Read more
Informationen zum Autor Founded in 1966, FOXFIRE is a nonprofit education organization. Foxfire's learner-centered, community-based approach is advocated through The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center and grounded in the Southern Appalachian culture that promotes a sense of place and appreciation of local people and culture as essential educational tools. Klappentext First published in 1972, The Foxfire Book was a surprise bestseller that brought Appalachia's philosophy of simple living to hundreds of thousands of readers. Whether you wanted to hunt game, bake the old-fashioned way, or learn the art of successful moonshining, The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center had a contact who could teach you how with clear, step-by-step instructions. Today, Foxfire's mission remains the same, and The Foxfire Book of Simple Living is both a rich look back at five decades of collected wisdom, as well as an intriguing look forward at the artists and craftsman who are working to preserve the Appalachian tradition for future generations. We hear from doll and soap makers who continue to use and adapt the time-tested methods outlined in The Foxfire Book , not to mention hunters, blacksmiths, musicians, and carpenters whose respect for those who preceded them enhances their own art. We see how the mountain community has responded to the films, books, and plays that have tried (and sometimes failed) to represent them. And, above all, by listening to the voices of those who came before, we celebrate the people who have preserved the stories, crafts, and customs that define life in the Appalachian mountain region. An Introduction by Ann Moore, Foxfire President and Executive Director Emeritus As I sit on the porch of the Moore House cabin with Max Woody, one of our oldest and dearest Foxfire contacts, during Living History Days at The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center—our “mountain”—memories flood my mind: memories of all our elders who lived the life that we continue to portray each year as we share our Appalachian history with others. I hear the ping of the hammer as it hits the anvil in the blacksmith shop as the smithy teaches others to make items that were necessities for farm life in the early 1800s. I hear the church bell tolling as the teacher calls the children to class in the one-room schoolhouse, or as the preacher calls the congregation to church services in the chapel—the same building that also served as the school. I hear the laughter of the children as they play traditional games on the lawn of the Shooting Creek Cabin, while musicians perform old-timey music for our hundreds of visitors. While talking with Max, I am also watching Joe Williams demonstrate the art of making a berry bucket from the bark of native trees (something you will read about in this book). I think of the early years when what is now a beautiful creation that I admire at home was a utilitarian piece for our ancestors to collect fruit for feeding their family or to carry water from the creek for the family’s use. When Max is busy talking with our guests about chair making, I listen to the mallets and froes in the distance as the men hew replacement logs for the historic Beck Barn while they reconstruct it for preservation in the Bungalow area of our beautiful village. I meander down to watch the logs lifted in place by the four men, and on my way, I stop at the Village Weaver’s cabin to admire Sharon Grist’s skill, as she demonstrates the art of weaving. Then I pause outside her door at the Gott Cabin to watch as the broom-maker, Carole Morse, shares her art with others. The warmth of a woven shawl or a hand-woven bedspread was welcomed in the cold, cold winters in the Appalachians, and the hand-made brooms were necessities for sweeping out the cabin floors or sweeping down the cobwebs in the corners of the logs. There were no vacuum cleaners in those days with which to suct...
