Celebrated Playwright and Poet Richard Cary to Speak Nov. 12 at Moss Memorial Library

by Joan M. Howard
Guest Writer

Coffee With Poets and Writers is delighted to welcome again distinguished writer Richard Montfort Cary, local playwright, poet and actor, and relative of Dame Olive Campbell. He will speak Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 10:30 a.m. at Moss Memorial Library. Richard is a prolific poet, who has also written plays, including one about the founding of John C. Campbell Folk School. He is also a popular actor at the Peacock Playhouse.

Coffee With Poets And Writers meets monthly at Hayesville’s Moss Memorial Library.

Richard will be reading from his recently published book of autobiographical poems "I Once Was a Man From Nantucket," a collection of autobiographical poems.

Richard Montfort Cary Photo by Lily Ponitz

The 750-page book is arranged in a chronological order covering poems he wrote on his 65-year journey from age 16 in 1959 to age 81 in the spring of 2024.  His wife, artist Cheryl Cary, designed the cover, incorporating a painting dated 1929 by his mother June Coolidge Cary.  The book is his dream come true.

Richard received his BFA in Theater Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 1964, and spent six years in professional theaters before moving his young family to Nantucket Island, MA, where he became a sought-after designer/carpenter of custom homes.

In 1980, the local community theater asked him to step in as artistic director, which he did for four years.  Then in 1985 he founded Actors Theatre of Nantucket, the island’s own professional theater company, serving as producing artistic director for 20 years until retiring in 2004.

During those years, he was the harmonica-playing tenor of a popular blue grass band, The Fish Handlers, and also spent 12 years on stage in his one-man show "And Now, Mark Twain!"  After 34 magical years on Nantucket, he moved to Asheville, NC, then to West Asheville, and finally in 2017 to a new old home in Hayesville.

Richard’s claim to fame is that Olive Dame Campbell, founder of the John C. Campbell Folk School back in 1925, is his great aunt.  Honoring the Folk School’s 100th anniversary, Richard and his wife Cheryl composed a one-act narrative for four voices "The Birth of the John C. Campbell Folk School," which was recently performed to glowing reviews at the Folk School’s Fall Festival.  It’s slated to be presented again, Dec. 10 at 4:45 p.m.

His first collection of poems will be followed by a companion book "Sonnets & We Are... " sometime in 2026.

Coffee With Poets and Writers is sponsored by North Carolina Writers' Network West and meets every second Wednesday from March to December at 10:30 a.m. at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, N.C. The event is free and open to the public.  An open mike will follow the presentation.  If you would like to read, please bring a poem or prose work of about three minutes to participate.  There is no critique.

Photo by Lily Ponitz

Valentine's Day at Peacock to Feature Local Playwrights and Poets

 

Add a postscript to your Valentine's Day celebration next Saturday evening! Treat your sweetheart to a night at the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville, North Carolina! Enjoy an evening of reader’s theater with local actors and playwrights delivering entertainment at every turn!

An Evening of One Act Plays is the latest event in the popular Scribes on Stage Series.  The first half features Midnight, a brand-new play by local playwright Carroll S. Taylor, and a new presentation of Get Up and Bar the Door, a 1935 play written by students at the John C. Campbell Folk School. 

During intermission, enjoy a wide selection of snacks and beverages in the newly-updated lobby, and meet and greet the local authors who are performing their work.

During the second half of the evening, you'll hear local poets and authors Richard Cary, Mary Ricketson, Michael Wright, and Sandy Benson share their new writings. 

Tickets are available online and at the door.

Peacock Performing Arts Center
301 Church Street, Hayesville, NC

828-389-2787

www.peacocknc.org

Hayesville Library to Host Local Writers Nov. 12 for Reading and Book Signing

You are invited:

 

Author Sandy Benson and Poet Richard Cary to Read at Campbell School

Author Sandy Benson and Poet Richard Montfort Cary will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, April 20, at 7 pm in the Keith House Living Room of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Benson will read selections from her first book, “My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia,” and the book she is currently working on, “Girls Can’t Do That,” a collection of

Sandy Benson

mostly humorous short stories about her life as one of America’s first female foresters.  Cary will read selections from his forthcoming chronological autobiography of his poetry.

Benson is a soon-to-be-retired professional forester with a background in journalism.  She has worked as a forester in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska, while moonlighting as a reporter, editor, publisher, and freelance non-fiction writer.  Numerous newspapers and magazines have published her articles, and she received several awards from the Nebraska Press Women’s organization.

She has lived with her husband, Barry, in Warne, NC, since 2018 and enjoys sharing tales at local storyteller gatherings and writing publicity releases for the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.

Cary began writing poetry in high school and continues to this day.  He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1964 with a BFA in Theatre Arts, and spent six years in regional theatres, before moving year-round to Nantucket Island, MA, where he became a designer and builder of custom

Richard Cary

homes.  In 1985, he founded Actors Theatre of Nantucket, the island’s professional theatre company, and served as Artistic Director for twenty years.

His claim to local fame is that his great aunt, Olive Dame Campbell, founded the Campbell Folk School.  In April 2022, he wrote and directed “The Birth Of The John C Campbell Folk School” which received generous praise when it was performed at the Peacock.  The theatre hosted an encore production this year.  He and his wife Cheryl moved to Hayesville NC in 2017.

Local poet and author Joan Howard will host the event.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.