The Liars Bench: Recent Episodes
Gary Carden and Kat Holmes
Celebrating our rich Appalachian heritage and culture through stories and music Our host is celebrated author and playwright Gary Carden. Join us as Gary weaves a tapestry of tales offering a historical, yet somewhat embellished picture of life in the Smoky Mountains. Because of course, it is The Liars Bench!
Walls can't talk, but Gary can! Listen to our favorite storyteller, Gary Carden, recount life in Rhodes Cove in the same house his grandfather built. Gary's sense of place conjures memories and emotions, heightening senses many of us will never experience or be able to appreciate. It is a connection lost upon the transient-oriented lifestyle so many of us in America adopted. Sit back and enjoy This Old House.
Welcome to today's episode of the Liars Bench. The Industrial Revolution of the 19th and early 20th centuries depended on leather belting to turn the high-powered transmissions of the factory machinery. By the turn of the 20th century, those early barons of the Gilded Age began looking south for the resources necessary to keep up with the pace of demand for those hides. While most of the billowing factories operated in the Northern states, industrialists looked south for raw materials, and cheap labor. The advancement of the railroad through North Carolina offered the means for transporting these processed goods. Gary spent a little time working at the Silversteen Tannery in Brevard, NC, Here are his recollections of time spent there. Enjoy
Photo from Transylvania County Library Collection
If you ever have been to the Cherokee fair, you know there are all kinds of wild sights and sounds and things to experience. And who doesn't want a pet monkey? I think we all have a little Abner in us.
In celebration of Black History Month, today's story is the story of a group of freed slaves who sought to build a thriving community after emancipation. The journey of this courageous group of freedmen and women began in Mississippi. They eventually settled along the Green River in Henderson county. There is very little material or written record left of this community. However, evidence of Happy Land is preserved through the efforts of historians interviewing descendants, and a few deed records.
In this episode Gary learns more than he could have imagined at the annual family reunion. A visit with Aunt Nancy proves to be quite fascinating and leaves an indelible impression on young Gary.
It is a lonely existence for a teenager living down in the holler with his elderly grandparents. Books and an active imagination are Gary's only friends, but an unexpected visit from a distant uncle opens up a whole new world for Gary!