Monday, April 23, 2007

They Came Out of Tar Heel Land


Twentieth century icons who came from North Carolina include Ava Gardner (born in Johnston County) and John Coltrane (born in Hamlet). They more than make up for Jesse Helms.

North Carolina is an interesting place – for as long as I can remember, it’s been about half progressive and half conservative. Hence, anything is possible coming from the Tar Heel Nation -- which is the working title for a book I've been writing in my head. It has chapters on a variety of people connected in some way to the state. (I lived there for about twenty years). There could also be sections on happenings. And places.


Then there's stuff about North Carolina, songs and the like. Here's a verse from an odd one. What it's really about is anyone's guess.

"Hypnotized" (–- Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac, 1974)

Now it’s not a meaningless question
To ask if they’ve been and gone
I remember a talk about North
Carolina and a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man’s ever made that land
Then I think it would’ve showed


Today's Rune: Fertility.

Birthdays: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Michael Moore, Judy Davis, Timothy McVeigh, Patricia Manterola, Yana Gupta.

Hasta La Vista!

9 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I've been to North Carolina a couple of times and found the people friendly and the vistas beautiful. A place worth visiting.

Johnny Yen said...

My parents lived in Raleigh in the early nineties. I got the exact same impression of North Carolina as you, Erik. The state has one of the most cool, progressive areas in the country (the Triangle) and some of the most oppressive people-- Jesse Helms springs to mind-- in the country.

Anonymous said...

North Carolina is a beautiful state to visit, live in and work in. There are the beaches to the east, mountains o the east and the lovely piedmont inbetween. Best of all are the people who live there and miss the offspring who don't.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, North Carolina. If you pick the right place to live there (the Triangle for one,) you can get to live in a great mix of Southern culture and what they used to call counter-culture. A lot of us NC natives are still sorry about inflicting ol' Jesse on the rest of the country, BTW...

JR's Thumbprints said...

Raleigh is certainly a nice place to visit. At one time, I had a North Carolina teaching certificate, but decided to stay in Michigan.

Laura said...

My son's sister-in-law lives in North Carolina. He loves to go there for visits.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed the post Erik. I have a friend who works at UNMC, Chapel Hill. He loves it. The song...I thought it was about UFO's? MW

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks y'all for the comments! MW: Yes! Flying saucers, UFOs, aliens. You got it. I finally got it when I keyed the lyrics in. Who, though, is being "Hypnotized"?

Ev: Don't forget Southern Culture on the Skids is from Chapel Hill ;)

Anonymous said...

Erik, to answer your question? Check out John C. Fuller's Book,
"The Interupted Journey". It began a whole new era in the early 70's. MW