I don’t want to perpetuate any stereotypes you might have about the old North State (North Carolina) or about the American South because I know they are out there. Betsy has a pretty thick southern accent and people like to latch on to that and she has told me some stories. I recall one story in particular about how she felt insulted at a lunch not long after moving to Los Angeles the first time. A friend of a friend at the lunch basically acted surprised that Betsy was even wearing shoes. After that I told Betsy, you simply need to share a few simple facts with these folks to strike down those barefoot and pregnant perceptions.
- John Coltrane born in Hamlet, NC but grew up in High Point, NC
- Thelonious Monk is from Rocky Mount, NC
- The Aids fighting drug AZT was developed in the Research Triangle Park, that’s the area that is comprised of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill
- First in Flight, the Wright Brothers conducted the first four sustained flights in Kill Devil Hills, NC
- We are home to the oldest public university in the nation, The University of North Carolina chartered in 1789– Go Tar Heels!
In recent history-
we churn out American Idol winners like it ain’t no thang, High Point is known as the furniture capitol of the world, the Krispy Kreme donut was created here, I could go on.
This post is actually not to defend NC’s importance in the nation but rather to share with you some amazing photographs that my Dad took with his Minolta in the 1970s in North Carolina. We converted all of my parent’s slides in to digital format and we found some real gems. To me, this is art. Hope you enjoy them.
