One Column At A Time: Reflections From A Publisher

For more than ten years, from 2000 to 2010, Nancy Stroupe (Morrison) was associated with several High Country area publications. She was general manager of The Avery Mountain Times, publisher and editor of The Avery Journal-Times, and publisher of All About Women, a magazine celebrating the women of the High Country. When her husband once referred to the weekly column she wrote as the book she was writing one column at a time, the idea for this book was born. Nancy took a number of her more interesting and/or entertaining columns and rewrote them into stand-alone stories and articles. This book not only imparts a lot of interesting information about the Western North Carolina High Country, but it also provides entertaining stories of people and places we all would enjoy visiting. With her unique sense of humor and her unfailing love for the mountains of North Carolina, Nancy will have you laughing, crying, or pondering the universe with her. Explore the ghostly lights that dart around Brown Mountain, learn about a half-sister she didn’t know she had, read about her mother’s 100-year-old German doll, messages in bottles, and much more. Take a peek into the Stroupe and Sloop families of Avery County, and the wonderful experiences of growing up in such a family. Go ice skating on Dr. Sloop’s Dam, and brave the awful snows of 1960 when mountain children missed thirty straight days of school. Learn how life in the animal house really is! There are funny stories, philosophical questions, helpful hints, and sentimental memories. Join Nancy for some wonderful adventures into the past, present, and–yes, even the future! But most of all, sit back and enjoy the read.