First published in 1972, The Foxfire Book was a surprise bestseller that brought Appalachia's philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers. Whether you wanted to hunt game, bake the old-fashioned way, or learn the art of successful moonshining, The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center had a contact who could teach you how with clear, step-by-step instructions.
Today, Foxfire's mission remains the same, and The Foxfire Book of Simple Living is both a rich look back at five decades of collected wisdom, as well as an intriguing look forward at the artists and craftsman who are working to preserve the Appalachian tradition for future generations. We hear from doll and soap makers who continue to use and adapt the time-tested methods outlined in The Foxfire Book, not to mention hunters, blacksmiths, musicians, and carpenters whose respect for those who preceded them enhances their own art. We see how the mountain community has responded to the films, books, and plays that have tried (and sometimes failed) to represent them. And, above all, by listening to the voices of those who came before, we celebrate the people who have preserved the stories, crafts, and customs that define life in the Appalachian mountain region."synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Founded in 1966, FOXFIRE is a nonprofit education organization. Foxfire's learner-centered, community-based approach is advocated through The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center and grounded in the Southern Appalachian culture that promotes a sense of place and appreciation of local people and culture as essential educational tools.
Fifty Years and Counting
An introduction from Ann Moore, Foxfire President and Executive Director
Making Real Human Connections
A note from editors Kaye Carver Collins and Jonathan Blackstock
Wisdomof Our Elders
Livin’ High On The Hog
VANISHING ARTS
Community and Gratitude
The Art of Making Cornshuck Dolls and Real Connections
An interview with Beth Kelley Zorbanos
Mountain Folk Art at Its Peak
An interview with Local folk artist Eric Legge
Mother Vine and King Kudzu
An interview with Kudzu artists Joleen Oh and Cleve Phillips
Making What We Need By Hand
Making Soap, Living Clean, and Giving Thanks
A day of crafting with Jenny, T. J., Briar, and Moses Stevens
How to Make Rope the Old-Timey Way
Kermit Rood teaches students to make old-fashioned rope
Joe Williams’ Point of Life!
Joe Williams tells of his experience making bark berry buckets
The “Gourd” Life
An interview with gourd artist Priscilla Wilson
The Art of Making Furniture by Hand
John Roper shares his love for wood, tools, and a vanishing art
Storytelling
Tiger Mountain’s Storyteller
An interview with renowned local storyteller, Janie P. Taylor
Legends That Will Never Die
Cherokee Storyteller, Davy Arch
The Oral Tradition: Preserving Tales that Shaped a Nation
Jerry Wolfe, Cherokee Storyteller, shares stories of the Cherokee People
Mawmaw’s Stories
Mountain tales told by Bonnie Shirley
Blacksmithing
The Hammer and the Forge
Dan Maxwell on the trade of blacksmithing
David Burress: The Makings of a True Appalachian Blacksmith
An interview with John C. Campbell, Folk School Ferrier
Hunting and Protecting
The Art of Making Turkey Calls
An interview with Dale Holland, North Carolina turkey-call maker
Traditional Weaponry
William Swimmer demonstrates construction of primitive weaponry
Wisdomof Our Elders
Virtuous Living
THE WORLD IS WATCHING
Hollywood Comes a Calling
The Great Locomotive Chase
Local residents on the production of the 1956 film
Deliverance Shall Come
A community responds to the 1972 film
“I never expected the novel would be published.”
An interview with North Georgia author Olive Ann Burns
The Making of the Foxfire Play and Movie
Foxfire students’ experiences
Appalachia Goodbye
Laura Monk and High Cotton create a video at the Foxfire Heritage Center
Wisdomof Our Elders
Making Do With What We Have
PICKIN' AND GRINNIN'
Oliver Rice and Curtis Blackwell
Two old-time musicians reminisce
The Blackwell Tradition
An interview with second-generation bluegrass musician, Shane Blackwell
I’ve Been Everywhere, Man
An interview with traditional bluegrass musician Rodney Worley
The Art of a Luthier: Making the Lord’s Trees Sing
An interview with Danny White
Wisdomof Our Elders
My Most Valuable Possession
REMEMBERING WHEN THE WORLD WAS BLACK AND WHITE
“I’ve Traveled a Bit, Yet I Keep Coming Back Like Iron Filings to a Magnet”
An interview with James Still
The Big Cat
Baseball star Johnny Mize recalls his raising in the Appalachian foothills
Sock Suppers, Cake Walks, Cotton Pickin’, and A Water Lily Quilt
Frances Harbin shares her memories
Front Porch Stories
An interview with Edgar Owens
Hearts Touched and Healed
An interview with Lois and Clarence Martin
Self-Proclaimed “Black Sheep”
Mischievous Antics with Malcolm Dillard
“It Has Been Wonderful, Really!”
The Unique Life of Beanie Ramey
From the Mountains to the Mansion and Back Home
An Interview with Zell and Shirley Miller
“A Little Good in Everybody”
An abundance of love from Susie Hembree Dockins
Wisdomof Our Elders
“Train up a child in the way he should go”: Advice on Child Rearing
Women of Appalachia
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
Student Spotlight
From Pencils to PCs
Former student Laurie Brunson Altieri discusses changes in the magazine
Highlighting a Former Student
An interview with Foxfire alumnus, Allison Adams
Experiencing Arts and Crafts
Southeastern Art and Craft Festivals
Editors and Staff
Biographical Sketches
Contributors
Contacts, Students, and Readers
Excerpted from The Foxfire Book of Simple Living by Foxfire Fund Inc. Copyright © 2016 FoxFire. Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
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