russell Drive, Star. Info: starworksnc.org/starworks-events.
September 25
ART MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE. 5–7 p.m. Weatherspoon members, friends and students are welcome to celebrate the museum’s fall exhibits, including Fighters for Freedom , on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free. Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St., Greensboro. Info: weatherspoonart.org/exhibitions/ current-exhibitions.
MELISSA ETHERIDGE & INDIGO GIRLS. 7:30 p.m. Relive your Lilith Fair memories with two incredible
Grammy-winning female acts whose work spans decades. Tickets: $50.75+. White Oak Amphitheatre, 1403 Berwick St., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 26
DIAMOND RIO. 7:30 p.m. Enjoy a night of country hits from this Grammywinning band that just rounded the corner on three decades of music. Tickets: $59.51+. High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point. Info: highpointtheatre.com/events.
MADDOX BATSON. 7:30 p.m. The young country singer-songwriter whose work went viral on TikTok and YouTube takes the stage with special guest Ashley Anne. Tickets: $46.30+. Piedmont Hall, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 27–28
MONSTER TRUCKS. The Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire is rollin’ into town, with stunts and tricks to delight fans of all ages. Tickets: $24.50+.
First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 27
GREENWAY RUN & BLOCK PARTY. 4–7 p.m. Run, walk or jog in the 15th Annual Downtown Greenway Run & Block Party, and then stay for the vendors, food trucks and entertainment. LoFi Park, 500 N. Eugene St., Greensboro. Register: runsignup.com/Race/NC/Greensboro/ Run4theDowntownGreenway.
ART LIVES HERE GALA. 6–8 p.m.
Following a two-week exhibition and silent auction of art, celebrate with music, food and beverages, with proceeds going toward Hirsch Wellness Healing Arts, which provides programming and classes to in-treatment cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and medical staff. Tickets: $50. Gallery 1250 at Revolution Mill, 1250 Revolution Mill Drive, Suite 123, Greensboro. Info: hirschwellnessnetwork.org/art-lives-here.
Living Information For Today (L.I.F.T.)
L.I.F T. is a social support program that helps surviving spouses ad just to the loss of their partner. It gives participants the opportunity to socialize with others who share similar feelings and experiences. This program is both entertaining and educational, with speakers on a wide variety of topics. For more information on the L.I.F.T. program, please contact Hanes Lineberry Funeral Services at 336-272-5157
NATIONAL DANCE DAY. 1–9 p.m. Professional dancers representing a variety of cultural styles and genres invite the community to join them; food trucks and vendors on-site. Free. LeBauer Park, 208 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greensborodowntownparks.org/calendar.
THE KEY WEST BAND. 7 p.m. Celebrate the music of the legendary Jimmy Buffet with this tribute band plus special guests, including three members of Buffet’s Coral Reefer Band. Tickets: $35+. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre. com/events.
FASHION SHOW. 3 p.m. Local boutique WatchLadyJB welcomes you to a fashion show like no other, “Elevating Your Total Uniqueness.” Tickets: $33.89+. High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point. Info: high-
into clothes and household decor. Then try your hand at making some of your own and don some of the fashions of the times. Free. Historical Park at High Point Museum, 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point. Info: highpointmuseum.org.
GOOD VIBES. 7 p.m. G.V.O.E. (Good Vibes Over Everything) Too returns with Sunqueen Kelcey and The Soular Flares. Tickets: $25+. Flat Iron, 221 Summit Ave., Greensboro. Info: flatirongso.com/events.
September 28
23 SKIDOO & THE SECRET AGENCY. 3:30 p.m. Bring the whole family to an interactive performance by an electric ensemble and Grammywinning hip hop artist. Tickets: $18+. Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: carolinatheatre.com/ events.
Handmade In House
down at the club. Tickets: $46.43+. High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave., High Point. Info: highpointtheatre.com/ events.
STEP-A-WAY. 3–5 p.m. Don your boots and learn some new line dances with the Double B Steppas. Free, registration recommended. Downtown Greenway’s Freedom Cornerstone, 750 Plott St., Greensboro. Info: downtowngreenway. org/events.
September 29
ROMANCE BOOK CLUB. 7 p.m. Romance is not dead — it’s alive and well at Scuppernong Books’ monthly online book club. Free. Info: scuppernongbooks.com/events.
BELLE MEADE SOCIETY DINNER
5:30–7:30 p.m. Enjoy a delightful dinner amongst fellow history lovers at this
THE STORY SO FAR. 7 p.m. Rock out for the night with this American poppunk band. Tickets: $63.45+. Special Events Center at First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro. Info: gsocomplex.com/events.
September 30
SINFONIA. 7:30–9 p.m. Sit back and relax as UNCG musicians take the stage in symphonic harmony. Free. Tew Recital Hall, 100 McIver St., Greensboro. Info: vpa.uncg.edu/events.
WEEKLY HAPPENINGS
WEDNESDAYS
LIVE MUSIC & PAINTING. 6–9 p.m. Evan Olson and Jessica Mashburn of AM rOdeO play covers and original music while artist-in-residence Chip Holton paints. Free. Lucky 32. 1421 Westover Terrace, Greensboro. Info: lucky32.com.
FAMILY NIGHT. 5–7 p.m. Enjoy an artdriven evening with family and friends in the studios. Free. ArtQuest at GreenHill Center for NC Art, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro. Info: greenhillnc.org/events.
MUSIC IN THE PARK. 6–8 p.m. Sip and snack at LeBauer Park while grooving to local and regional artists. Free. Lawn Service, 208 N. Davie St, Greensboro. Info: greensborodowntownparks.org/calendar.
THURSDAYS
JAZZ AT THE O.HENRY. 6–9 p.m. Sip vintage craft cocktails and snack on tapas while the O.Henry Trio performs with a different jazz vocalist each week. Free. O.Henry Hotel Social Lobby, 624 Green Valley Road, Greensboro. Info: ohenryhotel.com/o-henry-jazz.
THURSDAYS & SATURDAYS
KARAOKE & COCKTAILS. 8 p.m. until midnight, Thursdays; 9 p.m. until midnight, Saturdays. Courtney Chandler hosts a night of sipping and singing. Free. 19 & Timber Bar at Grandover Resort & Spa, 1000 Club Road, Greensboro. Info: grandoverresort.com.
FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS
LIVE MUSIC. 7–10 p.m. Enjoy drinks in the 1808 Lobby Bar while soaking up
live music provided by local artists. Free. Grandover Resort & Spa, 1000 Club Road, Greensboro. Info: grandoverresort.com.
SATURDAYS
HISTORIC WALKING TOURS. 1 & 5 p.m. Take a guided walking tour through the history of downtown Greensboro at 1 p.m. or, if you’re into true crime, stroll through The Gate City’s darker side, covering 1953–1997, at 5 p.m. Tickets: $14. The Bodega, 313 S. Greene St., Greensboro. Info: trianglewalkingtours. com/book-online.
BLACKSMITH DEMONSTRATION. 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Watch the sparks fly and red-hot iron turn into farm implements as the past is recreated under the able hands of a costumed blacksmith. Free. Historical Park at High Point Museum, 1859 E. Lexington Ave., High Point. Info: highpointmuseum.org. OH
To submit an item for calender consideration, email ohenrymagcalender@gmail.com by the first of the month prior to the event.
www.randymcmanusdesigns.com
GreenScene
Chamber of Commerce’s 2025
Economic Impact Day
N.C. A&T State University May 15, 2025
Photographs by Darryl Lewis
“ Thank you Greensboro for 40 amazing years!”
Anne Shoemaker, Dr. Telisha Roberts, Lu-Ann Barry
Precious Quite-McCloud, Tiffany Jacobs, Kate Phillips, Dr. Chanelle James
Mark & Renee Hicks Walker Jo Welborn-Hilliard, Michael Brandon
Marius & Hilary Andersen
Sponsor Appreciation Party
Home of Ginger and Haynes Griffin
April 17, 2025
Paul & Laura Kilmartin, Mark & Kim Littrell, Mary Ingram
Chris Eaton, Louann Clarke, Ginger Griffin, Brenda Macfadden, Jennifer Nowlin
Barbara Partlow, Jennifer Nowlin, Peggy Bardelli
Enjoly Murray, Karen Frye, Erin Trollinger
Sheryl Arrington, Brenda Macfadden
Richard & Dianne Shope
Ginger & Haynes Griffin
Barbara & Bob Braswell
Michael Drusdow, YiTing Hu
Rhonda Bentz, Barbara Key, Mary Ingram, Mary Rush
Gigi Renaud and Joan Stevenson
Gigi Renaud, Jeffrey Loy, Joan Stevenson, Denise Loy
Val Wolicki, Laura Green
Nick Piornack, Lisa Allen
GreenScene
TAG Annual Gala & Art Auction
Congdon Yards May 2, 2025
Photographs
by Aesthetic Images
Courtney Best , Emily Ragsdale
Michael & Morgan Qubein
Dudley & Mary-Lynn Moore
Chase & Katie Rowell, Katie & Sam Fulp
Lee & Stuart Nunn
Maria & Taylor West
Jeff Horney, Kate & Wylie Hutchison, Claire Horney
Brian & Mary Crowder
Braden Newman, Leslie Moore
Stephanie & Michael Beaver
Chip & Mary Eliza Duckett
The Sun Also Rises — and Shines Where It Shouldn’t
By Cynthia a dams
Same Time, Next
Year’s setting — which movie critic Janet Maslin sniped was the only thing that saved the 1978 film from being ruinously boring — nearly upstaged star-crossed lovers Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. When opportunity (aka cheap airfare) allowed, I envisioned a romantically windswept trek to the rugged cliffs of Mendocino with my husband.
But Mendocino in autumn was dead but for a whistling wind. A tour of the quaint, old inn left little to do beyond admiring said cliffside. The cottage where Burstyn and Alda trysted was a set that Universal Studios transported southward to the Heritage House Resort.
Hollywood fantasy versus stark-naked reality?
Yet I remained resolved to continue whatever explorations our teensy-tiny budget allowed. Discovering cut-rate fares to Key West, I pounced. Hemingway! Cuba! Key West practically screamed bucket-list adventure. Knowing little, I relied upon my hairdresser for information, booking his favorite inn.
We escaped a cold, dreary Triad to reemerge inside a sunny haven.
A pastel golf cart driven by a gorgeous man collected us at the airport. Key West pulsed with energy. Colorful restaurants abound, including Blue Heaven, started by a Chapel Hill family, Louie’s Backyard and Pepe’s Cafe, a President Truman favorite. Our inn overflowed with beautiful, tanned people. With an exception: a pasty-white, portly couple who were anything but. They were improbable in such a setting; him, stentorian, Orson Wellesian, and she wore her gray hair primly coiled in a perm.
We hurriedly dropped off our bags bound for Hemingway’s house and its storied cats. The innkeepers suggested a private sunset sail for guests later.
Disappointed, we decided to meander back down Highway 1 to San Francisco.
Outside of Mendocino, a roadside stand turned out to be a pop-up head shop where I spied a little pink pottery pipe. This scandalized my more conventional husband, but it seemed to me the perfect souvenir.
When signs for Bodega Bay came into view, I shrieked excitedly that we couldn’t miss Hitchcock’s setting for The Birds.
Bodega Bay was another sleepy outpost — an actual bay with working fishermen. No ominously gathered birds.
Hitchcock deployed mechanical birds, plus over 25,000 live seagulls, sparrows, finches and crows. Of the 3,200 birds trained for the film, Hitch mostly used ravens. Seagulls, he told Dick Cavett, were the most aggressive. Many were trapped at the San Francisco city dump by the trainer, who revealed they instinctively “go for your eyes.” By the time the film wrapped, a traumatized Tippi Hedren had endured not only bird assaults, but Hitchcock’s, too.
Of course, I knew none of this.
Over a seafood lunch in Bodega Bay, I gloomily realized that it was not that California had changed since Hitchcock and Alda had worked their movie magic: It was me.
Which, we discovered once aboard, was swimsuit optional.
As Nora Ephron quipped, our young selves had no idea we would never again look as good in — or out — of swimsuits. But the majority remained fully suited up . . . apart from the pale couple we noted at check-in.
Shucking off suits, cellulite be damned, they hoisted themselves to the prow of the sailboat. There, they proceeded to suck each other’s lips off as he twined his fingers through her curls.
The rest of us awkwardly averted our eyes as they eventually cannonballed off the bow to swim au naturel. That evening, the lovebirds padded through the lobby scantily clad, sunburned the deepest scarlet of a Key West sunset.
Checking out days later, we inquired about their, uh, sunburns. The innkeeper leaned close. “They’re Chicagoans. A same time, next year couple,” he whispered. “She’s his secretary. He’s a big deal lawyer. And they meet up here. Every. Single. Year.”
My husband could barely contain himself as we left, me stunned into silence. “Well, you finally got your wish,” he chortled, doing his best to stifle outright laughter. “Be careful what you wish for,” he managed to choke out as I ignored him, another illusion shattered, our golf cart streaking past a Hollywood-perfect Key West sunrise. OH
