APPALACHIA
In response to our last issue’s column on Appalachia and the power of a name, we received many thoughtful and thought-provoking letters and essays from readers on the topic of Appalachia. We will continue to publish these in upcoming issues.

In the Blue Ridge foothills of my childhood, everyone called it “Appa-latch-ya.” During the televised 1960 U.S. Presidential election, the world was introduced to John Kennedy’s campaign trips through poverty stricken pockets of West Virginia. America was enamored with the region and a dozen or so Appalachia-themed television shows came during the decade that followed. It was media folks from outside our region who, I believe, began to change the pronunciation.

I introduced the idea of an Appalachian history course to Virginia Western Community College in 2006 and have enjoyed teaching students about the rich heritage of our region over the past two years. I completed graduate work in the Smokies 30 years ago and have spent a career in the National Park Service, the last 19 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I begin my classes at Virginia Western with five overarching principles that guide us through a semester of topical discussions ranging from music, folklore, geography, literature, Native American and European influences and industrialization.

“Appalachia is more than a collection of quaint stuff,” I tell them on day one. “It is a complex region and a complex subject, in many ways, like other parts of rural America.” “It is a changing region and has always been that way.” Finally, and hopefully with the most passion, I tell them, “Above all, Appalachia is a sense of place.”

Pronounce it however you wish, but, to me, it will always be “Appa-latch-ya” as in my childhood.

—Peter Givens
Interpretive Specialist, Blue Ridge Parkway
Roanoke, Va.

I read your essay on Appalachia with interest. I actually read it on an airline flight going home to Greenville, S.C. after attending the 2008 Development District of Appalachia Association (DDAA) Conference in Washington. Ironically, the previous evening, while listening to a speech by Appalachian Regional Commission Co-Chair Ann Pope, it occurred to me that Appalachia Country would probably be a more accurate title for your magazine than Blue Ridge Country. To me, the Blue Ridge is a fairly small area of Virginia, as opposed to the broad region covered by your magazine.

Promoting prosperity and enhancing the quality of life are two major objectives of the DDAA. In recent years, asset-based development – the enhancement of unique features of an area to promote tourism – has been a primary focus of the organization. By identifying local attractions throughout the region, your magazine supports this initiative.

I wholeheartedly agree with your point that you can’t generalize on the socio-economic character of the Appalachian region. Certainly, the six counties of South Carolina I serve are vastly different from the areas served by my colleagues from eastern Kentucky or West Virginia.

Personally, I have been a subscriber to Blue Ridge Country for six to seven years now. I used to take trips to see many of the areas that had been featured in the magazine. Now that I am married with two children, life isn’t as free; however, I still enjoy traveling vicariously through the magazine.

Keep up the good work!

—Steven Pelissier
Executive Director, S.C. Appalachian Council of Governments
Greenville, S.C.

KATHY, OF COURSE
Reader response to our March/April cover was immediate, vehement and varied. This issue’s letter from the editor responds to those letters. Following is a sampling, in full and excerpted:

I subscribe to your magazine because of the focus on the Blue Ridge, and our appreciation for the region.

The picture on the cover of the March/April edition doesn’t fit the category. Despite modern trends I do not associate such exposure with the Blue Ridge.

Further, your use of such a picture contributes to the degrading of women in our society. It seems to me that we have enough of this kind of material already available in TV and general media presentations. It is out of place in such a publication as Blue Ridge Country. Otherwise, I greatly appreciate your offerings.

My wife and I started yearly vacations in our marriage with camping at Big Meadows, Skyline Drive, in 1946, and have camped with our children in every campground from Big Meadows down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Smokemont in the Great Smokies. Hiking the available trails was a major part of those vacations, including the carrying of three children over the years when they were too young to walk the entire distances on their own.

Since my wife died a year ago, my children have forbidden my hiking alone – they are scattered across the country. Maybe at 82 I should consider some other activity.

Thank you for Blue Ridge Country.

—F.L. Huth, Jr.
Lynchburg, S.C.

I have been a long-time reader and subscriber to Blue Ridge Country. The awesome pictures and wonderful stories have allowed me to visit places I may never be able to see for myself. For this, I thank you.

I mean no disrespect to Kathy Mattea or the photographer of your March/April cover photo but this shot would be better suited to fashion magazines. I look forward to the scenic beauty of the area, the wildlife, the flowers and the trees.

—Jean Soucy
Lake Wales, Fla.

Call me old-fashioned, but you don’t need to stoop to this level. Otherwise a great magazine.

—Dale Cunningham
Gray, Tenn.

Please focus on the beauty of the region and leave cheesecake photos to magazines that cater to that sort of image.

—Margaret Morris
Conyers, Ga.

I received my March/April issue of Blue Ridge Country and wondered when you will come out with the swimsuit issue? Maybe BRC needs to start a campaign to raise money for B&Bs (bras and buttons) for Appalachian women.

—Bill Cooper
Stillwater, Okla.

There’s a time and place for everything.
—Mary J. Carroll
Tulsa, Okla.


POISON IVY?
As a naval officer stationed overseas I look forward to a little taste of home each time your magazine arrives. A North Carolina native from Asheville, I spent a lot of time in the woods… and a lot of time with calamine lotion. Your cover with Kathy Mattea caught my eye immediately. I am asuming that the sparkle in her eye is because she knows she’s sitting in between the prettiest batch of poison ivy I’ve seen in a long time. I would recognize it anywhere. Don’t scratch it, you’ll spread it!

—Gregory Harris
U.S. Navy, Naples, Italy

Editor’s Note: Gregory Harris wasn’t the only one who noticed the poison ivy, before or after we went to press. (Reader Bernard Clouse, for one, of Warrensville, N.C., suggested banana peels to help with the itching.)
Just to be sure, we consulted with Greg Armel at the University of Tennessee, whose official title is Assistant Professor Weed Science for Horticultural Crops and Invasive Weeds.
He writes: “Looks like you have a nice healthy stand of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). The most defining characteristic (besides the leaves of three/leaf with three leaflets and the glossy cuticle) is a bundle of tiny greenish/gray grape-like berries that you can see on the branch to the right of Ms. Mattea’s head (hope she is not as allergic to poison ivy as much as I am – she was amazingly close).”
Don London, Mattea’s long-time tour manager, assures us: “I can confirm that Kathy did not suffer any ill effects from the poison ivy, and did not require ‘an ocean of calamine lotion.’”

CORRECTIONS
Mt. Cammerer, in North Carolina, was misidentified in the March/April issue: Springer Mountain, in Ga., is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. In the Jan/Feb “Hike,” Ivestor Gap in the Shining Rock Wilderness area was misspelled.

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