Thursday Things We Like for 7.16: 13 Alabama Ghosts, A Musician You Should Know, and How to Die with Dignity

Ryan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:43:27 +0000

Many a Southern school child grew up reading Kathryn Tucker Windham’s 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Though she may be well known for this charming staple of Southern folklore, her life and literary range reach far beyond one seminal work. A journalist, folklorist, and utterly enthralling storyteller with a seemingly endless store of knowledge of local lore, this interview is a great way to satisfy your interest in graveyards, homecomings, funerals, and a world we’ve sadly lost.

Photographer David Key’s “Howard and Herbert” series masterfully chronicles two aging brothers’ preparations for the afterlife. It’s austere and honest without being heavy handed or morbid. What he captures is a stark rural grace that’s well worth our attention. Their home and everything around it, including themselves, seems to be on the verge of collapsing back into the soil they worked for decades.

If you don’t know Elizabeth Cotten, you should. Born in North Carolina in 1895, “Libba” taught herself guitar and wrote a number of songs that have been endlessly covered. Among them, “Shake Sugaree” and “Freight Train” are the most enduring. Though she retired from making music for several decades, she was rediscovered when she became a housekeeper for the Seeger family (yes, the Seeger family) and made music until her death in 1987.

Yellowhammer Press » Katheryn Tucker Windham

Thursday Things We Like for 7.16: 13 Alabama Ghosts, A Musician You Should Know, and How to Die with Dignity