Cara Modisett

o you believe in ghosts? I’ve been asked that, and asked it myself, over the years. I grew up with an overactive imagination, wanting to see ghosts, waiting for voices or visions from the beyond that never appeared, wishing I had some sensitivity beyond the norm.

In the spirit… pardon me – of the season, we offer a few ghosts in this issue’s pages. There’s the Greenbrier Ghost of West Virginia, the murdered young bride who visited her mother after death and condemned her widower to prison.

Blue Ridge Country contributor Joe Tennis has a new book out and we’ve published one of its 22 eerie tales in Country Roads – the haunting of The Tavern in Abingdon, Va. It’s a cozy, lovely old restaurant whose meals I’ve enjoyed in past years, not knowing that the ghosts of Civil War soldiers might still occupy its upstairs.

And speaking of the Civil War, we have a mini-photo essay of photography documenting history, and documenting the re-creation of history. In a unique juxtaposition of exhibits, Roanoke, Va.’s O. Winston Link Museum temporarily houses two collections. One is of images from the 19th century, around the time of the “great unpleasantness.” The other is of pinhole photos by Willie Anne Wright – images of Civil War reenactors from the 20th century. The pinhole process makes them look like ghosts, shadowy, blurred, lost in history. They remind me of photos by Sally Mann in her books “What Remains” and “Deep South” – go to Artists of the Blue Ridge on BlueRidgeCountry.com to read an interview with her we published in 2005, and see some of those images.

And speaking of lost in history, Deborah Huso explores the vestiges of Shenandoah’s past residents, those who moved out of Virginia’s Madison County when the national park was created. The park has worked hard to repair those relationships and document those communities in archaeological studies, academic writing, books and a new exhibit at the park.

You’ll note in this issue that some of our most prolific contributors are you – our readers. Keep the letters coming! As we approach our 20th anniversary year, we want to hear from you. We have great plans for 2008 as we continue to profile the places – and the people – that make the Appalachian region unique. Go to BlueRidgeCountry.com to send in your thoughts, or drop a stamped envelope in the mail, the good old-fashioned way

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