“It doesn’t make any difference.” That seems to be the one thing that TV and other media political prognosticators agree on these days. When the impact of Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his vice presidential candidate is discussed, the end line seems always to be, “of course, as history shows, in the end […]

It is 1942. German spies are operating at the New York ports. Sicilian dockworkers, maybe connected to the Mafia, want to help the USA.  Louise Pearlie, a young widow from Wilmington, becomes the contact person and more. Louise had moved to Washington and gotten a low level clerk’s job at the Office of Strategic Services […]

“Amazing,” I told my friend the other day. “Three of this year’s best North Carolina novels are set up in Madison County, just north of Asheville along the Tennessee line.” “Interesting,” my friend said, but his eyes were glazing over. He wanted to talk politics, not books. Still I continued, “And in each of them […]

What is it about Jay Leutze’s new book, “Stand Up That Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along the Appalachian Trail,” that has created so much buzz? You can make your own judgment this weekend (Friday 9:30 p.m. and Sunday 5 p.m.), when Leutze is a guest on UNC-TV’s North […]

What does North Carolina coastal historian Kevin Dufuss have in common with New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman? If you asked them, each  might tell you he is a truth seeker about a man whose life is shrouded in myth. In his book, “The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate,” Dufuss challenges some fundamental beliefs […]

Susan Woodring’s new book, “Goliath,” establishes her place as one of North Carolina’s finest young writers. She will talk about “Goliath” on North Carolina Bookwatch this weekend (Friday at 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.)  Goliath is the name of a small, seemingly ordinary, one-factory North Carolina furniture town, which Woodring begins to describe […]

The summer is fast coming to an end. And I bet there is a stack of books by your bed or somewhere in your house, ones that you meant to read this summer. But there were just too many other things you had to do. Watch out! Here comes another batch of new North Carolina […]

What is it about Madison County this year? At least three important North Carolina novels this year are set in that mountain county, which lies along the Tennessee line. Why all this literary attention to this isolated county, that is mostly known as the home of Mars Hill College, the site of the Civil War […]

Maybe you did not notice. Last week the governor signed House Bill 799 (HR 799), a bill that makes it easier for military spouses to get the certification they need to work in North Carolina if they have been licensed for their occupation in another state. For service men and women who have been trained […]

Is popular North Carolina author Ann B. Ross the model for Miss Julia, “the main character in Ross’s popular series? Tune in to UNC-TV’s North Carolina Bookwatch to find out. It airs at 5:00 this Sunday afternoon. I will give you a big hint. Ross says that she is definitely not Miss Julia. But Miss […]