A WONDERFUL STORY OF ‘GROWING GILLS: A FLY FISHERMAN’S JOURNEY’ BY DAVID JOY

David Joy was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1983. Joy moved to Cullowhee, North Carolina in 2003 to study English at Western Carolina University. He received a BA in Literature in 2007 and an MA in Professional Writing in 2009. Joy finished ‘Growing Gills’ as a graduate student. He received the 2009 Outstanding Scholar Award for his graduate research, and later received the inaugural Karen Nicholson Best Thesis Award for his work on ‘Growing Gills’. 

Publisher: Bright Mountain Books
Price: $9.99
ISBN: 9780914875611

In ‘Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey’, David Joy uses his obsession with fly fishing as a way to delve into himself. Through his deep connection to the natural world, Joy reveals why he is inherently defined by fish and water. The youngest in a family of fishermen, Joy has been exposed to the passion of casting lines since an early age. Yet as he grows older, he finds that the influence and necessity of the piscine world take on a new role in his life.

Book Reviews:

“Joy gives a great deal of detail about the technique of fishing – this is a world of ‘Woolly Worms’, ‘Parachutes Adams’ and ‘Pheasant Tails’ – yet he never bores, never gets lost in the details. Like a skilful story-teller who knows when to give the reader setting and when to get on with driving the story onwards, so Joy keeps the momentum going by mixing up moments of  technical knowledge with the tales themselves.”

 – Ken Ford-Powell

“Growing Gills is beautifully written with poetically descriptive language that will let any reader visualize the beauty the author is experiencing. This book could easily be named “The Zen of Fishing” or “The Tao of Fishing.” Even the title “Growing Gills” expresses a oneness with the fish (and nature) that David feels while fishing.”

– MonksPoint Reviews

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Appalachian Author Janie Mae McKinley’s “The Legacy of Bear Mountain”

    

     In ‘The Legacy of Bear Mountain: Stories of Old Mountain Values That Enrich Our Lives Today,’ Janie Mae recalls mountain life with her grandparents during the time her mother and father were involved in the war efforts of World War II. During those formative years, she absorbed her grandparents’ old-fashioned values and lifestyle. Although their secluded 1895 farmhouse lacked modern conveniences until 1975, they enjoyed a rich life of hard work, honesty, humor, gratitude, and faith. With amazing detail, Janie Mae, whose ancestors came to Bear Mountain in the 1700s, vividly recalls both humorous and scary stories, along with grandfather’s hard work on the railroad and her grandmother’s devout faith in God.

      In honor of the reader’s own memories, a page at the end of each chapter is designed for individuals, families, small groups, or church classes to record and share their own family’s legacy.

     A first-generation college graduate, Janie Mae Jones McKinley holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, NC, and a M.A.Ed. in Community Agency Counseling from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC. Having returned to her childhood roots, she lives on Bear Mountain with her husband, Larry. Because of having no heirs, she donated many of her grandparents’ antiques to the Mountain Heritage Center Museum on the Western Carolina University campus. These treasured artifacts will be used to teach future generations about mountain farm life before modern conveniences. 

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REVIEWS of THE LEGACY OF BEAR MOUNTAIN:

McKinley does a wonderful job of drawing her reader in and immersing them in mountain life…An excellent book, and an absolute read for fans of creative non-fiction. McKinley should be very proud of her work and her heritage, I hope to see more work from her in the future. 
             – J. P. Dash

This is an incredibly detailed book; the author does an amazing job of showing us what her experiences on Bear Mountain were like…a very sentimental book, and the reader’s are allowed to go on that journey of remembering with the author. I believe that anyone who grew up in an area like that, or with family like that, would appreciate this book…I was touched by some of the stories in this book, and am glad to have had the chance to read it.
            – Cianna Reider

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