The passing of a wonderful writer and Netwest Member, Jo Carolyn Beebe

 It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Jo Carolyn Beebe, a member of NCWN-West for many years.

Jo Carolyn Beebe

September 23, 1937 — August 6, 2023

Hiawassee

 Jo Carolyn Beebe, age 85, of Hiawassee, Georgia, passed away on August 6, 2023, at her home.

Jo Carolyn Beebe reading at the John C. Campbell Folk School

I met Jo Carolyn in Nancy Simpson’s writing class when I first came to NC in 1996. She was interested in Genealogy, and she wrote family stories about growing up in Mississippi and stories about her ancestors. Her readings were always entertaining.

Back in May, I received an email from her saying she didn’t drive at night anymore and could not attend nighttime events. So many of our members have reached an age when driving at night is difficult. Her dear husband, John, who always accompanied her to Writers Night Out readings, is not well either.

The following is from 2017 when she and I and Glenda Barrett were reading at the folk school for the Literary Hour.

“Jo Carolyn Beebe is a native of Mississippi. Many of her poems and stories are based on her recollections of conversations with her grandparents. Her Grandmother Anderson said, "The Bartletts are kin to Daniel Boone. They came through the Cumberland Gap with him." Great-grandfather Ricks showed her a greasy circle in his front yard where no grass would grow. "This is where the Indians cooked their food," he told her.

She also has her own memories of life in a small, rural town. Her story, "The Way You Hypnotize a Chicken," really happened when she and a friend hypnotized one of Grandmother's hens. And where else but in a small town could two little girls play in the funeral home and pick out their everyday casket and their Sunday casket?

Jo Carolyn has been published in Main Street Rag, Clothes Lines, Women's Spaces Women's Places, Lonzie's Fried Chicken, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and by Abingdon Press. She was most gratified with her family history book The Beekeepers and Sons of Ander.

She is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford, and has been a resident of Towns County for 21 years.”

Diana Smith said, "She was kind, funny, talented, supportive to everyone, and had a wonderful southern voice which was prominent in her writing. She was an expert in genealogy and taught classes in it.  We lost a wonderful person too soon."

Her short story, "Boys Can Be Angels Too" was for children and was published as a Christmas play by Abington Press," Diana said, "and she has a book ready for publication now."

We will miss Jo Carolyn and send our heartfelt sympathy to John and all of her family and many friends. 

 

 

 

The Literary Hour at John C. Campbell Folk School, Thursday, August 17, 2017, in Brasstown, NC, to feature local writers Glenda Council Beall, Glenda Barrett, and Jo Carolyn Beebe

On Thursday evening, August 17, 2017 at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, and North Carolina Writers Network-West will co-sponsor The Literary Hour, an hour of poetry and prose reading in the library of Keith House. This event is held on the third Thursday of the month, unless otherwise indicated.  It is free of charge and open to the public, and the reading will be followed by an open Mic.  Poets Glenda Council Beall and Glenda Barrett, with poet and prose writer Jo Carolyn Bebe, will be the featured readers.  This month is unique in that we have three members of NCWN-West entertaining during The Literary Hour.

Glenda Council Beall

Glenda Council Beall’s writing has been published in numerous literary journals including, Reunions Magazine, Main Street Rag Poetry Journal, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies and online journals, Your Daily Poem, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, and Wild Goose Poetry Review. Robert Brewer, editor at Writers Digest published one of her essays online. She read her work with Carol Crawford on the Writer's Radio Program, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Her poems have been anthologized in The Southern Poetry anthology: Volume VII: North Carolina 2014,  Lights in the Mountains, The Best of Poetry Hickory Series, 2011, Kakalak: North Carolina Poets of 2009, and Women’s Spaces, Women’s Places, among others. Her poems have won awards in the James Still Poetry Contest and the Clay County NC Poetry Contest. Her poetry Chapbook, Now Might as well be Then, is available at Finishing Line Press.

She serves as Program Coordinator of North Carolina Writers’ Network West She is also a Clay County Representative for NCWN-West, and in that capacity she hosts Coffee with the Poets and Writers once each month.

Glenda is Owner/Director of Writers Circle where she invites those interested in writing poetry or prose to her home studio for classes taught by some of the best poets and writers in North Carolina and Georgia.  Find her online at www.glendacouncilbeall.com and www.profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com

 

Glenda Barrett

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia is an artist, poet and a visual writer.  Her work has been widely published in magazines, anthologies and journals.  These include Country Women, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Farm and Ranch Living, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Deep South Magazine, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Woman’s World, Greensilk Journal and others.  

Barrett's Appalachian artwork is for sale on fineartamerica.com and her poetry chapbook, When the Sap Rises, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008.  She now has a full-length poetry book titled, The Beauty of Silence, that was published in July of this year by Aldrich Press, and is available on Amazon.com

Jo Carolyn Bebe           

Jo Carolyn Beebe is a native of Mississippi. Many of her poems and stories are based on her recollections of conversations with her grandparents. Her Grandmother Anderson said, "The Bartletts are kin to Daniel Boone. They came through the Cumberland Gap with him." Great-grandfather Ricks showed her a greasy circle in his front yard where no grass would grow. "This is where the Indians cooked their food," he told her.

She also has her own memories of life in a small, rural town. Her story, "The Way You Hypnotize a Chicken," really happened when she and a friend hypnotized one of Grandmother's hens. And where else but in a small town could two little girls play in the funeral home and pick out their everyday casket and their Sunday casket?

Jo Carolyn has been published in Main Street Rag, Clothes Lines, Women's Spaces Women's Places, Lonzie's Fried Chicken, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge and by Abingdon Press. She has been most gratified with her family history book The Beekeepers and Sons of Ander.

She is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford and has been a resident of Towns County for 21 years.

Join the Beebes for Writers’ Night Out, July 10

Husband and wife writers, Jo Carolyn and John Beebe, will entertain the audience with their fiction, poetry, and memoir.

       An open microphone follows their reading for those who’d like to share their own writing. Writers’ Night Out, takes place at the Union CountyCommunity Center in Blairsville, GA on Friday evening, July 10. The event is free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase, but attendees should arrive by 6 pm to allow time to be served before the program starts at 7 pm.

John and Jo Carolyn Beebe have lived in Towns County, GA for twenty years. They recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. They have three daughters, six grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

Jo Carolyn was born at the tip of the Appalachian Mountains in northeast Mississippi where oral family history was handed down to her by her grandparents and great-grandfather -- history rich in tales of the early settlers, Civil War encounters, and the hard life of the rural south. While studying creative writing at Miami University, she discovered those family legends provided material for short stories and poetry. Her publication credits include MainStreet Rag, Lonzie’s Fried Chicken, Lights in the Mountains, Heroes of Hackland, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Clothes Lines, Women’s Spaces Women’sPlaces, View from the Top, and Abingdon Press.

John Beebe comes by his personal essays naturally. His mother was a poet and journalist for local newspapers, and his grandfather also was a writer. John is a retired civil engineer having worked in the paper industry in Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio. He has enjoyed choral music most of his life and sang with the Atlanta Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony for a total of thirteen years. In recent years he sang with the Mountain Community Chorus. John was born in South Bend, IN, grew up in Zion, IL, and graduated from the University of Illinois

Writers’ Night Out, sponsored by the North CarolinaWriters’ Network-West, takes place on the second Friday of the month, April through November. Prose writers or poets wishing to participate in the open mic can sign up at the door to read for three minutes. The Union County Community Center is located at Butternut Creek Golf Course, 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76, phone (706) 439-6092.  

For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

In my files, I have pictures taken at NCWN West events and photos used in articles I've written about our members. I thought I'd share some of them today.

Remember?

Glenda Barrett on right with her guest

Glenda, Wayne, Jayne, Lana, Nancy S, Nancy P, JC Walkup

Jo Carolyn Beebe 

Janice Moore, Karen Holmes, Brenda Ledford, Jo Carolyn Beebe, Carole Thompson

Lana Hendershott 

Paul Donovan, Karen Holmes, Glenda Beall

Gary Carden

Ed Southern, Executive Director of NCWN, at City Lights Books in Sylva

Leave a comment if you remember when or where the picture was taken.

SEE YOU AT THE BOOK NOOK

(News Article Written by Glenda Beall)

Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachians, is now available at local book stores in the area. The Book Nook in Blairsville, GA will hold a book signing on Saturday, September 18, 2010, 11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M

The store is located one block south of the Blairsville Square on Hwy. 19/129. Jeff Hansen, owner of the Book Nook recommends calling the store at 706-745-7076 to reserve copies of this popular book.

The anthology, edited by Nancy Simpson, author of the poetry collections, Living above the Frost Line, Night Student and Across Water, follows the theme of life in the Appalachians past and present. Many of the best writers south of Asheville and from surrounding counties in Georgia were selected for this book. Robert Morgan, educator and author of the recently published Boone and author of Gap Creek, an Oprah Book Club pick, wrote the introduction. North Carolina fiction writers Lee Smith and Ron Rash wrote tributes for the book.

Bettie Sellers, former Poet Laureate of Georgia,

Carole Thompson, published author and poet, from Blairsville

and Jo Carolyn Beebe of Hiawassee, Georgia, will be there.

Nancy Simpson, who is well-known for her years of teaching poetry and mentoring writers, and Brenda Kay Ledford award-winning poet from Hayesville, NC will be there.

Many people are purchasing the book to leave in their vacation cabin or condo for guests to enjoy. Others like the price of only $16.00 and they buy several for Christmas gifts.

A photo by Philip Sampson of Blairsville was chosen for the cover from a large number of submissions by artists and photographers throughout the southern Appalachians. Inside pictures are by Tipper Pressley of Brasstown and Seth Russell, formerly of Murphy.

Echoes across the Blue Ridge has something for every reader from short stories or non-fiction and poetry with subjects as varied as hunting dogs to reclaiming and restoring rivers.

Other well known writers with work in Echoes across the Blue Ridge are Steven Harvey, essayist and professor at Young Harris College, Kathryn Stripling Byer, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina, Gary Carden, storyteller and legendary playwright, and Thomas Rain Crow who has written and published more than twenty of his own works, including Zorro’s Field.

Come celebrate this southern Appalachian anthology at the Book Nook on Saturday, September 18th in Blairsville, Georgia.

Jo Carolyn Beebe and Karen Holmes read to a full house at JCCFS

Karen Holmes impressed students from around the U.S. as well as locals with her powerful poetry Thursday evening at John C. Campbell Folk School. Karen is a recent member of Netwest. Enthusiastic and energetic, Karen is helping with the new Netwest anthology, and she publishes and edits the online newsletter, Netwest News. With her background as V.P. with ING corporation, she brings new ideas and talent to Netwest.

Jo Carolyn Beebe writes historical fiction. Her long time interest in genealogy provides fodder for her writing. At JCCFS Thursday evening the large audience enjoyed excerpts from her most recent young adult manuscript about Willie, a young boy in Mississippi during the War Between the States. With humor and mystery, she enthralled her listeners, and left everyone wanting more.

John Campbell Folk School Reading in September

Jo Carolyn Beebe

and Michael Beadle

Michael Beadle, poet and teaching artist, from Canton, NC, and Jo Carolyn Beebe, writer from Hiawassee, Georgia will read at the monthly Poets and Writers Reading Poems and Stories at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC Thursday, September 18, 7:00 PM.
Beadle’s first poetry collection, An Invented Hour, was published in 2004, and his poems have been included in various journals and anthologies such as The New Southerner, Kakalak, and Sow's Ear. Michael tours the state teaching poetry and creative writing workshops as an artist-in-residence. He also performs original, classical and contemporary poetry for schools, festivals, elderhostels, and church and civic groups.
His most recent poetry collection is Friends I’ve Never Met. Michael is a contributing writer and an award-winning journalist for the Smoky Mountain News, a weekly newspaper in Western North Carolina. Read some of his poems online at http://www.ncarts.org/ and http://www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com/.

Jo Carolyn Beebe was born in Baldwyn, Mississippi. She majored in Religion and Creative Writing at Miami University of Ohio. Her work has been published in Main Street Rag, Lonzie’s Fried Chicken, an anthology, Lights in the Mountains and in Heroes of Hackland. Abingdon Press published a short story and children’s play written by Beebe.
This busy writer has several pieces completed and waiting for the right publisher to take them.
“Most of my stories are based on oral family history handed down by my grandparents and great-grandfather. Their tales were rich in Civil War experiences of their parents and the hard life of the rural south,” said Beebe. “Besides writing fiction, my other passion is genealogy. When I'm writing fiction, I wish I could be tracking down an elusive ancestor. When I'm doing research, I wish I could be writing a story or a poem. I combined those two elements in my "waiting-to-be-published" novella, PIECES OF YESTERDAY. One literary agent said before it can be published, I need to purge my adverbs. I like adverbs. I absolutely, positively, really do.”

This night with this writer and this poet will be one of the most interesting events sponsored by NCWN West this year. Michael will share poems from his new collection and he'll be happy to sign books after the reading. Admission is free and the community is invited. Contact Glenda Beall 828-389-4441 for more information