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OBITUARIES Lee Maynard Lee Maynard died at the age of 79 on June 16, 2017, in a VA Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, following a heart attack and treatment for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. His wife, Helen, who he married in 1959, preceded him in death in 2010. He is survived by his daughter, Darci, and son, Toran. Lee requested that there not be any services and that he be cremated so that his son can take his ashes to the Grand Canyon. Lee Maynard was a man of many passions and pursuits. One of the most successful writers born and raised...

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has chosen its Spring 2017 Okra Picks, a handful of books scheduled for publication between April and June. They are: Skin Again by bell hooks, a children’s book illustrated by Chris Raschka Small Treasons by Mark Powell, fiction No One Is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts, fiction Extra-Ordinary Adventures by Daniel Wallace, fiction He Calls Me by Lightning The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty by S. Jonathan Bass, non-fiction   Last month we noted that Loyal Jones received the Tony...

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has announced the finalists for the 2017 Southern Book Prizes divided into interesting and unusual categories. As a Family Life Novel, Ron Rash’s The Risen is one of three finalists. Two of the four finalists for Literary Novels are Fallen Land by Taylor Brown and Over Plain Houses by Julia Franks. Robert Morgan’s Chasing the North Star is one of three finalists for Historical Novels. Two of the four finalists for Mystery and Detective Novels are Sharyn McCrumb’s Prayers the Devil Answers and Ann D. Ross’s Miss Julia Inherits a Mess. Sheryl Monks’ Monsters in...

The International Association of Culinary Professionals announced that its 2017 IACP Cookbook Award has been presented to Victuals: An Appalachian Journey with Recipes by Ronnie Lundy! The Weatherford Awards were established in 1970 by Al Perrin who was at the time a full-time volunteer at the Berea College Library. He wanted to honor an outstanding book about Appalachia each year. In some early years, no book was deemed worthy. Since then, many changes have been made, and currently, they are co-sponsored by Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association and awarded at the annual Appalachian Studies Conference. There are three...

Victuals by Ronnie Lundy has made the shortlist of six finalists for the 2017 Art of Eating Prize. The winner was a book of Syrian cooking. On February 4th, the Western North Carolina Historical Association presented its Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Terry Roberts for his novel That Bright Land. The four finalists were Phil Jamison for Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics; Randy Johnson for Grandfather Mountain; Robert Morgan for Dark Energy and Ron Rash for Above the Waterfall. Both Morgan and Rash have been winners in previous years. This award has been given since 1955 when Wilma Dykeman won for...