A Tree Accurst
Bobby McMillon and Stories of Frankie Silver
Daniel W. Patterson
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 06/2003
Pages: 240
Subject: Social Science, Fiction, History
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807860915
DESCRIPTION
For nearly 170 years, the memory of Frankie Silver has been kept alive by a ballad and local legends and by the news accounts, fiction, plays, and other works they inspired. Weaving Bobby McMillon's personal story--how and why he became a taleteller and what this story means to him--into an investigation of the Silver murder, Patterson explores the genesis and uses of folklore and the interplay between folklore, social and personal history, law, and narrative as people and communities try to understand human character and fate.
Bobby McMillon is a furniture and hospital worker in Lenoir, North Carolina, with deep roots in Appalachia and a lifelong passion for learning and performing traditional songs and tales. He has received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award from the state's Arts Council and also the North Carolina Folklore Society's Brown-Hudson Folklore Award.