A Gallery of Ashevilleans chronicles the colorful history of the major city in Western North Carolina, detailing the growth of the town and its brushes with modernity. In addition, the book contains sketches of the city’s many famous and accomplished sons and daughters. In the political sphere, that includes Zebulon Vance, North Carolina’s popular Civil War governor; Augustus Merrimon, the state’s attorney general during that same war; David Swain, longtime president of the University of North Carolina; and Robert Reynolds, the controversial U.S. Senator, who served from 1933 to 1945. Mountain folk are the most creative people in America and the Asheville area has made its own significant contributions. In the realm of arts and letters, the book includes a study of not just Thomas Wolfe, but other renowned writers, including Wilma Dykeman, John Ehle, Gail Godwin, Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Jim Wayne Miller and Richard Weaver, plus such popular tribunes of the local area as Bob Terrell and John Parris. The stories of well-known musicians Warren Haynes, Nina Simone and Roberta Flack are contained within the pages. For lighter reading, there is a chapter on sports figures from Asheville, including Charles “Choo Choo” Justice, the legendary, football All-American; Henry Logan, himself an All-American at Western Carolina University; the 1972 Olympiad Mary Montgomery; current UNC basketball coach Roy Williams; and various natives who have raced on the NASCAR circuit. In all, this book is a tribute to many colorful and accomplished individuals, all highlighting Asheville and Western North Carolina’s unique contributions to American history.
