Literary lecturer Dr. Elliot Engel to share ‘Andy Griffith Show’ insights in Asheboro library talk

Dr. Elliot Engel

ASHEBORO --- Andy Griffith was a brilliant movie and stage actor, but he is a Hollywood immortal and North Carolina cultural icon thanks to The Andy Griffith Show, which aired from 1960-1968.

Combine Andy with the state’s most popular literary lecturer and you have “Andy Griffith: Master of Mayberry with Dr.  Elliot Engel,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 10, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Engel’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is the second installment in the Ann Sigman Shaffner Literary Series, sponsored by a generous gift to the Friends of the Library from Anne’s family. Shaffner, who passed away in 2018, was passionate about helping others through volunteering with various community organizations, including the Friends of the Library.

In his talk, Engel not only analyzes Andy’s astonishing early life which led to his television triumph, but also reveals little-known facts about the show’s production and its enduring fame.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Engel now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA, where he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

Engel has written 10 books, four of his plays have been produced in the last 10 years, and his mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all continents — including Antarctica.

He has received numerous awards for his scholarship and teaching, and since 1980 has served as president of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina. Sales of his books and recordings have raised funds for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, which Dickens helped found in London in 1852.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803.