March 5, 2012 — The Museum is pleased to announce that New York Times bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb will kick off its Third Thursday Speaker Series at 5 p.m. on April 19 (this special time is a unique occurrence; most Third Thursday lectures will begin at 4:30 p.m.). The award-winning Southern writer is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels set in the Tennessee/North Carolina mountains, including bestsellers The Ballad of Frankie Silver and She Walks These Hills. Her book Ghost Riders – a tale of the Civil War set in the southern Appalachian region that chronicles the experiences of North Carolina lawyer (and eventual Governor) Zebulon Baird Vance and Melinda Blalock, who dressed as a man to fight for the Confederate Army – was re-released in 2011 by John F. Blair publishers with a new forward by Boone historian and author Michael C. Hardy.
McCrumb’s lecture will be preceded by a reception celebrating the opening of the exhibit Commemorating the Civil War in Western North Carolina in the Historic Objects Gallery, curated by ASU public history graduate students. She will hold a book-signing afterwards and copies of Ghost Riders will be available for purchase.
The 2012 Third Thursday series will be held in the spacious Community Meeting Room, a welcome venue change from BRAHM’s former office space. Admission for most Third Thursday lectures will be free for members and $5 for non-members, unless otherwise noted.
For more information on McCrumb’s lecture or the Third Thursday series, contact Educational Programs Coordinator Virginia Falck at (828) 295-9099 x 3006 or virginia@blowingrockmuseum.org.