Mark Darrah's Blog - Posts Tagged "where-the-red-fern-grows"
Barbara Kingsolver Loves My Hometown
Heaven is Tahlequah.
When I heard Barbara Kingsolver say this during a radio interview, I almost drove my car off the road. As she spoke, she reminded me of all the things I grew to love when my family moved to the Capital of the Cherokee Nation: the beauty of the Ozarks, vivid spring days, the vibrant scents of the woods on summer nights. Most of all, I came treasure the potpourri of people, their commitment to our community, to each other, to strangers. We lived an unspoken commitment to democracy and participation of all regardless of economic status.
It's been years since I've lived in Tahlequah, and memory provides its own rose colored glasses. My family had lived in six very different Oklahoma communities by the time we moved to Tahlequah when I was in high school, but when I got here, I knew I had found home.
Next weekend, I'm going back for a book signing and open house at the Purdy Cabin Guest Retreat on the scenic Illinois River. If you've read or seen Where the Red Fern Grows, you'll be near where the book was set and the 1974 movie filmed. When you visit, you'll get to experience the heaven of Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven.
The colors of autumn make it the most amazing season in Tahlequah. I hope you can join Beth Cohenour, the kind hostess and proprietor of the Purdy Cabin, and me on November 14, 2015 at 10:00 am. Copies of A Catalogue of Common People will be available for purchase.
Purdy Cabin Guest Retreat: https://www.facebook.com/purdycabin/
From The Tahlequah Daily Press: http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/co...
Follow the map found here: http://www.purdycabin.com/map.html
I look forward to seeing you.
Mark Darrah
When I heard Barbara Kingsolver say this during a radio interview, I almost drove my car off the road. As she spoke, she reminded me of all the things I grew to love when my family moved to the Capital of the Cherokee Nation: the beauty of the Ozarks, vivid spring days, the vibrant scents of the woods on summer nights. Most of all, I came treasure the potpourri of people, their commitment to our community, to each other, to strangers. We lived an unspoken commitment to democracy and participation of all regardless of economic status.
It's been years since I've lived in Tahlequah, and memory provides its own rose colored glasses. My family had lived in six very different Oklahoma communities by the time we moved to Tahlequah when I was in high school, but when I got here, I knew I had found home.
Next weekend, I'm going back for a book signing and open house at the Purdy Cabin Guest Retreat on the scenic Illinois River. If you've read or seen Where the Red Fern Grows, you'll be near where the book was set and the 1974 movie filmed. When you visit, you'll get to experience the heaven of Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven.
The colors of autumn make it the most amazing season in Tahlequah. I hope you can join Beth Cohenour, the kind hostess and proprietor of the Purdy Cabin, and me on November 14, 2015 at 10:00 am. Copies of A Catalogue of Common People will be available for purchase.
Purdy Cabin Guest Retreat: https://www.facebook.com/purdycabin/
From The Tahlequah Daily Press: http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/co...
Follow the map found here: http://www.purdycabin.com/map.html
I look forward to seeing you.
Mark Darrah
