WALTER Magazine - March 2023

The Art & Soul of Raleigh

MARCH 2023

waltermagazine.com

Carolina Tiger Rescue Behind the Scenes AUTHOR CHARLES FRAZIER INSIDE HISTORIC LAMAR HALL TENNIS STAR MARY LOU JONES 2023 MUSIC FESTIVALS

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DEPARTMENTS

MARCH 2023

OUR TOWN VAULT: Are You Down?

Sculptor Michael Richards

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SPORTS: Lifetime Leader Tennis legend Mary Lou Jones

IN EVERY ISSUE 12

Editor’s Letter

MUSIC: Best of the Fests 2023 music festivals in N.C.

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Contributors

17

Your Feedback

NATURE: Water Warriors A cute salamander that’s only found in our area

19

Datebook

89

The Whirl

95

Extras

CREATORS: The Trackers Cold Mountain author Charles Frazier’s latest project

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End Note

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On the cover: Carolina Tiger Rescue. Photograph by Bob Karp

8 | WALTER

SIMPLE LIFE: A Little Stuffed Potato Wisdom Lessons from full-grown tater tots

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35

35

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Mallory Cash (FRAZIER); courtesy News & Observer (BLUEGRASS)

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FEATURES

50

10 | WALTER

49

Letter to Madeline

by Danae Younge

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History to the Max Inside Matthew Brown’s impeccably preserved Lamar Hall

by Katie Pate photography by Trey Thomas

62

Team Tiger Behind the scenes with staff at Carolina Tiger Rescue

by Genie Safriet photography by Bob Karp

70

I y Purim Celebrating the Judaic Art Gallery in its 40th year

by Ayn-Monique Klahre

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The Great Escape Book now! Eight exotic places you can fly to direct

by Rachel Simon

Trey Thomas (HOUSE); courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

70

EDITOR’S LETTER

Left: Traveling with the violin! Right: Laura Wall (right) with her mother, Charlotte Day, at Carolina Tiger Rescue.

I

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was thinking about habits the other day, how they turn into routines. In the fall, my coworker Laura mentioned that she was collecting pull tabs (from the tops of aluminum soda cans) for charity. They are small, dense and easily recyclable, so you can redeem them for money. Along with her cohort at the National Charity League, Laura has been collecting them to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I mentioned it to my kids, and my youngest has really run with it. She comes home with pull tabs in her backpack from the elementary school cafeteria. She and her friends pull trash out of the creek, carefully pulling the tabs off of any cans before the rest goes into the garbage or recycling bin. I find pull tabs in her pockets when I do the laundry. She paws through our recycling, making sure we didn’t miss any pull tabs from the cat food cans.

I hope this little habit will stick with her, a reminder that little efforts add up and make a difference. Surely, this is the first step in raising her into a civicminded adult?

Another habit we’ve been building over the last year is getting the girls to practice their musical instruments. They started the violin and piano in February of last year. At first, getting them to practice was torture; I spent more time reminding, cajoling and threatening than they did making music.

So at a teacher’s suggestion, we started an old-fashioned paper chart with 100 boxes on it. If they could practice 10 days in a row, they’d get ice cream.

After 25, a trip to the dollar store. Fifty, we’d get our nails done. And so on. I truly did not think they would make it to 10, based on the struggles we were having — but they did! Twenty-five came surprisingly quickly, and so did 50. Now, they’ve completed their first 100 chart and are almost through with the second.

Practicing every day has become a habit, just like brushing their teeth and doing Wordle in the morning. We just celebrated their one-year violinaversary and piano-versary (words that have not caught on, despite my best efforts) and they each have a nice little repertoire to pull out for the grandparents on FaceTime. My older one has even taken her violin on a train and an airplane!

So far, Laura and her team are 29 pounds towards their goal of collecting 100 pounds of pull tabs. Email me at ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com if you want to contribute!

Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor

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MARCH 2023 EDITORIAL

PUBLISHING

Editor AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com

Publisher DAVID WORONOFF

Creative Director LAURA PETRIDES WALL laura@waltermagazine.com Associate Editor ADDIE LADNER addie@waltermagazine.com

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

Carnival of the Animals SAT, APR 1 | 4PM

Michelle Di Russo, conductor Paperhand Puppet Intervention

Larger-than-life puppets and the Symphony will bring the animal kingdom to life for Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals.

YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONCERT SERIES SPONSOR

WakeMed Children’s Teddy Bear Clinic The team from WakeMed Children’s invites you to join them prior to the concert for a special Teddy Bear Clinic. Bring your favorite furry friend for a little TLC. From band-aids and splints to X-rays and hugs, we have just the right treatment to get your cuddly friends on the road to recovery.

Seats selling fast— buy today! ncsymphony.org | 919.733.2750 14 | WALTER

Contributing Writers A.J. Carr, Wiley Cash, Jim Dodson, Mike Dunn, Hampton Williams Hofer, David Menconi, Katie Pate, Genie Safriet, Rachel Simon, Helen Wildy, Danae Younge Contributing Poetry Editor Jaki Shelton Green Contributing Copy Editor Finn Cohen Contributing Photographers Mallory Cash, Bob Karp Eamon Queeney, Trey Thomas Contributing Illustrators Gerry O’Neill Jesse White

Advertising Sales Manager JULIE NICKENS julie@waltermagazine.com Senior Account Executive & Operations CRISTINA HURLEY cristina@waltermagazine.com Events Manager KAIT GORMAN kait@waltermagazine.com Finance STEVE ANDERSON 910-693-2497 Distribution JACK BURTON Inquiries?

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CONTRIBUTORS

HELEN WILDY /

RACHEL SIMON /

W R I TE R Helen Wildy is a comedian originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Helen jokes about growing up “American Irish” in comedy clubs all over the U.S. She can be seen regularly at Goodnights Comedy Club and has worked with greats like Dave Attell, Moshe Kasher and Cameron Esposito. In January 2023, Helen recorded her first comedy album, Bomb Threat, with Helium Records (to be released later this year). She spends rare nights in with her partner, Victoria, and their cat, Manny, in “the lesbian hotspot known as Apex, North Carolina.”

“It’s a dream to write for WALTER magazine and share these stories with the great city of Raleigh.”

W R I TE R Rachel Simon is the author of Pickleball for All: Everything But the “Kitchen” Sink and a writer for The New York Times, NBC News, People, Glamour and more. She also teaches writing with Redbud Writers Project and Gotham Writers Workshop. She lives in Raleigh with her husband. “I love getting to travel and explore the world, which is why it was so exciting to discover all of the direct flights that RDU has to offer!” courtesy contributors

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BOB KARP / P HOTO G R A P HE R Bob Karp received his BFA from Syracuse University. He was a photo editor, staff photographer and multimedia producer for Gannett NJ Press Media Group for 30 years. He moved to Raleigh four years ago to become a freelance documentary photojournalist. “I have a strong love for animals, so I was happy to visit the Carolina Tiger Rescue for this article. I am grateful that I can share the great work they do, and find myself humbled to be in the presence of these gorgeous creatures. Visiting Carolina Tiger should be on everyone’s bucket list.”

P HOTO GR A PH ER A lifelong passion for architecture and interior design, coupled with a serious love of photography, led to Trey Thomas switching careers in 2012 to focus exclusively on interiors and architectural photography. “I was fortunate enough to tour this home during Oakwood’s Candlelight Tour, and was left practically speechless. This led to much excitement when, only a few months later, Laura asked me to photograph this gem. Matthew is passionate and encyclopedic in his knowledge of historic homes and this detailed restoration is an incredible achievement. On top of that, the furniture, art and uniquities he has amassed over his travels are a treasure in their own right.”

FEEDBACK We love to hear from you!

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The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 17

History that Puts

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If nature has taught us anything it’s that time is precious. Good thing

Kinston-SU`Ya iĀXYĎghąX \Y ÞĒ][naYbĔ. Come join us — and spend the day touring our historic homes. Exploring our heirloom gardens. Or filling your soul and your senses with food so fresh it’d make James Beard blush. So grab your keys. Reserve your favorite hotel. And enjoy the magic of time well spent.

ART + ARTISANS

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STORIES + SUNSHINE

OUR TOWN Spring is near and with it comes stargazing, flower-forward events, arts fundraisers and the opening night of the Durham Bulls’ season.

by ADDIE LADNER

courtesy DASAN; Walter Archives (CHATHAM RABBITS, PALMER, DOUGHERTY)

Clockwise from top left: Chatham Rabbits; Dasan Ahanu; Patrick Dougherty; Rissi Palmer

NOTED

BIG NIGHT IN

March 9 | 7 p.m.

Three years ago, the Arts Councils of Wake County, Durham County and Chatham County, along with the Orange County Arts Commission, united to raise money for local artists. It was the height of the pandemic, a time when live concerts and art exhibitions were canceled and working artists struggled. Their efforts took shape as Big Night In, a musical revue and arts show that was broadcast on televisions throughout North Carolina. The fundraiser was such a success that it’s become an annual tradition, raising more than half a million dollars to support arts and culture through grants to nonprofit cultural organizations, public art and artist-in-residence programs. This year, Big Night In’s lineup includes country musician Rissi Palmer, husband-and-wife folk duo Chatham Rabbits, sculptor Patrick Dougherty and poet Dasan Ahanu, who was recently named the Piedmont Laureate. Catch the show live on WRAL or head to the Mayton Inn in downtown Cary for the official Big Night In Watch Party to enjoy the music live and in-person, along with food and drinks. “We are thrilled to be presenting these incredibly accomplished artists from across the Triangle,” says Jennifer McEwen, president and CEO of United Arts. “The donations they bring in make the Triangle the unique and beautiful place in which we all love to work and live.” Free to watch; broadcast and live-streaming, WRAL-TV; bignightin.org All information is accurate as of press time, but please check waltermagazine.com and the event websites for the latest updates.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 19

DATEBOOK AN EVENING TO IGNITE Pull out the rhinestones, neon and space-inspired swag for An Evening to Ignite: Galactic Glam, a futuristic and philanthropic evening. This year, the annual fundraiser from MerrimonWynne House and Band Together will benefit No Women, No Girl. This local nonprofit collects everyday essentials NOTED like feminine products, toothpaste and shampoo for girls and women in the area who are experiencing poverty or are in crisis. With the help of La Fête Planning & Design, prepare for an intergalactic evening of fun cocktails (Margarita from Mars, anyone?), rousing game tables and a packed dance floor thanks to tunes from nine-piece party band Light Years and local DJs. For the menu, expect cosmic-inspired cuisine like “solar flare” bites and “nebular nachos.” “With your help, we can make an out-of-this-world impact on their mission: to provide hope, everyday hygiene essentials and education to women and girls in the Triangle area. Brace yourself for an evening encapsulated with cosmic cocktails, casino games, canapés, constellation stations and more,” says Mary Steury with Merrimon-Wynne. From $150;400 N. Blount Street; merrimonwynne.com

STARGAZING AT THE WILLARD

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March 1 & 29 | 7 - 9 p.m.

The moon and the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter — a phenomenon where the two planets appear incredibly close together — will be visible for two evenings this month. Get a better look from the rooftop of Glenwood South’s The Willard Rooftop Lounge, where the Raleigh Astronomy Club will provide telescopes and the bartenders will serve up celestial-inspired cocktails. In the past, one of those libations has been the Deep Field, a butterfly pea flowerinfused gin libation with lemon, honey and aquafaba. Free; 9 Glenwood Avenue; thewillardraleigh.com

SIGN OF THE TIMES March 4 | Various times Kicking off this month, the North Carolina Museum of History will unveil its newest exhibition, Sign of the Times. It explores the protests and marches that 20 | WALTER

have occurred in our state’s communities over time. That includes the stories of people who were involved, issues that galvanized the movements, and how, over time, these protests have shaped society. From early efforts like the 1774 Edenton Tea Party through emancipation to current-day movements for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, women’s rights and voting equity, this exhibit explores questions of racial and social justice, civic duties, civil rights and environmental activism across North Carolina.

Ayla Ammon, curator of political and cultural history at the museum, says working on the exhibition has been eyeopening: “Putting together this exhibition showed us how important protest is in both American and North Carolina history. You can’t help but walk through and feel the excitement, passion, horror and hope that inspired people to pursue the ‘more perfect Union’ they were promised in the Constitution. We

courtesy Merrimon-Wynne

March 3 | 8 p.m.

hope it will help people understand that protest is a topic worthy of historical study and that it will show them how ordinary people make history every day.” 5 E. Edenton Street; ncmuseumofhistory.org

MOZART: SYMPHONY NO. 40 March 9 - 26 | Various times The artists of Carolina Ballet will dance to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 for the first time this month. Artistic director Zalman Raffael is excited to share a blend of music and choreography with the audience on stage. “Mozart subtly captures human undertones, allowing the dancers to portray the refined elements of the symphony while expressing their true natures as well,” he says. Along with this number, there will be another ensemble premiere by the ballet’s resident choreographer, Amy Hall Garner. From $27; 2 E. South Street; carolinaballet.com

NATURE NERDS March 10 | 1 - 2 p.m.

Expand your knowledge of the Triangle’s unique flora and fauna by exploring areas of Lake Crabtree County Park.

As part of the park’s monthly Nature Nerds series, which explores a different group of plants or wildlife each month, park educator Charles McClay will lead guests through paved and lakeside trails in the woods to look for early spring blooms such as Trout Lilies, Atamasco Lilies and azure bluets. While walking, you can also contribute to science research by helping collect data for the park’s Biodiversity Project. Open to ages 10 and up; minors must attend with a registered adult. Preregister for the event, as it fills up fast. Free; 1400 Aviation Parkway, Morrisville; wake.gov/parks

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE March. 11 | 10 a.m.

Downtown Raleigh will be filled with people wearing green for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, now in its 39th year. The route begins at the intersection of N. Wilmington and E. Lane

Street, then continues along Wilmington Street, down Fayetteville Street, and ends at the intersection of S. Salisbury and W. Lenoir Street — so there are plenty of corners and sidewalk spots to set up shop. Bring the family to see the bagpipe players, tap dancers, decorated floats and all the other characters that participate each year. After the excitement, continue the Ireland-inspired holiday with brews and pub fare at Hibernian (311 Glenwood Avenue) or Flying Saucer (328 W. Morgan Street). Free; downtown; raleighstpats.org

ART IN BLOOM March 15 - 19 | Various times Art in Bloom — the annual event when pieces from the North Carolina Museum of Art are interpreted in flowers — is back this year. Beyond taking in the stunning floral works inside the museum, there are many ways to enjoy the event. On Mar. 16, foodscape pioneer Brie Arthur will host a workshop titled Inspiring Combinations to teach home gardeners how to successfully add both ornamental and edible plants to their landscapes. Watercolorist Ryan Fox will lead a class on Mar. 18 to explore creating palettes and layers on paper through water and paint. And with your purchased ticket to Art in Bloom, enjoy live tunes in the cafe from a range of performers including Persian classical act Sayeh Ensemble and Smitha Prasad, a vocalist specializing in South Indian Carnatic music. From $30; 2110 Blue Ridge Road; ncartmuseum.org

FANCY NANCY THE MUSICAL Starting March 17 | Various times If you have young children or grandchildren, chances are you’re familiar with the beloved children’s book series Fancy Nancy by Susan DiLallo. It chronicles a spirited young girl and her adventures at school and home with family and friends. Raleigh Little Theatre is bringing the character to life this month with Fancy Nancy the Musical. It follows Nancy and her friends Rhonda, Wanda, Bree and Lionel as they prepare to make

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The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 21

DATEBOOK

THE MUSIC OF PHIL COLLINS & GENESIS March 17 & 18 | 8 p.m.

Hear the North Carolina Symphony pay tribute to legendary musician Phil Collins and his band Genesis at Meymandi Concert Hall. Conducted by Stuard Chafetz and with vocals by Aaron Finley and Brook Wood, expect to relive beloved tracks like “One More Night,” “Take Me Home” and “Follow You Follow Me.” From $30; 2 E. South Street; ncsymphony.org

UNPLUGGED Mar 16 | 7 - 9:15pm Visual and performing art have become one with Artspace’s Unplugged series.

This month, they’ll feature Stray Local,

HEIGHTS HOUSE SUPPER CLUB

NOTED

March 13 & 14 | 5 or 7:30 p.m.

Liz Grandchamp of Grandchamp Hospitality and Sarah Shepherd of Heights House Hotel have collaborated on an intimate monthly popup dinner set in the dining room of the historic Italianate mansion. Over seven courses, guests can enjoy an elevated, seasonally inspired menu with offerings from scallop crudo to handmade pasta to osso buco. Wine professional Halsey Merritt curates the pairings and Heights House Parlor barman Will Bryant pours specialty cocktails. March’s menu is inspired by the Piedmont region of Italy, known for its incredible wine, olive oil, truffles, cheeses and pasta varieties. Jeff Bramwell, the former wine director of Italian bistro Mother and Sons in Durham — who is currently writing a book on the region — will be contributing to this month’s menu for an extra-authentic experience. $95; 308 S. Boylan Avenue; heightshousenc.com/supper-club

Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts 6KDULQJ )RXU &HQWXULHV RI 6RXWKHUQ 6W\OH

The British Are Coming!

A Coronation Day Celebration of British Design May 5-6, 2023: Winston-Salem, NC Join us for two days of inspiring lectures and British cuisine as we celebrate the lasting legacy of classic British design on Southern spaces inside and out.

www.mesda.org/design

Presented to the Community by:

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22 | WALTER

courtesy Will Bryant for Heights House

their onstage debut — an exciting event, until Nancy doesn’t get the role she has her eye on. From $13; 301 Pogue Street; raleighlittletheatre.org

“INTERESTING STUFF” FOR YOUR HOME & COLLECTIONS

the indie songwriting pair of Hannah and Jamie Rowen. Artspace’s director of community engagement David Moore says the series, sponsored by Come Hear NC and The Longleaf Hotel, has proven to be a community builder. “We’ve built an intentional connection between live music and the artwork in our gallery spaces through storytelling,” says Moore. “We set out to create a unique vibe to attract a wider audience, and so far the response has been extremely positive.” From $15; 201 E. Davie Street; artspacenc.org

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AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY MCIVER & LIZA ROBERTS March 23 | 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Be the first to experience Durham artist Beverly McIver’s new exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM).

Liza Roberts, author of Art of the State and WALTER’s founding editor, will host an evening of intimate conversation, heavy hors d’oeuvres, beverages and a book signing. McIver, a nationally recognized artist profiled in Roberts’ book, is known for her raw, expressive portraits. From $45; 409 W. Martin Street; waltermagazine.com/savethedate

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MINDFULNESS AT THE MUSEUM March 23 | 10 a.m.

Stretch and flow in the Rose Jackson and Evelyn Thiem Garden at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design as part of its Mindfulness at the Museum: Yoga in the Garden series, which will take place once a month through May. March’s session will be led by sports and yoga enthusiast Jeff Manning with the Alexander Family YMCA. Before or after yoga, explore the rest of the ground’s heritage trees and walkways, or visit the exhibitions inside the museum. This month, you’ll find This is Not: Aldwyth in Retrospect in the Adams and Woodson galleries. It pays homage to Aldwyth, an artist whose collage and found object artwork has been exhibited all over the world, despite her rarely leaving her home in the South Carolina marshland. Free; 1903 Hillsborough Street; gregg.arts.ncsu.edu The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 23

DATEBOOK

SENSORY 101 March 31 | 6:30 p.m.

Enjoy a good glass of red, but don’t exactly know why? Do you wonder what a wine list means when you read notes of leather or smoke or heavy on the tannins? Learn the lingo of wine like a pro at Vitis House for its Sensory 101 class led by Sarah Malik. Originally from the United Kingdom, Malik earned a diploma from the International Sommelier Guild and is a certified wine specialist and educator. In this class, you’ll use your nose and mouth to better learn the aromas and characteristics that various grape varieties bring to your favorite glass. $99; 1053 E. Whitaker Mill Road, vitishouse.com

DURHAM BULLS OPENING NIGHT March 31 | 6:30 p.m.

Take me out to the ball game! Cheer on the Durham Bulls, our favorite North Carolina minor-league baseball team, for opening night against the Norfolk Tides at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The evening will also include a pregame celebration of the Bulls’ fourth Triple-A National Championship, which they won in 2022. Psst — word on the street is that seats around section 215 offer both a view of the game and of the sunset over Bull City. From $17; 409 Blackwell Street, Durham; milb.com/durham

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Smith Hardy

March 24 | 7 p.m.

Celebrate the release of musical duo Joe Troop and Larry Bellorín’s debut album, Nuevo South Train, at Durham’s The Fruit. Bellorín hails from Venezuela, where he’s widely known for his folk talents. Troop is originally from Winston-Salem and is a Grammynominated bluegrass musician (with his band Che Apalache) whose style is also influenced by travels to Argentina and Spain. “Nuevo South Train could only come about when a virtuoso Latin American folk musician like my soul brother Larry decides to make North Carolina his home,” says Troop. “What Larry is doing in my stomping grounds is what I did during my decade in South America.” Musician and album producer Charlie Hunter, rock and country musician DaShawn Hickman, and jazz artist Brevan Hampden will also be performing. Arepas and coffee will be for sale

on-site, and The Fruit’s bar will be open. $25 suggested donation; 305 S. Dillard Street, Durham; larryandjoe.com

Bob Karp

LARRY AND JOE

Creating spaces that bring people together.

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24 | WALTER

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CHAPTER 15

Wake-Up Call

S

he should have known better. Peace and quiet were nearly impossible to come by with this bunch. They knew that after a long walk and an exhausting kiteboarding lesson, she’d be down for the count. But it’s OK. Dad will help her get back at them. Unless, of course, it was his idea all along.

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VAULT

ARE YOU DOWN? courtesy of The North Carolina Museum of Art

An exhibition of Michael Richards’ work expands on themes from a visitor favorite

by HAMPTON WILLIAMS HOFER

T Michael Richards’ Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian at the NCMA.

wenty years ago, the North Carolina Museum of Art organized an exhibition in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk. It featured more than 50 contemporary artists exploring the idea of flight, among them the late Michael Richards, whose sculpture Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian has remained on view at the NCMA ever since and has become a visitor favorite.

But a new exhibit opening March 4 provides evidence that Richards’ thematic explorations go far beyond aviation, into issues of freedom and escape, racial inequality and social injustice. The traveling retrospective Michael Richards: Are You Down? is his largest-ever solo exhibition, showing how his work holds a contemporary relevance as uncanny as the manner of his tragic and untimely death.

Seven feet of resin and steel, initially cast in plastic from Richards’ own body, Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian is a gilded figure of a pilot in uniform, suspended on a pole, his body pierced with miniature airplanes. His gaze is cast somewhere beyond the viewer. The sculpture, like much of Richards’ work, pays tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of primarily African American fighter and bomber pilots in World War II. The title refers both to the Southern folk tale of entrapment and to the

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 29

Richards’ sculptures Air Fall 1 (His Eye Is on the Sparrow, and I Know He's Watching Me), left, and Are You Down?, above.

“Like any great work of art, each viewer will bring their own associations, references and experiences to it, and walk away with their own interpretations.”

— Linda Dougherty 30 | WALTER

saint who was shot with arrows for refusing to deny his faith.

The sculpture is layered with allusions to spirituality, Blackness and masculinity, but the puncturing planes also became an eerie foreshadowing of Richards’ death: he was killed in his studio on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center on Sept.

11, 2001.

Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian, an inadvertent memorial to the artist himself, has lived at the NCMA since 2003 on long-term loan from Richards’ estate, and will be on view in the Global Contemporary Galleries this spring when Michael Richards: Are You Down? opens. The new exhibit includes another version of Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian (Richards made several), as well as nearly all of the artwork from his most prolific decade, between 1990 and 2001.

In the exhibit is a piece called Winged, a single continuous arm consisting of two bronze casts of Richards’ own arms, joined at the elbows. On either end is a gracefully curved hand. The structure hangs from the ceiling, swaying with the air, and five cast feathers hang beneath it. With nods to Icarus, it is literally a wingspan and metaphorically a flight arrested, a dream deferred. And it is a favorite of the coordinating curator of this exhibit, Linda Dougherty, who is chief curator and senior curator of contemporary art at the NCMA. Another piece she expects to be a visitor favorite is Swing Lo’, a large sculpture that is a hybrid of a chariot and a lowrider car, with a blue neon wraparound and a speaker system blasting dance music. “I think it will provide a moment of pure joy and exuberance in the galleries,” says Dougherty.

Richards was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1963 and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. He grew up between post-independence Jamaica and post-Civil Rights-era America. He came back to the United States for college, bringing cultural influences from African, African-American, Jamaican, JudeoChristian and Greek mythological stories and traditions. His

courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and The Michael Richards Estate/ Oriol Tarridas

VAULT

courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and The Michael Richards Estate/ Oriol Tarridas

work — engaging Blackness, flight, art was filled with the language of diaspora, spirituality, police brutality metaphor. Heavily influenced by the and monuments — remains timely Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, and resonant decades after its creRichards explored African-American ation.” folklore and history, conveying tenRichards spent much of his tragision between ascendance and descent cally short career paying artistic tribthrough sculptures and installation ute to the Tuskegee Airmen, whose pieces primarily in bronze. “The heroism wasn’t fully recognized until power of Richards’ work is that it can long after WWII. He described his be read on many different levels,” says inspiration in an undated artist’s Dougherty. “Like any great work of statement: “The pilots serve as a symart, each viewer will bring their own bol of failed transcendence, and lost associations, references and experifaith, escaping the pull of gravity, but ences to it, and walk away with their always forced back to the ground, lost own interpretations.” navigators seeking home.”

Richards brought together historiThe last piece Richards was known cal references and popular culture, to be working on before his death melding the everyday and the tranwas a sculpture of an airman riding scendent. Using his own body to cast a burning meteor, falling toward the his sculptures, Richards connected Earth. “The dream of flying,” Doughhis work to his own experience, imRichards’ sculpture Swing Lo'. erty says, “is ultimately a wish to defy mortalizing himself in the bronze limitations, and in Richards’ work, one sees the manifestation figure of a pilot or a saint. Dougherty says: “Inextricably conof that desire.” nected to the moment of its making in the 1990s, Richards’

Now open thru May 7 Final stop in U.S.!

Free Admission for Museum Members | Tickets: naturalsciences.org/thedeep Developed by

In collaboration with

Touring partner

James Cameron – CHALLENGING THE DEEP is a traveling exhibition produced by the Australian National Maritime Museum, in association with the Avatar Alliance Foundation, and is toured internationally by Flying Fish.

A USA Programs exhibition supported by the USA Bicentennial Gift Fund.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 31

SPORTS

lifetime LEADER Tennis Hall of Famer Mary Lou Jones used her talents to inspire generations of athletes

Mary Lou Jones at the Saint Mary’s School Hall of Fame.

I

burgeoned into a tennis champion, winning more than 200 t’s an old, weathered $2 tennis racquet, yet it’s perhaps tournaments. She had a big game, and won singles, doubles and the most treasured memento amid Mary Lou Jones’ mixed doubles matches and earned a No.1 doubles ranking in vast collection of plaques and trophies. the South.

The racquet was the 16th birthday She attended college at Pfeiffer University, present from her mother, a gift that played tennis for one year at Stetson Universtarted Jones toward a lifetime love for a sity and finished at the University of North “lifetime” sport.

Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s It’s with this rustic racquet that she degree in physical education and a master’s practiced hitting off the wall at Sanford’s in education. At Carolina, she contacted Don recreation courts, where she often sat on Skakle, the venerable UNC men’s tennis coach, the hood of a car and watched the men and asked him to give her lessons. Jones would play. One day, the guys needed a substiskip lunch and use her meal money to pay for tute and asked Jones to join them. Playing the instruction. Her hunger was to excel. barefooted, she won her match and was On the court, Jones vexed opponents with invited to become a permanent member solid ground strokes and aggressive net play, of a male league team.

Until then, Jones had spent many youthand reveled in pounding winners. ful days developing into a high school “I would smash it and say, Good Bye!” says basketball star and toiling long hours on Jones, now age 90. the family farm, picking cotton for Jones had an insatiable passion for the sport a penny a pound. and indefatigable drive. At a tournament in With a strong work ethic, farm-girl Rocky Mount, she played 131 singles, doubles Jones’ 16th birthday tennis racket grit and God-given athletic ability, Jones and mixed doubles games in one day, making 32 | WALTER

courtesy Saint Mary’s School

by A.J. CARR

courtesy Saint Mary’s School

Clockwise from top left: Teaching P.E. class at Saint Mary’s College in the 1960s; Jones in 1975; Saint Mary’s Hall of Fame Tennis Team members 1975-1977; coaching Saint Mary’s tennis player Mami Harada in 1989.

up for rained-out matches.

While competing as a player, her interest in teaching emerged in an unusual, but defining moment. After overwhelming an inferior player, Jones called her opponent to the net and said: I really want to help you with your tennis.

“That was when I decided I wanted to teach,” says Jones, who despite being a fierce competitor has a compassionate spirit.

“She is such an unselfish person,” says Mary Jo Parks, who as a young girl in Sanford took tennis lessons from Jones. “She was always trying to make other people have a happy life.”

After graduating from UNC in 1955, Jones coached tennis and basketball for six years at Charlotte Myers Park High, winning a city championship in the latter sport.

In 1961, she went to Saint Mary’s College (now Saint Mary’s School) in Raleigh, where her neon name grew even brighter over 37 years as an iconic coach, much-admired faculty member and Dean of Students. She also started the tennis program and produced powerhouse high school and junior college teams. After eight straight perfect seasons, Jones, along with philanthropist Alice Eure, raised money to add two more courts to the four on campus.

While at Saint Mary’s School, Jones was chosen by the City of Raleigh as an ambassador to Israel, where she spent one summer

living with a local family and working in the fields. “It changed my life,” says Jones. She shared her experience at churches and various clubs after returning to Raleigh.

Back to Saint Mary’s and tennis: Jones’ teams compiled a combined 330-95 record and her high school girls recorded 12 undefeated seasons, which included numerous championships.

The school didn’t give athletic scholarships, but Jones ran a summer tennis camp for 24 years, and many of the girls who attended returned to play for her at Saint Mary’s. They beat teams from the big schools — UNC, North Carolina State University, Wake Forest University and East Carolina University — sometimes in dominating fashion.

As player and coach, Jones, who is in the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame and Saint Mary’s Hall of Fame, simply had that winning touch.

“She demanded a lot, was hands-on,” says Margaret McGlohon, a former Saint Mary’s player. “She gave it her all and probably got more out of us than we imagined. She had a steady, calming presence. Her words and actions could motivate. She inspired the best to be better and taught beginners the fundamentals. She clicked with everybody. She is a special person — coach, mentor and friend.”

Anna Neal Blanchard, a contributor to the 1976 unbeaten The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 33

SPORTS team who later played JV tennis at Duke University, describes Jones as a good “technician” and much more. “She was a maverick, ahead of her time, very innovative,” Blanchard says, noting that Jones was the first coach to use video as a method of analyzing players.

Jones also required her team to read Psycho-Cybernetics and encouraged her P.E. students to attend matches. She set up a training table in the cafeteria and enforced a strict “No Smoking, No Drinking” rule. She established a curfew and had campus security check on the players.

“She was feisty,” Blanchard says. “We were scared of her, but scared in a good way. We loved her.”

Later in her career, Jones added golf to her agenda, teaching her friend and fabled pro Peggy Kirk Bell at Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines. One of her pupils wrote this thankyou note: “You are a great teacher and those touched by your warm spirit know it.”

Jones, ever the teacher, would offer golf instruction most anywhere. Once she gave her surgeon a lesson while she was a patient in the hospital.

In retirement, Jones stayed on the go — at the tennis court, at the golf Anna Neal Blanchard course, riding her tractor and bush-hogging on her farm, worshiping at church, serving in the community and driving her 1955 “Carolina Blue” Ford truck. “People would yell, Stop! Stop! when I rode through town,” she says. “I thought I had a flat tire, but they wanted to see the truck!”

In recent times, her pace has slowed. Jones has been undergoing cancer treatment. “I’m in the battle of my life now,” she says.

The good news is that she’s a fighter and person of strong faith.

Throughout life, Jones has earned awards and accolades galore. The list includes two Halls of Fame, recognition as Distinguished Women of North Carolina, Outstanding Women in Agriculture, Who’s Who of American Women, North Carolina Tennis Pro of the Year and, in 2022, she was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

But Jones did more than win championships and collect trophies. She taught thousands of athletes to hone their skills, along with many other life lessons. “I think all the success has been about God giving her the talents, work ethic and drive to accomplish great things,” says Mary Virginia Swain, who played on Jones’ championship teams. “That gave her a platform to become a teacher — to serve, touch and shape the lives of others.”

Swain’s comments amplify what Jones calls her “motto,” a phrase that’s posted on a sign above the door to the den in her Sanford home: “True success is in the lives you’ve changed, not what you obtain.”

“She was feisty.

We were scared of her, but scared in a good way.

We loved her.”

—

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34 | WALTER

MUSIC

Courtesy MerleFest

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at MerleFest.

BEST of the FESTS Outdoor music experiences abound in North Carolina — here are a few to put on your list

by DAVID MENCONI

S

pringtime in North Carolina means college basketball madness, azaleas blooming — and the earliest days of outdoor music. Our state has a staggering array of A-list music festivals spanning numerous genres from now until fall.

Here’s some of what you should be making plans for.

DREAMVILLE FESTIVAL Between apocalyptic weather and the Coronavirus pandemic, rapper J. Cole’s

Dreamville Festival has had a rocky existence in its short history. But in spite of multiple postponements, Dreamville has been a huge success, starting with 2019’s sold-out debut at downtown Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park that immediately established it as one of the nation’s top hip-hop festivals. Dreamville’s second edition in 2022 expanded from one day to two with an onstage lineup featuring the entire roster of Cole’s Dreamville Records label, and it also sold out. Round three returns to

Dix Park the first weekend of April as another multiday affair. It should be another big success, with Cole himself in the headline slot. April 1 - 2, Raleigh; dreamvillefest.com MERLEFEST Centered on the varied “traditional plus” music played and loved by its late, great founder, Doc Watson, MerleFest has been a tradition at Wilkes Community College since 1988. The venerable rootsmusic festival is a signpost event on the The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 35

MUSIC Americana circuit. And after the same problems that every other live-music event faced in recent years, it’s back with an impressive lineup featuring The Avett Brothers, Maren Morris, Little Feat, Tanya Tucker and more. April 27 30, Wilkesboro; merlefest.org

Shakori HIlls GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance.

SHAKORI HILLS GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL OF MUSIC & DANCE Started in 2003 as a nonprofit music and dance festival, Shakori Hills takes place on a bucolic 9,000-acre spread in rural Chatham County. It’s probably the top camping festival in the greater Triangle region. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Malian singer/ guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, beach legends Chairmen of the Board and festival regulars Donna the Buffalo are this year’s main headliners. There’s also a fall version, which happens every October. May 4 - 7, Pittsboro; shakorihillsgrassroots.org FESTIVAL FOR THE ENO The granddaddy of music festivals in the Triangle, Festival for the Eno dates back to 1980 and happens on the grounds of Durham’s West Point Park. Started as a fundraiser for the Eno River Association, the festival — which also offers a craft and food market — has hosted a who’s who of Americana-adjacent and roots artists including Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson and Loudon Wainwright III. Recent years have featured rising regional acts including Mipso, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Indigo De Souza.

July 1 & 4, Durham; enofest.org 36 | WALTER

MOUNTAIN DANCE AND FOLK FESTIVAL Reputedly the first event in America to be called a “folk festival,” Asheville’s Mountain Dance and Folk Festival was founded in 1928 by the folk-music legend Bascom Lamar Lunsford. It remains the longest continuously running folk festival in the country, and it’s as much about the folk-dance traditions of Western North Carolina as the music. Aug. 3 - 5, Asheville; folkheritage.org

century jazz, a key collaborator with Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and his fellow North Carolina native Thelonious Monk. The John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival has been paying tribute to his legacy every Labor Day weekend since 2011 with solid lineups — 2022 featured trumpeter Chris Botti, singer Patti LaBelle and saxophonist Kirk Whalum, among others. Sept. 2 - 3, High Point; coltranejazzfest.com

EARL SCRUGGS MUSIC FESTIVAL A newcomer to the North Carolina festival circuit, the Earl Scruggs Music Festival debuted last year at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring. As you’d expect for a festival named after the man who invented the three-finger style of bluegrass banjo, the lineup trends toward classic bluegrass and Americana. Sept. 1-3, Mill Spring; earlscruggsmusicfest.com

HOPSCOTCH MUSIC FESTIVAL Downtown Raleigh has a well-earned reputation for doing music festivals right, and one of the events that helped pave the way is the alternative-slanted Hopscotch. Originally started in 2010 under the auspices of the Indy Week newspaper, it showed off Raleigh’s walkable grid of downtown nightclubs and outdoor stages to fantastic effect.

Past headliners have included Flaming Lips, The Roots, Solange Knowles and St. Vincent. Hopscotch director Nathan Price reports that this year’s model should feature “an expanded lineup closer to pre-Covid size.” Here’s hoping.

Sept. 7 - 9, Raleigh; hopscotchmusicfest.com

JOHN COLTRANE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL Although he made his mark as an artist elsewhere, John Coltrane was born and raised in Hamlet, North Carolina. He was one of the towering figures of 20th-

Tim Sayer (SHAKORI)

BEAR SHADOW The mountains of the far Western corner of North Carolina are the setting for this springtime festival, which happens the same weekend as MerleFest. First conceived in 2021, this year’s model has a first-rate alternativeleaning lineup featuring Spoon, The Head and the Heart, Jason Isbell and Amythyst Kiah. April 28 - 30, The Highlands Plateau; bearshadownc.com

Courtesy Bear Shadow (WILD RIVERS); courtesy News & Observer (WORLD OF BLUEGRASS)

NORTH CAROLINA FOLK FESTIVAL In 2015, the National Council for the Traditional Arts brought the long-running National Folk Festival (which has been around since 1934) to Greensboro for a three-year run. It was such a success that, after the national festival’s Greensboro run ended, the city opted to keep it going as the rebranded North Carolina Folk Festival. Last year’s lineup was typically eclectic, featuring everything from George Clinton’s P-Funk All-Stars to the Winston-Salem Symphony String Quartet. Expect more of the same in 2023. Sept. 8 - 10, Greensboro; ncfolkfestival.com

Top: Wild Rivers performs at Bear Shadow Festival; Bottom: World of Bluegrass.

WORLD OF BLUEGRASS The International Bluegrass Music Association moved its annual business convention and festival to Raleigh in 2013, where it has been a huge success. Between the convention, trade show, “Bluegrass Ramble” nightclub showcases, awards show and street festival, total attendance can top 200,000 when the weather’s good.

Past headliners have included Steve Martin, Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck and just about every notable picker and singer in the genre. Year in and year out, it’s downtown Raleigh’s biggest music festival. Sept. 26-30, Raleigh; worldofbluegrass.org THAT MUSIC FESTIVAL Sponsored by Raleigh’s Americana/ roots radio station That Station, 95.7FM, That Music Festival made its debut in June 2022 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park with an all-North Carolina lineup featuring American Aquarium, Steep Canyon Rangers, Mountain Goats, Rissi Palmer and more. The sophomore edition is tentatively scheduled for October, most likely in Durham again.

October, Durham; thatstation.net/thatmusic-fest

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 37

NATURE A Neuse River Waterdog.

WATER WARRIORS Getting to know a salamander that’s only found in our area words and photographs by MIKE DUNN

B

ack in December, my wife, Melissa, who works at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, led a “Waterdog Warriors” educator workshop. It included taking participants out in the field with Eric Teitsworth, a graduate student at North Carolina State University. He has studied the Neuse River Waterdog, Necturus lewisi, for the past several years.

One of the museum vans had engine trouble, so I helped transport some folks out to the workshop site — near a bridge over the Little River in Johnston County — and ended up catching the tail end 38 | WALTER

of the workshop. They had just spent several hours in the field with a team of scientists learning about these critters while setting minnow traps baited with chicken liver (the bait of choice for waterdogs). I wasn’t able to go the next day when they checked to see what they’d caught, but I was hooked when I saw Melissa’s photos. She asked Eric if I could tag along on their next sampling day, and he graciously agreed.

What makes this slimy amphibian so special? The Neuse River Waterdog is a truly aquatic salamander — meaning it never leaves the water — and is believed to be a long-lived species. We don’t

know for sure how long these waterdogs live, but the closely-related Carolina Mudpuppy can live up to 30 years. The Neuse River Waterdog is also endemic to North Carolina: the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River basins are the only places in the world where this salamander is known to exist, in medium-to-large streams and rivers in 18 counties in our Piedmont and Coastal Plain.

The waterdog is somewhat common in more pristine drainages, but has suffered serious declines in others, particularly the Neuse River system around Raleigh.

Surveys conducted by former NCMNS herpetologist Alvin Braswell and col-

leagues in the 1970s established a baseline for population distribution of the species. Almost 30 years later, surveys by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission showed a significant decline in distribution, with a loss of approximately 35% of its historical range.

Neuse River Waterdogs were federally listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 2021. (A threatened species is “any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”) An official United States Fish and Wildlife Services Species Recovery Plan is expected soon. This will define what success looks like for the Neuse River Waterdog, what is needed to support this recovery, and what a predicted timeline and cost for these efforts would be. Potential actions include monitoring population trends, protecting and restoring crucial habitats, and reducing threats like water pollution and sedimentation. Currently, USFWS is supporting the ongoing research at NC State and has recently provided support and funding through Project RESTORE (Rescuing Endangered Species through Outreach, Restoration and Education) to raise awareness of imperiled species in our state. The Waterdog Warriors workshop is part of this partnership.

So four days after first meeting Eric, I found myself spending a cold, drizzly morning tromping along sections of Buffalo Creek and the Little River in Johnston County. Eric and his team of volunteers and field technicians spent a few hours checking over 50 traps that they had baited earlier in the week.

I can’t think of a better way to learn about the waterdog than spending time in the field with people that have studied it for years, seeing its habitat up close and personal, and, finally, watching the team capture and process eight of them in a day!

Processing a waterdog involves careful handling and taking measurements such as length, weight and sex, as well

Clockwise from top left: Eric Teitsworth holding a waterdog; the Little River in Johnston County, an excellent Neuse River Waterdog habitat; measuring a waterdog.

as taking steps to identify individual salamanders to help estimate the population. The researcher will take a photograph of the dorsal side (top) of the salamander, as each has a unique spotting pattern. Then they inject a “tattoo” on its underside. Called a Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE), it’s a common tagging technique that involves gently injecting a tiny amount of liquid under the skin of an animal to leave a colored dot.

It has been used by scientists for years and shows no ill effects. On waterdogs, researchers place red, orange, yellow or blue VIE tattoos near each arm- and legpit, giving them four total marks. The salamanders are soon released back into the habitat where they were caught.

(Eric was once asked to describe what he does and he responded, “I guess I’m a salamander tattoo artist.”)

I was able to place a few waterdogs

in a small tank in an attempt to photograph them before release. It’s definitely not easy: they move around a lot, and it’s tough to get a good background through the clear tanks. Plus, you want to return them to their habitat as soon as possible to reduce stress. But these critters are amazing. An average adult waterdog is about 6 to 9 inches in length; the largest animal we measured was just over 11 inches. A waterdog is golden brown with dark splotches and smooth, slimy skin. But two things about its appearance really stand out: its squared-off head and bushy red gills.

As with many salamanders, the wide head makes it look like the salamander is smiling at you. Add the gills and it’s one adorable critter. Waterdogs require highly oxygenated waters to thrive, and they use the gills for breathing. They appear most active during the coldest The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 39

A Neuse River Waterdog. Below, the logo for Project RESTORE, designed by Alexandra Kwak.

months of the year, as colder waters can hold more dissolved oxygen than warm water.

As we walked between traps, I fired questions at the team. They explained some of what little we know about this species: waterdogs seem to be more active at night; they appear to prefer silt-free leaf packs and gravel for feeding areas, and their diet consists of mostly stream and terrestrial invertebrates like insects, crayfish, worms and snails, as well as the occasional small fish; they grow slowly and don’t breed until age 5 or 6; females lay eggs once a year, in the spring, under rocks or logs, but we don’t know much about the needs of the larvae.

There is still so much to learn about this secretive species!

At one point I was standing on a bridge in a light rain overlooking a stretch of the Little River, where we had just caught several Neuse River Waterdogs. Down the bank were five discarded mattresses and some other litter. I could hear heavy machinery clearing land in the distance. I wondered how much longer these amazing creatures (and all the others that call this river home) 40 | WALTER

will be able to hang on? We must do a better job of protecting our waterways.

One important way to do that is by increasing the riparian buffers: currently, a 50-foot buffer of vegetation is required along waterways in the Neuse River basin, but more would be better.

Riparian buffers protect waterways by filtering out sediment and other pollutants. At one of the sites we sampled, I was happy to see boundary signs indicating that the Triangle Land Conservancy had purchased many acres bordering one creek, a sure way to benefit water quality by protecting the integrity of the stream bank.

At the end of the day, I asked Eric what his hopes are for the future.

He is intensely interested in learning more about the waterdogs, especially where they thrive and why.

And he hopes that we can help conserve this fascinating species.

It is both a good indicator of water quality and an important cultural touchstone for North Carolinians.

What better icon for the conservation of our precious water resources is there than a smiling, bewhiskered salamander that can only be found here?

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CREATORS

The TRACKERS On the trail with Charles Frazier

by WILEY CASH photography by MALLORY CASH

T

he first time I met Charles Frazier was in Asheville back in the spring of 2016. Along with several other authors, we had been invited to participate in a fundraiser at the Asheville Community Theater. I knew most of the authors there that evening, but I didn’t know Frazier, and I was nervous about meeting him. I had read Cold Mountain after it won the National Book Award in 1997, and then I saw the Oscar-winning

film, which starred Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renée Zellweger, when it was released in 2003. I’d read — and loved — the two novels he’d published in the intervening years.

But apparently, Frazier wasn’t one bit nervous about meeting me. He walked right up to me backstage and said, “I was up in Hot Springs a few months ago, and I saw that you were scheduled to do an event in town. I left a note for you at the public library. Did you get it?”

Reader, I was too shocked that Frazier even knew who I was to be shocked by his reliance on paper technology. Needless to say, we’ve been friends ever since. He joined me onstage a year later for an in-conversation event for the launch of my novel The Last Ballad, and I did the same for him when his novel Varina was released in 2018. We’ll be back onstage together on April 10 on the campus of UNC-Asheville for the launch of his latest novel, The Trackers, a book that will both The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 43

CREATORS

Charles Frazier along with some of his notes for his latest book.

please and surprise fans of Frazier.

There’s an old saying that serious writers never write the same book twice, and Frazier never has, but he has almost always written about the same places, which is to say Appalachia and the southern United States. The surprise that’s in store for readers is that The Trackers, which is set in Depression-era America, ranges far afield — from the swamps of Florida to the big skies of Wyoming to the sooty factory towns and transient camps of the Great Northwest.

But readers who loved Frazier’s previous novels will find echoes of those works in his new one. Like Cold Mountain, The Trackers is the story of a man on a quest.

WPA mural painter Val Welch is in pursuit of Eve Long, the wife of a wealthy rancher who has absconded with a priceless piece of artwork, and like Thirteen Moons (2006), the new novel is awash in era-appropriate research from automobiles to art and architecture to the politics of the New Deal. Like Nightwoods (2011), The Trackers expertly employs noir 44 | WALTER

tropes like tight, scene-driven dialogue and dark, ominous settings, and like the titular character in Varina, Long is a dashing, magnetic heroine: a former runaway turned traveling honky-tonk singer who finds herself married to a wealthy political hopeful before pulling

“It doesn’t get any easier… Every time I finish a novel I’m a little bit surprised.”

— Charles Frazier the plug on it all and disappearing without a trace. Her husband, who is sponsoring Welch’s mural project in a local post office, makes Welch a financial offer he can’t refuse: track Long and find out where she is, why she left, and, most importantly, who she really is.

According to Frazier, it was nearly 10

years ago when the idea for the novel that became The Trackers first came to mind.

“We were up in Boone, and I was just killing time,” he says. “I visited the post office, which has one of those Depression-era WPA murals. After that I had more time to kill, so I went to the library at Appalachian State University and looked up information about WPA projects, specifically the Treasury Department art projects. One of the first images I saw was a photograph taken inside one of those small post offices, and there was a mural in progress on the wall with two young guys working on it. Standing on the floor looking up at them was an older guy and a woman. They were both well-dressed, and I thought, OK, there’s a story here.”

As the story rattled around in his mind over the following months and years, Frazier dispatched with one of the two mural artists and focused on a single artist and how he might interact with the couple that was watching him work. The artist Welch, along with the rancher and

his mysterious wife, were born.

Frazier and I are standing in the Mid-century modern house he and his wife Katherine own in Asheville, a home that’s not quite ready for them to inhabit.

Like many people in post-pandemic America, they’re waiting on the right contractor to update the house and make it fully habitable. For now, Frazier has set up a writing desk in the light-filled living room, with a stone fireplace against one wall and tall windows opening to the yard, where, despite it being mid-January, the view is alive with greenery.

Three characters drove the narrative in Cold Mountain, so I ask Frazier if there’s something that spoke to him about using a similar triangulation of characters in The Trackers.

“Well, that’s one of the things that appealed to me while writing this book. I could keep a handle on the relatively limited number of characters because I have a problem sometimes with expansion,” he says. “Having that very clear arrangement of characters helped me keep it under control and forced me to focus on trying to keep the book short.

But, in The Trackers, Eve is the reason the triangle exists. I never lost sight of her as the main character.”

Eve Long is no doubt the main character. Even when she’s not on the page, her presence drives the action and tension.

And even though this book is relatively short in comparison to some of Frazier’s longer novels, many of the scenes feel expansive because Frazier allows them to breathe and exist as the reader witnesses them in what feels like real time. One scene that comes to mind unfolds over a long night in the swamps of Florida when Welch encounters Long’s former in-laws, a dangerous band of lawless folks who are as suspicious of Welch’s outsider status as they are of his questions about their former daughter-in-law’s whereabouts.

“That was a really fun scene to write,” Frazier says. “It was fun to get that rhythm, that really slow, heavy rhythm to the dialogue and pacing. This is the point in the novel when Val is beginning to learn that he is truly in over his head.”

There were points in writing The Trackers when Frazier began to fear that he was in over his head too, especially when the pandemic struck and he could not make use of the location scouting that had benefited all of his previous novels, bringing the realities of place and landscape to the page. But he had an ace or two up his sleeve when writing about the West and about Florida: Frazier and his wife spent the bulk of the 1980s living in Colorado with their young daughter, and after Cold Mountain was released they resided full-time on a horse farm in central Florida. Of course, the process of writing The Trackers was full of research, but when you read about far-flung Western states, the boggy swamps of Florida, and people who understand horses intimately, you are encountering worlds that Frazier knows well.

If you read the novel, you might also be reminded of a literary genre that Frazier also knows well: the travel narrative, which his novels certainly borrow from, especially Cold Mountain and Varina. But it is his lesser-known first book, Adventuring in the Andes (1985), a travel guide published by the Sierra Club, that most reflects Frazier’s love for the genre.

During the long years of writing The Trackers, especially during the Covid-19 lockdown, travel was on Frazier’s mind.

He was itching to get out West and look around, but he found himself settling for photographs, music, and art that was resonant of the West in the 1930s, especially Woody Guthrie and Diego

Rivera. But writing a novel as complex and rich as The Trackers is hard, and it takes a long time despite how many books you’ve published before or how many millions of copies they’ve sold.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Frazier says, “at least it hasn’t gotten any easier for me.

And I’m just an enormously disorganized writer. Every time I finish a novel I’m a little bit surprised.”

As if to give insight to the expanse of hours spent at his desk, Frazier shows me the tiny slips of paper he uses to record his word counts along with the dates of his daily writing sessions. When I look at his handwriting, I’m reminded of the note he left for me in Hot Springs years earlier, and I wonder how Welch would go about tracking it down.

Well, I’m no tracker. So, to the people of Hot Springs, if you find a little slip paper that contains a message that Charles Frazier wrote to Wiley Cash years and years ago, do me a favor: hang onto it until I’m back in town.

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SIMPLE LIFE

A Little Stuffed Potato Wisdom Lessons from full-grown tater tots

by JIM DODSON illustration by GERRY O’NEILL

S

omeone once said to me that it’s not happiness that makes one grateful, but gratitude that makes one happy.

Looking back, I may have seen this poetic syllogism scrawled on an ancient stone wall several years ago while hiking with my wife in Tuscany (where every graffiti artist is a philosopher-in-training). Or maybe I heard Oprah Winfrey say it in one of her Super Soul Sunday conversations that the

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aforementioned wife suggested that I listen to on long drives.

Whoever said it, I’m grateful for its pithy wisdom because I’ve suddenly reached an age where I know it to be true.

Recently, I turned 70. It was a milestone that took me by surprise.

It’s not that I was unprepared. In truth, I’ve enjoyed getting older and slowing down a bit; it’s given me the chance to notice the evening sky.

I am not alone in this epic journey into the great gray age and the unknown, as my late father used to joke. (He lived a full and active life right up to a week before he died at 80.) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 69.2 million baby boomers alive and kicking today in America, the second-largest population group next to our children, the millennials (73.9 million born between 1981 and 1996). My particular group was born in 1953 and falls somewhere in the lower

middle of the boomer years, between 1946 and 1964.

According to the latest projections by our friends at the Social Security Administration (used to calculate how much longer the agency will have to give us back the money we put into the system), my age and gender group — males aged 70 — can expect to live 14.5 more years, while our female counterparts have another 16.75. Good for them, I say! Sell the house, dump the stocks, give away the dog and go sit on a beautiful beach in Tahiti for the rest of your days!

By the way, that’s exactly what my wise but cheeky and younger wife Wendy says she plans to do with her 10 extra years after I check out of the Hotel California.

Meanwhile, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), life expectancy at birth in the United States declined nearly a full year from 2020 to 2021, a worrying dip from 77.0 to 76.1 years. That is the lowest level since 1996, probably due in part to Covid-19. The 0.9-year drop in life expectancy in 2021, along with a 1.8-year drop in 2020, was the biggest two-year decline since 1921–1923, years in which the Spanish flu wiped out millions worldwide, including my own maternal grandmother.

It could be worse. Afghanistan’s current life expectancy is just a hair over 56 years. Singapore’s life expectancy, on the other hand, is 86.5 years. Perhaps this means that my future merry widow should consider moving there instead of Tahiti (which has a mere life expectancy of 78.82 years) where she’s likely to make lots of older gal pals living the good life off the insurance money on a lovely beach. As any veteran foreign traveler knows, however, Singaporeans are obsessed with public cleanliness and strict social order. Littering, chewing gum in public or failing to flush a public toilet can land you a whopping $1,000 fine, while showing your bare feet or skin of any sort can earn you three months in jail. So, on second thought,

perhaps I won’t suggest Singapore and just leave well enough alone. That’s probably the wisest thing I’ve learned from being happily married for 20-plus years.

The point of all these dizzying numbers, as Oprah or any Tuscan street poet with spray paint can tell you, is to live the best life you can and be damned grateful for whatever time you have left.

That’s exactly what my fellow members of the Stuffed Potato Philosophy & Adventure Club try to do on a daily basis.

For the moment, the club is just three of us. We meet for lunch every other week or so in the shadowy booth of a popular restaurant to discuss the current state of the world, the wonders of our grown children and the enduring mysteries of our wives.

Remarkably, as this March dawns, all three of us will have turned 70 by the end of the month. Joe hit the mark in late January, I did so in early February and Patrick achieves the milestone later this month.

I’m told none of us actually looks 70 years old, though wives, golf pals and fellow Stuffed Potatoes can scarcely be considered objective sources.

For that matter, we probably don’t even act like old men, save for when we complain about dodgy knees and idiots who run red lights. As a kid, I remember asking my lively grandmother if she was afraid of dying on her 84th birthday.

She grinned and patted my rosy little cheek. “Not a bit, sugar pie,” she said.

“Just afraid of falling.”

None of the Stuffed Potatoes, I can reliably report, are afraid of dying. We’re too busy for that.

January Joe is a professional forester helping set aside beautiful lands for

future generations. Patrick, the marketing whiz, is keeping the national economy afloat. And I’m just a humble scribbler trying to finish three books this year.

Given that we collectively amount to 210 years of accumulated life experience, I asked my fellow Stuffed Potatoes a timely question the other day: What is the one thing you’ve learned in 70 years?

January Joe, our resident sage, didn’t hesitate: “There are wonders ahead.

Don’t fight them — just surrender!” This from a lovely fellow who gets to walk in the woods for a living and surrenders most weekends to the joy of several beautiful grandbabies.

Patrick laughed heartily: “There’s no good news or bad news. It’s all information. Just keep doing what you do and don’t look back.”

As for me, I hope to finish at least a half a dozen more books over the 15.5 years I may or may not have left. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, we have a joyous new puppy named Winnie and a garden that is springing gloriously back to life by the minute.

I’m deeply grateful for both, not to mention a fabulous wife who says she really has no interest in going to Singapore or Tahiti. And was probably only joking.

That makes me a really happy guy.

We meet every other week or so in the shadowy booth of a popular restaurant to discuss the current state of the world, the wonders of our grown children, and the enduring mystery of our wives.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 47

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Letter to Madeline

by DANAE YOUNGE

Getty Images

illustration by JESSE WHITE Madeline, your dress’ lace bounced with floral, hovered over ash-less knees like tiny willows.

Squatting, you placed peach pebbles as cobblestones, hung leaf curtains to tiny houses behind the swings while I made dirt mounds for the worms.

Madeline, they should have named you Marigold — the way your voice curtsied on its stem, and rosy seam-ghosts ruffled petals into all your ironed clothes, tickled Mrs. Taylor’s nose.

Pink bow ponytail with a unicorn ornament, your lunch triangles plucked from a square container and set on a linen pedestal.

Madeline, one day I tried to dye my hair with honey; not light red-yellow, henna powder or cinnamon, not strawberry tint, add a pinch of hibiscus, but gold — marigold — Madeline: 4 spoonfuls for every 1 of apple cider vinegar, and I thought maybe they would smell your sweetness on my scalp, feed it back so my mouth sugared over into your dulcet lips but Madeline, it only lightened to a brown.

Madeline, I remember how I named my doll after you — stroked her skin on my cheek like she was my newborn, drew her pigment as if it was chalk on wet stone and yet now I think of how envy inhabited mirrors, ricocheted against crowds of brimming cheeks reflecting through me. Now, I know one day I’ll surface on my child’s splattered raindrops, translucent in flight, then fill them up with hues when they hit the streets, my deep dark voice singing of thunder rumbles — lull them to sleep when their toes curl into my earth.

Madeline, you were giggling joyfully in the fun houses of my mind, your image rippling and melting into illusive curves.

But I am grown now. And I no longer chase you.

Danae Younge is a student at Occidental College and resident of North Carolina. Her chapbook Melanin Sun (−) Blind Spots was given the Florence Kahn Memorial Award by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Read more at danaeyounge.com.

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Matthew Brown transformed a dilapidated Victorian home into a showcase for beautiful artifacts

HISTORY TO THE

MAX

by KATIE PATE

photography by TREY THOMAS

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D

riving down Person Street, chances are you’ve noticed Lamar Hall. Perched at the edge of Historic Oakwood, the home’s towering green-and-red exterior, prolific garden and ornate wooden spindlework make it one of the district’s most iconic properties.

But even as intriguing as the home’s Queen Anne-style architecture is its owner, Matthew Brown. A tenured Oakwood resident, Brown moved to Raleigh after law school in the 1980s, then made a career here as a teacher and historian, authoring several books about the Civil War. Six years ago, Brown launched what just might be his greatest project yet: restoring the historic structure.

“I always just loved historic architecture, since I was kid,” Brown says. His fascination with the home was sparked decades ago when he noticed it falling into disrepair. After changing hands several times since its construction in 1896, the state government had acquired Lamar Hall as part of a plan to convert several historic homes to offices, but never finished the project. Brown had his eye on the vacant residence, hoping to one day make it his own. “I’d been looking in the windows for years before I bought it,” he admits.

Impatient with the bureaucratic pace of selling the homes, Brown took matters into his own hands: “I lobbied the government for years and even made signs asking Governor McCrory to please sell these houses. I put them in front of the homes in the middle of the night.” His efforts worked, and in 2016 he purchased Lamar Hall following a

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government auction. He wasted no time turning the dilapidated building into the space of his dreams.

“Before we started work on the house, I invited everybody I knew to come view it,” Brown says. “Over 100 people showed up!” What visitors saw was a home that was, he says, “frozen in time.”

After sitting empty for so long, Lamar Hall had started to decay: roof leaks, peeling wallpaper and rotten siding made the space less than livable. “For a while there were about six people working full time to update the house,” Brown says of the team of carpenters, painters, electricians, masons and other professionals who helped bring his vision to life.

The restoration project took three years, during which Brown leveraged a keen design eye to bring the home

els. “People from the Victorian period collected things from all over the world,” he says of the encyclopedic décor. “I’ve found some of my favorite things in China, Japan, India, Peru and Mexico.

Those countries have all of this wonderful handmade art.” Each room boasts a myriad of global furnishings, from wallpapers, tapestries and rugs to vases, paintings and prints — each handpicked

by Brown. “I didn’t have any help with the interior design, even though I had lots of offers,” he says.

During events like the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour, Brown opens Lamar Hall to the public. Resounding awe is the typical reaction, especially when patrons notice some of his unusual belongings. “Visitors are sometimes taken back by the skull collection and things like that, but that’s what people

“My purpose in life is to make the world more beautiful. Lamar Hall is the fruit of thousands of hours of joyful creation.”

— Matthew Brown to its original prominence. Though he made some structural changes during the renovation, like combining several smaller rooms into larger living spaces, he was adamant about preserving much of the home’s authenticity, including the interior woodwork with its original finish. “I’m not gonna paint everything white — sorry!” he laughs.

Today, stepping inside is like a step back in time. Brown’s eclectic and dramatic style brings together sensationally curated design and memories of bygone eras. In his office, for example, one can find a velvet sofa with delicately carved depictions of Adam and Eve situated beneath a chandelier showing flying dragons and floral art nouveau wallpaper. Art and artifacts of all provenances abound, much of it sourced on his trav-

had in their homes back then,” Brown says, referencing the brigade of animal heads displayed throughout his home.

“People enjoy seeing the house. It’s not like anything they are accustomed to.”

Active in the local historic preservation community, Brown is the longest standing member of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood and has worked as an advocate for the preservation of other historical buildings in town. This year, Brown plans to continue his international travels in Vietnam, where he hopes to find new treasures to showcase and share with others. “My purpose in life is to make the world more beautiful,” says Brown. “Lamar Hall is the fruit of thousands of hours of joyful creation.”

Inspired by the Aesthetic Movement and Queen Anne architecture, Brown sought to “elevate beauty above all other considerations” in the quest to decorate his home. The front hall welcomes visitors with a stunning variety of antiques like a Belgian mermaid chandelier, pronghorn antelope head and a collection of engraved brass trays from around the world. The wall covering is the same embossed cardboard that was installed in the White House, Kykuit (the Rockefeller Estate in upstate New York) and six rooms on the Titanic. The oak woodwork is original to the home.

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This page: The octagonal parlor holds several of the home’s 29 handmade rugs and another of the 25 chandeliers Brown collected in his global travels. A painting in here depicts Sir Walter Raleigh with Queen Elizabeth I. Opposite page: A trombonist in the Oakwood Second Line, the neighborhood band, Brown admits, “when I joined the band I hadn’t played since high school, but I got back into it — I’ve gotten better.”

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This page: The centerpiece of what Brown dubbed the “Drawing Room” is an oak table from France. Its legs depict the four seasons. The kitchen features cabinets designed by Brown and built by Ryan Robbins of Oak City Artisans in Raleigh. Opposite page: A liquor cabinet Brown acquired from Berlin displays a striking assemblage of animal skulls.

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This page: Brown’s office boasts a panorama of mounted animal heads, antique rifles, prints and paintings. The owner is photographed in what he calls the “North Wind” chair, an American piece produced in 1900. Opposite page: The stairway features a large panel of stained glass and several tapestries from Burma, England, Germany and Syria.

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This page: The home’s unforgettable exterior is a nod to the spirited décor contained within. Opposite page: When constructed, the home was heated by seven coal fireplaces. Brown’s renovation included the installation of a modern heating and air system, leaving the fireplaces as a decorative part of the home’s historic character.

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The people behind the wild animals

team TIGER

by GENIE SAFRIET photography by BOB KARP

I

t’s twilight at Carolina Tiger Rescue, a time when the animals are active. Roman, a male adult lion with a huge, tawny mane, playfully nips at his enclosure mate, a female named Reina. Somewhere within the 67-acre sanctuary, an unseen tiger roars. The two lions respond with their deep-throated, oofing calls.

Intimidated by Roman’s calm, steady gaze, guests may not notice his tray of fresh water, the remnants of his healthy chicken dinner or that his favorite spot, on top of his den box, is carefully preserved. Each of these comforts is the work of the dedicated staff and volunteers at Carolina Tiger.

Carolina Tiger is a wildlife sanctuary near Pittsboro. It has roots in the Carnivore Evolutionary Research Institute, which was founded in 1973 by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and geneticist Dr. Michael Bleyman.

That organization became the Carnivore Preservation Trust (CPT) in 1981, with a mission to maintain a viable population of species essential to the survival of their ecosystem. In 2009, the name was changed to Carolina Tiger Rescue, with the mission of saving and protecting wild cats both in captivity and in the wild, and eliminating their exploitation by humans. Here, they provide safe homes for more than 50 animals, including tigers, cougars, bobcats and coatimundis, to live out their natural lives.

Each day at Carolina Tiger begins with keepers driving through the sanctuary to confirm that all the animals are secure before other staff or volunteers enter.

Twice a day, keepers give animals medications like pills hidden in meat or fruit.

The site team handles sanctuary maintenance and improvements and coordinates with keepers on projects that enhance the animals’ quality of life.

For example, Shailah, a white tiger, has mobility issues, so the team built low, easily accessible platforms for her. Volunteers also help with daily enrichment that prevents boredom: animals might find their dinner hidden inside a cardboard box, smell their favorite perfume on a hanging ball, or see themselves in a mirror. An army of more than 150

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Above: Senior keeper Lauren Humphries and education director Katie Cannon.

Opposite page: A male adult lion named Roman. Previous page: A tiger name Yanaba.

volunteers assist with the day’s work, including feeding, watering, enclosure cleaning and construction projects, as well as leading tours and manning the gift shop.

Carolina Tiger is a nonbreeding, no-contact sanctuary. Almost all the animals have come from private individuals or closed animal facilities. Many animals, like Beau — an orphaned, wild-caught cougar — are traumatized when they arrive. “I tell the animals, It’s going to get better and you will have everything you need,” says assistant director Kathryn Bertok. Because Beau had not been around people, he was initially quarantined long enough for him to get used to humans in that controlled environment. When he moved to an enclosure, Beau was only visited by keepers at first. But three years later, he’s gained enough confidence to be on the tour route.

Each of the volunteers is intensely trained by staffers, and each of the staffers is cross-trained in other roles.

“You get to listen and learn and be part 64 | WALTER

of all different areas of the organization,” says senior keeper Lauren Humphries. Volunteer coordinator Maryssa Hill manages volunteer orientation, but she also helps provide medical care for some of the animals on-site. Education director Katie Cannon helps with day-to-day animal care, in addition to her role creating Facebook Live content and coordinating the summer camp and classes. The staffers are proud of this culture of teamwork. “People come to work here for the animals, and they stay here for the people,” says Bertok.

Because keepers see the same animals every day, they are quick to notice any changes in behavior and proactively handle medical or emotional issues. A partially blind tiger named Nitro kept scraping his nose when he ran into his enclosure fence, so the keepers laid a sand track by the fence so he could tell when it was nearby. “We watched him figure it out. He did remarkably well and stopped running into the fence,” says Bertok. (Nitro has since passed away.) Development director Susan

King Cope feels most connected to Tasha, a female tiger who was rescued from a small traveling zoo: “At first Tasha was timid and would hide behind a tree, especially from men. But over time, she became more comfortable — even talkative.”

Accepting a new animal at Carolina Tiger is a lifetime commitment. “Any species we rescue has to be one that we have already worked with. They also have requirements such as diet and housing that are the same as species we’ve worked with or that we can demonstrate to the board that we can care for responsibly,” says Humphries. Working with rescues often means going through painstaking measures to develop a rapport with an animal. Caprichio, the largest tiger in the facility at nearly 500 pounds, arrived at Carolina Tiger with metabolic bone disease caused by malnutrition at a cub-petting facility. To manage it, he’ll need pain medications and subcutaneous fluids for the rest of his life. But, as Bertok says, “These are wild animals, you can’t grab their muzzle and put a pill down their throat! They have to be willing participants in their medical care.“ So Hill trained Caprichio to come when she calls him, lie down next to his enclosure fence, and remain calm for 15 minutes while fluid is injected under his skin. It took four months of training, once a day, five days a week. “My connection with Caprichio is something I’m grateful for every day,” says Hill. “It makes my heart grow multiple times larger.”

Except when medically necessary, Carolina Tiger follows strict no-contact safety protocols. For example, if Samar, a tiger, charges at the fence near where a volunteer is changing his water, the volunteer knows to look down, not react and wait for Samar to leave. Every enclosure has multiple segments and animals are coaxed with calling or treats to shift to an isolated area when the main segment needs cleaning or enrichment.

Before going into the main area, volunteers and staff verbally confirm with each other that an animal is shifted and it’s safe to enter.

“

I tell the animals, It’s going to get better and you will have everything you need.”

— Kathryn Bertok

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“

Visitors come to understand what the animals have edured before getting here.

One tour can change something about the way they behave or believe.”

— Heidi Zangara

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courtesy Carolina Tiger Rescue (CAMP PHOTOS)

Opposite page: Samar, a tiger.

This page (clockwise from top left): Education director Katie Cannon working with summer camp kids; red wolves; summer camp kids with “pawcasso” prints; Cantana, a New Guinea singing dog, a species recently thought to be extinct; Shailah, a white tiger.

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Carolina Tiger also offers educational programs including tours, summer camps and internships. Guides lead more than 13,000 visitors each year through the sanctuary and tell them each animal’s story. “Visitors come to understand what the animals have endured before getting here,” says donor engagement director Heidi Zangara. “One tour can change something about the way they behave or believe.” For example, nationwide education efforts about the inappropriateness of owning these animals led to the Big Cat Public Safety Act at the end of 2022, bipartisan legislation that prohibits the private possession of big cats and bans public contact with the animals (such as cub-petting facilities).

Youths from third grade through high school can attend summer camp, where they learn how changes in their lifestyles can affect animals in captivity or watch a tiger create a “pawcasso” print with nontoxic paint. Adults who are considering a career with animals can apply for a hands-on internship. During the 12week, full-time program, interns are 68 | WALTER

mentored by keepers as they research wildlife issues, learn about animal care and sanctuary and rescue processes and receive a final evaluation. Bertok, the assistant director, started at Carolina Tiger 23 years ago as an intern.

Recently, after a strenuous, multiyear approval process, Carolina Tiger welcomed two wolves, Caroline and Mist, as part of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP). Unlike the other residents, these critically endangered animals native to North Carolina may eventually be released into the wild. In the meantime, hearing about the wolves in the sanctuary (visitors will never see them — they are isolated in the back of the sanctuary to have as little contact with people as possible) will offer a chance for visitors to understand the urgency of the situation. “The public needs to understand what is going on with red wolves because they are in our backyard,” says Humphries.

As Cannon says, “It’s pretty amazing to be a voice for these animals.”

courtesy Carolina Tiger Rescue (VETERINARIAN)

Opposite page (top to bottom): A tiger named Madonna; an ocelot plays with boxes; Ranger, a bobcat.

This page, clockwise from top: Communications director Louise Orr; animal care volunteers Samantha Cothern and Liz Vasica prepare lunch under the watchful eye of a vulture; Saber, a white tiger; senior keeper Lauren Humphries sprays perfume for enrichment; veterinarian Angela Lassiter and keeper Humphries with a tiger.

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ON DISPLAY

A view into the recently reinstalled Abram and Frances Pascher Kanof Galleries at the NCMA.

Iy PURIM An annual celebration of the Judaic Art Gallery highlights an extraordinary accomplishment

by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE

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father would find his way to the NCMA, and Mr. Domit was very receptive,” says Levine. Together, Abram and Domit came up with the idea of creating an exhibition called Ceremonial Art in the Judaic Tradition. With Abram as guest curator, the exhibit featured nearly 200 pieces, some on loan from New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum and Jewish Museum, as well as 26 pieces from the Kanof family collection.

The popularity of the exhibition — particularly impressive given the relatively small population of Jews in the area — galvanized the two to create a permanent collection of Judaic art.

John W. Coffey was the curator of American and modern art at the NCMA at the time. He worked with Abram to raise funds and select and acquire Jewish ceremonial pieces of “art museum quality,” as Abram described in a 1974 article in The American Jewish Times Outlook. For Coffey, it was a “steep learning curve.” “I’m not Jewish and was not trained in the decorative arts, so I brought in consultants, experts who knew the field, to develop a plan to build the collection,” he says.

In 1983, the Judaic Art Gallery opened as a permanent collection with 81 pieces, many of which were donated by the Kanof family. Among them was Ludwig Y. Wolpert’s sleek glass-and-silver Passover Seder Set with Plates, Dishes, and Wine Cup, a Bauhaus-era design destroyed by Nazis and refabricated in the 1970s, and Ilya Schor’s engraved silver Passover Seder Plate, done in cut and pierced silver inspired by Polish folk-art traditions. In addition to their beauty and ceremonial importance, many of these pieces had stories of their own, having been smuggled out of Nazi Germany during World

courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

I

n the Book of Esther, a story is told of Persian King Achasheverosh and his queen, Esther. When the king’s top advisor, Haman, comes up with a decree to kill all the Jews (he’s angry over a slight from Mordecai, their leader) Esther reveals that she herself is Jewish. She risks her own fate to convince her husband to reverse the decree, saving all of the Jewish people.

This story in the Hebrew Bible is the basis for Purim, the most festive of Jewish holidays, a day to celebrate standing up for one’s culture. Usually a raucous party, it involves reading the Esther Scroll, known as the Megillah, giving LIEVENS, The Feast of Esther money to the poor, wearing costumes and feasting with wine and hamantaschen, a traditional pastry. And here in Raleigh, it’s become the basis for an annual party in support of the Judaic Art Gallery at the North Carolina Museum of Art. In 1971, Abram Kanof and his wife, Frances, moved to Raleigh from New York City, where he had a distinguished career as a pediatrician, medical researcher and clinical professor. The couple was also passionate about Jewish ceremonial art and history. “My parents saw a contemporary menorah at the 1928 World’s Fair, and that stimulated a lifetime of interest in art, and particularly in contemporary Jewish art,” remembers their daughter, Liz Kanof Levine. Abram authored books on the subject, collected extensively, donated generously and served on the boards of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Jewish Museum; he was also president of the American Jewish Historical Society.

After the two moved to Raleigh to be near their daughter, Abram connected with Moussa M. Domit, the director of the NCMA. “It was natural that my

IN THE BEGINNING ...

Clockwise from top left: The first exhibit, Ceremonial Art in the Judaic Tradition, in 1975; Ilya Schor’s Passover Seder Plate; Ludwig Y. Wolpert’s Passover Seder Set; John W. Coffey giving a tour of the collection in 2013; Dr. Abram Kanof showing the collection to children in 1983; JoAnn Pizer-Fox and Stan Fox at the exhibit in 2005.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 73

INTO THE WEST BUILDING Clockwise from top left: Jacob Andreas Ebersbach’s 1793 Sabbath and Festival Lamp; during the reinstallation with NCMA director and CEO Valerie Hillings; a 19th-century Galacian Esther Scroll (Megillah) and Case; the Judaic Art Gallery.

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“The Judaic Art Gallery is not just the most visible expression of Jewish culture in the South, but regarded as one of the most important collections in the country.”

—John W. Coffey

courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

War II — another effort of racism and genocide that recalls Esther’s story. “My favorite memory is seeing the first permanent gallery. It was small and intimate with the pieces resplendent against a royal blue background,” says Levine. “Seeing our pieces in the museum, I was so pleased to be able to share them, educate other people and keep them safe.”

Unfortunately, Frances Kanof passed away before it was finished. “I often thought that John and the museum sustained my father’s life after she died,” says Levine.

Abram Kanof passed away in 1999.

“Each item holds such a magnificent story,” says Ellen Pizer. She became involved with the Judaic Art Gallery through her mother, JoAnn Pizer-Fox, who was close friends with the Kanofs.

“Growing up Jewish in ITB Raleigh in the 1970s and 1980s, I was the ethnic diversity,” says Pizer. “My connection to the gallery feels very meaningful and profound; it’s part of my family’s legacy.”

“We were the first American art museum — not a Jewish museum — to have this type of gallery,” says Coffey. In 2001 the affiliate group Friends of the Judaic Art Gallery (FJAG) was born. “We wanted to build the collection to the level where we could argue for a place in the new building,” Coffey says. Levine and Pizer-Fox were co-chairs, and when Pizer-Fox wound down her involvement a few years later, she tapped Sue Finkel, a longtime NCMA docent, to take her place. “This has been one of the most enriching and rewarding parts of my adult life,” says Finkel.

Together with other supporters, the FJAG works with the NCMA to raise funds. “It has been such a group effort. We hired consultants and worked hard to get everybody on board to pledge money towards possible acquisitions at auction,” says Coffey. “We were often competing against other museums or private collectors in Paris and New York.”

Graham Satisky remembers bringing her children to the Judaic Art Gallery in the early 2000s. “We went a lot. They thought it was cool to see things in a

collection that they saw at the synagogue,” she says. Visiting the gallery emphasized that, while the Jewish population in North Carolina is relatively small, it has deep and important roots here. Pizer’s grandfather, for example, immigrated to the area in the early 20th century and was one of the founding members of the Hebrew Cemetery and the Beth Meyer Synagogue. The Satisky family has been in the area since the early 1900s. “We heard stories of them riding in horse and buggy to go to Shabbat,” says Satisky.

In 2010, the Judaic Art Gallery was moved into an expansive area within the then-new West Building. By 2012, the idea for a party to generate funds and celebrate the collection was born, and Purim was a natural holiday to tie it to. “Purim is a joyous holiday,” says Finkel. “Many synagogues and Jewish community organizations have annual Purim parties, so we decided that it would be a great way to bring people together to bring awareness to and raise funds for the Judaic Art Gallery at the NCMA.” The theme of the first “I y Purim” party was Purim Madness, and guests were encouraged to dress in interpretations of kings and queens. “We also hired a face painter — who knew adults love getting their faces painted? — and a woman who made beautiful crowns from flowers,” says Finkel. The party started small. “When my husband and I first went to the party, it was just a small turnout, and most people there were over the age of 70,” says Pizer.

“I remember going to the party and thinking, This is amazing — we’re at a costume party at the art museum! Why is this not the party of the year?” Sure enough, over the last decade, it has evolved into a highly anticipated annual event.

Each year, there is a different theme; past themes include Woks and Lox, Love and Knishes, Hula and Hora, March Madness and 007 Diamonds Are Forever, all of which have a loose connection to the collection. “After a decade, you really have to go outside of the box to come up with them,” laughs Pizer. “But as soon as we know the theme, we get excited and start

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 75

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tance in the Jewish tradition. There are more than 90 objects in the collection, from an 18th-century Torah Crown to a silver Standing Hanukkah Lamp, designed in the mid-1920s by Ze’ev Raban of Jerusalem’s Bezalel Workshop, to contemporary pieces from living artists.

Today, “the Judaic Art Gallery is not just the most visible expression of Jewish culture in the South, but regarded as one of the most important collections in the country,” says Coffey. “What we’ve done with it, how we display and interpret it — those have become something of a prototype for other museums.”

This year, the gallery turns 40 and remains a rarity: The NCMA is one of just two art museums in the United States with a permanent gallery devoted to Jewish ceremonial art. Coffey, who recently retired, has been supporting the museum on its mission to hire a permanent curator. “With any collection, unless you have a curator who looks after it, eventually it becomes irrelevant or static,” he says. For Coffey, and for many who were involved in its creation, the Judaic Art Gallery is the accomplishment of a lifetime. “Working with this community and building this gallery has been the most enjoyable part of my whole career.

For this state with a relatively small Jewish community to have one of the most active and important Judaic Art collections in the country, it’s an amazing evolution of what was once a very small gallery,” says Coffey. “Now it’s one of the most interesting parts of the whole museum collection, it’s this gallery of dazzling objects that’s completely unexpected.”

“The Judaic Art Gallery is a great source of pride for the Jewish community in North Carolina,” says Finkel.

“A lot of people are gone now that would be so excited to see this,” Pizer agrees. “In a time when we still live with so much antisemitism and racism, the idea that we can have so much pride, support and community around the Judaic Art Gallery is amazing. It would be special anywhere, but the fact that it exists here in the Triangle is spectacular.”

Eamon Queeney (2022 IMAGES); others courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

planning the costumes. It’s hilarious and fun and the museum staff creates a wonderful ambiance with delicious food and drink.” The party always includes surprises or unique elements: one year, they had a lipsologist (who interpreted guests’ lip prints); another featured women walking around in body paint.

“There’s always something fun and different,” Satisky says. This year, the theme is I y Purim: An Intergalactic Gala, and they expect sci-fi-inspired costumes, cosmic cocktails at a galaxy bar, and Milky Ways for dessert.

“And, of course, the Judaic Art Gallery is open to visit with docents available to share info on the collection,” says Finkel.

Within are several works related to Purim specifically, including a 19th-century Esther Scroll (Megillah) and Case — an ornate metal canister that houses a parchment inscribed with the story — and a painting by Jan Lievens entitled The Feast of Esther. “It thrills me and fills me with so much pride to see people enjoying the party and enjoying the collection,” says Pizer. “It’s a far cry from my mother making latkes for Hanukkah for me to share with the kindergarten class.”

Indeed, these days the party, which Finkel believes is the only statewide Purim party in North Carolina, attracts guests not only from the Triangle, but from Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Pinehurst, among other places. “The party is open to everyone, whether they practice Judaism or are ethnically born but don’t practice, or aren’t Jewish at all,” says Satisky. “It’s a good cause and a great time, it helps expose and educate people who don’t know about Judaism,” agrees Pizer.

Thanks largely to the efforts of the FJAG, the Judaic Art Gallery continued to grow. More pieces were added, and in 2010 it was moved to the West Building.

The NCMA expanded the space dedicated to the gallery in 2015, and when the NCMA reinstalled its permanent collection last year, the Judaic Art Gallery moved to a more prominent place. Digital displays offer in-depth descriptions of the objects, their history and their impor-

I y PURIM PARTIES Scenes from the I y Purim parties over the years, with themes including Purim Madness (2015), Saturday Night Fever (2018) and 007 Diamonds are Forever (2022).

Ron Levine and Liz Kanof Levine are pictured as King Ahasuerus and Queen Vashti (top row, center) and Marc Finkel and Sue Finkel are pictured as a prom king and queen (middle row, center) from the 2013 Kings and Queens.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 77

MONTREAL TORONTO

RALEIGH

THE BAHAMAS

CANCUN SAN JUAN

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REYKJAVIK

LONDON PARIS

Eight exotic destinations you can reach direct from Raleigh

the GREAT

ESCAPE

by RACHEL SIMON

B

ack in November, I had the honor of being invited to take the new direct flight from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Freeport, Grand Bahama.

The 90-minute trip, offered by Bahamasair, was notable not just for connecting the two areas in what felt like record time, but also for the fact that it marked the seventh international route offered by RDU — as well as the airport’s 46th nonstop flight.

It’s a credit to the burgeoning Triangle area that one can stroll into RDU and hop on a direct flight to one of nearly 50 destinations, not just to hubs like Atlanta, Chicago or New York on your way further afield. Over the past few years, the airport has expanded its nonstop service to far-flung places in Europe and Mexico, offering travelers a greater number of options without the hassle and risk of layovers (raise your hand if you’ve ever spent a well-earned vacation day waiting

out a thunderstorm in Hartsfield-Jackson!).

“RDU’s priorities are to expand our direct domestic and international flights and make travel more convenient for our guests,” says Stephanie Hawco, the airport’s director of media relations. And while the height of the pandemic saw travel for RDU and most other airports plummet, numbers are now back up; in October 2022, Hawco says, RDU saw 1.1 million passengers. With that increased travel comes an increased desire for direct flights, especially to international locations that offer glamour and culture very different from the Triangle.

The Grand Bahama route, for instance, “offers travelers a new option for a beach getaway,” while the Icelandair flight to Reykjavik lets travelers jet off for a “bucket list” trip unlike any other, says Hawco. Read on for a list of exciting places outside the continental United States that you can travel to nonstop from RDU. The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 79

1 CANCÚN, MEXICO After pausing nonstop flights to Cancún during the pandemic, American Airlines resumed service in November.

And in December, JetBlue began offering a twice-weekly direct trip to the tropical destination. It takes just over three hours and drops passengers off in a paradise full of stunning beaches and all-inclusive resorts, not to mention family-friendly opportunities for everything from zip-lining in the jungle to snorkeling by underwater sculptures.

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2 S

LONDON, ENGLAND Want to cross the pond? Hop on American Airlines’ direct flight from RDU to London, which has operated daily for over two decades and takes seven and a half hours. Once landing at Heathrow, check out the classics like Big Ben and Tower Bridge, but also try to fit in a play in the West End, tasting trip through Chinatown, or, perhaps, a visit to the Tower of London, where our namesake Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned — or the Palace of Westminister, where he was beheaded.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 81

3 S

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO Want to stay a bit closer to home? A direct flight from RDU to San Juan is only three and a half hours. After JetBlue ended its nonstop service to the city in early 2022, Frontier launched its own direct route, which operates daily. And thank goodness it did, as who would want to miss out on San Juan’s historic forts, stunning beaches and unrivaled nightlife — all while indulging in some savory empanadillas and slow-roasted pernil, two of the country’s signature dishes.

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4 PARIS, FRANCE As with American’s Cancún route, Delta’s direct flight to Paris was paused for over two years thanks to the pandemic. In August, the eight-hour trip resumed, and it is now offered four times a week for travelers looking to spend their vacation eating toasty baguettes, taking in classic art and filling their suitcases with clothes and accessories from the city’s many fashionable shops. Plus, there’s Disneyland for the kids!

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 83

5 S

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND A volcanic island surrounded by northern seas is just about the opposite of the Piedmont, and you can get directly to Reykjavik on a six-hour flight offered by Icelandair. It flies four days a week and “has been so popular that Icelandair just extended their schedule at RDU,” says Hawco. No wonder: in Reykjavik, you can get off the plane and be soaking in the famous Blue Lagoon less than an hour later, before heading into town (or elsewhere around the country) for whale-watching tours and Northern Lights expeditions.

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6 S

TORONTO, CANADA AirCanada’s flight to Toronto paused during the pandemic but now is back in full force on the daily. And once you arrive, you can have a ball checking out jewels and gems in the Royal Ontario Museum, drinking wine outside Niagara Falls, or dining at the famous 360-degree restaurant in the CN Tower.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 85

7 FREEPORT & NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS For guaranteed sunny beaches, grab one of the twice-weekly Bahamasair flights from RDU to Freeport to explore the island of Grand Bahama’s many offerings, or head on to Nassau, to which the flight continues after its first stop. In less than two hours, you can be relaxing on the beach, snorkeling with stingrays and eating your weight in fresh fish; you can even take advantage of the country’s People-to-People program and get paired with a local to learn about culture and food in the area. Really, what more could you want?

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“RDU’s priorities are to expand our direct domestic and international flights and make travel more convenient for our guests.”

— Stephanie Hawco

8 MONTREAL, CANADA If you’re in the mood for some delicious FrenchCanadian food and culture, head north to Montreal via AirCanada’s direct route. It launched in 2019 and operates every day, taking less than two hours from start to finish. That means you’ll have plenty of time to practice your French and eat all the delicious poutine your heart desires — all while soaking up the city’s cosmopolitan vibe, gorgeous architecture and endless array of must-see shops, gardens and ice rinks.

Hockey fans could even make some noise for the Canes at a Habs game.

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 87

Lissa Gotwals

An Evening with BeverlyMcIver & Liza Roberts Be the first to view Beverly McIver’s new exhibition at CAM. The North Carolina native and nationally recognized artist will be joined by Liza Roberts, author of Art of the State, for an intimate conversation about art and identity. The evening includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, refreshments and a book signing.

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Beverly McIver is represented by Craven Allen Gallery in Durham.

courtesy NCFC / Lewis Gettier Photography

THE WHIRL

Back row: Kerolin Nicoli, Clara Robbins, Rikke Madsen, Katelyn Rowland, Estelle Johnson, Casey Murphy, Marisa Bova, Hailey Hopkins, Frankie Tagliaferri, Olivia Wingate. Middle row: Emily Fox, Kaleigh Kurtz, Jennifer Cudjoe, Meredith Speck, Millie Farrow, Malia Berkely, Nikia Smith, Elianna Beard, Croix Soto. Front row: Tyler Lussi, Ryan Williams, Emily Gray, Kiki Pickett, Brianna Pinto, Sarah Clark, Brittany Ratcliffe, Tess Boade, Denise O’Sullivan, Sydney Collins

WALTER’s roundup of gatherings, celebrations, fundraisers and more around Raleigh.

90 A New Era for Courage 91 Dix Park Groundbreaking 92 Familiar Interplay Opening 92 Young Professionals Fundraiser 93 Triangle Wine & Food Experience

To have your event considered for The Whirl, submit images and information at waltermagazine.com/submit-photos

The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 89

THE WHIRL

Nathan Thackeray, Sean Nahas, Emma Thomson

Kathleen Malik, Sammy Malik, Steve Malik

Brianna Pinto, Estelle Johnson, Ari Chambers

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courtesy NCFC / Lewis Gettier Photography

NEW ERA OF COURAGE On Jan. 31, the North Carolina Football Club celebrated an expanded partnership with Merz Aesthetics and unveiled a new mini pitch. NC Courage players, owners and community representatives heard from Courage president Francie Gottsegen, Merz VP of CORE Services Kim Lobell, player Brianna Pinto and HighlightHER founder Ari Chambers. Taylor White created a Courage painting.

DIX PARK GROUNDBREAKING On Jan. 26, SECU, SECU Foundation, Dix Park Conservancy and the City of Raleigh came together to celebrate the beginning of a partnership to restore the three historic Stone Houses on the Dix Park grounds. Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley and Dix Park Conservancy CEO Janet Cowell spoke at the event.

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The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 91

THE WHIRL

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YOUNG PROFESSIONALS FUNDRAISER On Oct. 27, the Rotary Club of Raleigh – Downtown held a fundraiser to support the Wake Smiles Dental Clinic at the Raleigh Salvation Army as well as the Gift of Life Foundation.

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92 | WALTER

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FAMILIAR INTERPLAY OPENING On Jan. 6, Artspace celebrated First Friday and the opening of the exhibit Familiar Interplay by Sanjé James.

TRIANGLE WINE & FOOD EXPERIENCE The Triangle Wine & Food Experience, a series of wine- and food-related events benefitting the Frankie Lemmon School & Developmental Center, brought together some of the world’s top culinary talents and winemakers to the Triangle Feb. 2 - 4. It was the 30th anniversary of the event, from which all proceeds go directly to the Frankie Lemmon School, a NAEYC accredited, five-star child developmental center.

Kurt Bland, Martha Derbyshire, Meredith Keyes, Adam Derbyshire, Emily Hodges, Kevin Ceglowski

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The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 93

BOOK CLUB

At the Table with

Susan Gravely PRESENTED BY

Learn how to make delicious primis & pastas with Vietri CEO Susan Gravely and her best friend Frances Mayes. With wine in hand, savor recipes from Susan’s new book Italy on a Plate: Travels, Memories, Menus prepared by the chefs and pasta makers from Raleigh’s Alimentari at Left Bank.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5 I 6-9 PM Transfer Co. Food Hall 500 E Davie St, Raleigh, NC 27601 WITH SUPPORT FROM

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The Art & Soul of Raleigh | 95

W

hen I found out my family was moving from Belfast, in Northern Ireland, to the United States in 1992, I was terrified.

In our family meeting to discuss the move, it sounded like a fun adventure: America! That’s where they make Disney movies! …but we didn’t know a single person there.

I was in my second year at Harmony Hill Primary when my teacher announced to the class that “one of us” was moving to the U.S. I had gotten in enough trouble in class to know that “one of us” was always me. She pulled out a globe to show everyone where I was going and spun it so slowly across the Atlantic that I thought it would take us six months to get there.

We moved to the States in late October. Unbeknownst to me, my first day of school was the day of the class Halloween party. I was excited about wearing jeans to school for the first time (school uniforms in Ireland are very formal — picture Hogwarts). But on my first day, I found myself face to face with a student dressed like the devil.

Weird country.

It’s hard to be different as a child.

Even though Americans now tell me, every day, that they wish I’d “kept my Irish accent,” that was not a popular opinion in middle school.

My brothers and I would practice our American accents to pass as normal at school and would only dare sound Irish at home. We even came up with a sentence to practice the most different vowel sounds between the accents: “Should I bring my towel to your house or do you have one I can borrow?”

(Versus, “Should I bring me tool to yer hoose or do yer have oon I ken barra?”) This phrase doubled perfectly as preparation to be invited to one of those famous American pool parties.

You have pools at your houses?! Incredible!

(I was finally invited. Nearly drowned.

But I had the right towel!)

Spending holidays back and forth visiting Ireland, I’d regale my cousins

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with stories of life in America and my American friends with tales of my family back home. My cousins laughed at the notion that Americans picture them eating “corned beef and cabbage” (bacon and cabbage is far more common). I’d explain to my American friends the delicious potato delicacies at home: curry chips (fries) and champ, a traditional mashed potato and scallion dish in Ireland. Google it. Make it.

You’re welcome.

I was blown away by how proudly Americans identified as being Irish.

The same kids who made fun of my accent would tell me they were 100% Irish. Though it was a confusing time, I was flattered to know my wee home island across the sea was so beloved by

rock Shakes and wearing “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” pins. All the while, my brothers and I would be out in the yard, checking for snakes. (St. Patrick was known for ridding Ireland of its snakes. And/ or inventing Guinness. I’ll let you guess which.) St. Patrick’s Day was always “Just another day at the pub — except you’d go to church first.”

But in college, I got to experience the full joy of the Irish American St. Paddy’s Day. I’d go to “kegs and eggs” and spend time explaining that it’s “Saint Patrick” or “St. Paddy” but NEVER “St. Patty.” (In Ireland, Paddy is short for Patrick while Patty and Pat are short for Patricia. Saint Patricia is someone else entirely.)

Around this time, my parents started to have an annual St. Patrick’s Day party; they were worn down after years of being asked “You’re from Ireland — what are you doing for St. Patrick’s Day?!” Baffled, my parents would say “Would you like to come over? It’ll be good craic.” (Craic — pronounced “crack” — is the Irish word for fun. It’s a sociable good time, i.e.: “I went to Helen’s last night.” “Was it good craic?” “Aye, the craic was good.”)

We’d make soda bread and stew and play folk songs and sing. Indeed, it was good craic — even if it wasn’t what their friends were expecting: There were no leprechauns, no portraits of St. Patrick, not even a filthy limerick.

When I was in my 20s, I finally leaned into the American Irish St. Patrick’s Day experience. I went to a parade in Pittsburgh and bar-crawled my way through the town’s South Side, an area notoriously known for college bars. At one point, I called my sweet Irish mother to let her know I had been enjoying my first-ever green beer.

“Can you believe it, Mum? Green beer!”

To which she responded: “Aye, pet, just try to find some green water.”

Kiss Me, I’m Irish!

It’s just another day at the pub

by HELEN WILDY my new country. My classmates would ask me questions about Ireland and tell me how much they loved Lucky Charms and St. Patrick’s Day. I hadn’t discovered Lucky Charms yet and was surprised to hear how much American kids loved a religious holiday, but I appreciated their enthusiasm. I was particularly impressed with the reach of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. I was surprised that Americans with English, Welsh or Scottish ancestry didn’t have the same fervor for St. George, St. David or St. Andrew, since those countries had patron saints, as well.

Come St. Patrick’s Day, my American friends would be double-fisting Sham-

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