Writing fiction was a bittersweet remedy for novelist Lee Smith. But it led to her triumphant return from tragedy. Originally published in Pages. FOR MOST OF HER LIFE, THE CIVIL WAR held little fascination for Lee Smith. The daughter of a dime-store owner, she grew up in the Appalachian coal town of Grundy, Virginia, which had no […]
Schweitzer’s Dangerous Discovery
When this shy paleontologist found soft, fresh-looking tissue inside a T. rex femur, she erased a line between past and present. Then all hell broke loose. Originally published in Discover. EVER SINCE MARY HIGBY SCHWEITZER peeked inside the fractured thighbone of a Tyrannosaurus rex, the introverted scientist’s life hasn’t been the same. Neither has the field of paleontology. […]
Creation Nation
Ken Ham says creationism and the inerrancy of the Bible are the solution to the world’s ills. Welcome to the world of Answers in Genesis. Originally published in Indy Week. ON THE RED-CARPETED DAIS of a church the size of a department store, a man with a Lincolnesque beard is addressing a sanctuary full of evangelical […]
Whitewash
In his new autobiography, Jesse Helms sees himself as a humanitarian—not a racist supporter of brutal right-wing regimes who turned obstructionism into a foreign policy. Originally published in Indy Week. I’VE ONLY MET JESSE HELMS ONCE. I was profiling him for two national magazines during his 1996 Senate race, and for two days I shadowed him […]
If I Were a Rich Man
Scenes from the 2004 Republican convention. Originally published in Indy Week. Sunday afternoon The most important men in town would come to fawn on me! They would ask me to advise them… And it won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you’re rich, they think you really know! —Tevye, […]
Deadly Dependence
The South’s economic reliance on military bases has left a toxic legacy throughout the region. Originally published in Creative Loafing and The Weekly Planet. ON A SUMMER DAY THREE YEARS AGO, Elijah Robinson was digging in the yard of his brand-new patio home in Columbia, S.C., when an unexpected sensation washed over him. Even though he was covered in […]
A Taste for Tolerance
Years of struggle taught Charlotte, North Carolina, and other American cities that diversity is a growth industry. Originally published in AARP The Magazine. Charlotte TV station WBTV looks back at the student sit-ins in Charlotte. REGINALD HAWKINS COULD FEEL HIS HEART RACING as he and three friends made their way through Douglas Municipal Airport in Charlotte, North […]
Soldiers of Good Fortune
They fly helicopters, guard military bases, and provide reconnaissance. They’re private military companies—and they’re replacing U.S. soldiers in the war on terrorism. Originally published in Mother Jones. AT A REMOTE TACTICAL training camp, in a swamp 25 miles from the world’s largest naval base, six U.S. sailors are gearing up for their part in President Bush’s war […]
Return to Loves Creek
Originally published in Indy Week. IT’S A WARM FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and I’m driving down Silk Hope Road through Alamance and Chatham counties. It’s a familiar route that I used to take several times a week, when I was reporting on the life of Siler City’s Loves Creek Hispanic Baptist Mission. For eight months in 1999 I threw […]
Wild Cats in Carolina
Is the Carnivore Preservation Trust creating a genetic future for threatened species—or genetic junk? Originally published in Discover. LORI WIDENER OPENS THE GATE of the 12-foot-high fence that surrounds the Carnivore Preservation Trust outside Pittsboro, North Carolina, and walks toward the home of her favorite resident, Scooter. “Where’s my boy?” she coos, peering into an enormous walk-in […]
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