Author Judith Turner-Yamamoto, Asheboro native, returns for Sunset Series appearance

Judith Turner-Yamamoto

ASHEBORO – Randolph readers will recognize familiar locales — Little Beane Store, Blue Mist Drive-In, the Sir Robert Motel and others — in Asheboro native Judith Turner-Yamamoto’s debut novel, Loving the Dead and Gone.

Turner-Yamamoto — Judith Cox, growing up in Asheboro — will appear in conversation with Randolph Hub journalist Larry Penkava in a Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series event at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 19, at downtown Asheboro’s historic
Sunset Theatre.

Her appearance is free and the public is invited. The Sunset Series is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries.

In Loving the Dead and Gone, a freak car crash in a place not unlike Randolph County puts in motion moments of grace that bring redemption to two generations of women and the lives they touch. The choral novel delves into the minds of four characters, and explores how the traumas of the present stir those of the past.

Set in the world of 1920s tobacco farms and 1960s textile mills, the novel exhibits a lyric strength and deep and empathic understanding of working-class daily life in rural and small-town 20th century North Carolina.

Loving the Dead and Gone was named a Gold Medal winner in Southern Regional Fiction in the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards. It was shortlisted for the 2023 UC-Berkeley Eric Hoffer Book Awards Grand Prize, where it was an honorable mention in General Fiction and finalist for the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for Debut Fiction.

Publisher’s Weekly calls Loving the Dead and Gone “a bittersweet and fantastical debut.” Foreword Reviews says “Loving the Dead and Gone is a moving, insightful novel about growing through tragedy.”

Turner-Yamamoto’s work has appeared in over 30 journals and anthologies. She has received more than fifteen awards and fellowships, including the Washington Prize for Fiction and the Virginia Screenwriting Award.

She has taught fiction at the Chautauqua Writers’ Center, the Danville Writer’s Conference, and the Writers’ Center at Bethesda, Maryland. A featured author and panelist, she has appeared at various book festivals and is a keynote speaker at the 2023 Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

As an art historian, Turner-Yamamoto’s on-air interviews have been featured on NPR affiliate WVXU. She has penned over 1,000 articles on the arts, travel, design, books, fashion, and food that have appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine, Elle, Interiors, Art & Antiques, The Los Angeles Times, Travel & Leisure, and many others.

Begun in 2018, the Sunset Series brings high profile speakers and performers to the Sunset Theatre. The theatre is located at 234 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro.

For further information, contact the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau at 800-626-2672.

Accidental witness: historian to recount McGlohon’s A-bomb experience in Asheboro library talk

John McGlohon's photograph of the
Hiroshima atomic bomb blast.

ASHEBORO – Many Asheboro residents are aware that legendary Fire Chief John McGlohon, as an aerial reconnaissance photographer in World War II, snapped images of the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima.

What they may not know is that as McGlohon began to tell his story, doubters arose — and because his images were classified Top Secret until 1995, proving it was problematic.

McGlohon friend and oral historian Ken Samuelson will share McGlohon’s unique story, and detail his own efforts, through archives, museums and service members’ memories, to substantiate it, in a talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 10, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Although only the three B-29 bombers assigned to the Hiroshima mission — including the “Enola Gay,” which dropped the bomb — were supposed to be in the area, a misunderstood order put McGlohon’s reconnaissance aircraft nearby. McGlohon captured images of the explosion and its aftermath.

John McGlohon with his
aerial reconnaissance camera

After the war, McGlohon returned home and operated a photography business. In 1955, he joined the Asheboro Fire Department, and served as Chief from 1961 to 1985. After retirement, he served on the city council from 1987 to 2005 as mayor pro-tem. 

Samuelson, from Moline, Illinois, graduated from George Washington University and served in the U.S. Navy as a supply officer. He later worked in financial management.

He has a long and deep interest in World War II, and has conducted oral histories with veterans for the North Carolina Museum of History, The National World War II Museum and the University of Florida Oral History Collection. He has published numerous articles on veterans he has interviewed.

His oral history work led him to McGlohon.

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

Learn beekeeping basics in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – Get buzzing about beekeeping as Cooperative Extension Horticulture Agent Cody Craddock talks about how bees make your garden bloom in “Basics of Beekeeping,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Craddock will offer beekeeping tips, share information about hive supplies, and answer questions.

The talk is free and the public is invited.

Craddock has been an avid gardener since childhood, when he grew a large garden and pulled a wagon to sell produce to neighbors. He graduated from the University of Mount Olive in 2021 and has worked for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Randolph County office ever since.

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

Kid-friendly Shakespeare comes to Randolph libraries in July

ASHEBORO – A troupe of traveling players will bring three of William Shakespeare’s plays to life in interactive theatrical adventures for the whole family at five Randolph County Public Libraries locations in July.

Shepherd Shakespeare of Charlotte will perform at the libraries as follows:

• Asheboro: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 10 a.m. Monday, July 7;
• Franklinville/Ramseur: As You Like It, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 19, at Ramseur Lake (Ramseur Municipal Building in case of rain);
• Liberty: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 18;
• Randleman: The Tempest, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 20;
• Seagrove: As You Like It, 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20.

Shepherd Shakespeare is comprised of the husband-and-wife team of Chester and Katy Shepherd. Both are theater veterans whose shows are designed for maximum fun and understanding of William Shakespeare’s timeless stories.

The shows are free and the public is invited. For further information, call 336-318-6804.

Learn about shark teeth and seashells at Asheboro and Liberty libraries

ASHEBORO – Dig into an interactive fossil and seashell event with Dr. Ashley Oliphant, author of Shark Tooth Hunting on the North Carolina Coast, at the Asheboro and Liberty public libraries on Thursday, July 6.

Oliphant will appear at the Liberty library at 2 p.m. Her presentation is aimed at children will include a show-and-tell segment with dinosaur, whale and shark fossils followed by a dig activity in which kids will get to keep the shark teeth and seashells that they find. Please call 336-622-4605 to sign up.

At Asheboro, Oliphant will present a talk for all ages at 6:30 p.m. Learn about her passion for beachcombing, research and the time before dawn when good shells and shark teeth are easiest to find. No registration is required for her Asheboro appearance.

Oliphant is a retied English professor from Denver, N.C., and author of six books.

For further information, contact the Asheboro library at 336-318-6803 or the Liberty library at 336-622-4605.

The Liberty library is located at 239 S. Fayetteville St. The Asheboro library is located at 201 Worth Street.

Randolph libraries to bring everyone “All Together Now” for summer reading fun

Yasu Ishida

ASHEBORO – Get “All Together Now” for summer reading fun at Randolph County libraries.

The community-themed summer initiative will feature over 100 performances, storytimes, hands-on activities and other events for children in June and July at the libraries in Asheboro, Archdale, Franklinville, Liberty, Ramseur, Randleman and Seagrove.

Teens can join in too, and adults will have opportunities to enhance their reading experiences with speakers, book clubs and more.

In addition to all the activities, children and teens can report minutes read to their local library for rewards and prizes, including cool gadgets and books, and be entered into grand prize drawings for large prizes, like Amazon Fire Kids Tablets and Leap Frogs.

Visit www.randolphlibrary.org/summer for all the details, or contact your local library.

“Library summer reading initiatives offer children and teens a no-pressure way to stay engaged with learning while they are out of school, so they are less likely to experience a ‘summer slide’ when they return in the fall,” says Samantha Martin, the library’s head of Youth Services.

Summer Reading kicks off at the Asheboro library from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 10, with an outdoor event featuring community helpers such as fire, police, the NC Zoo, animal services and more, and a performance by the 208^th Army Band. At the Liberty library, summer gets underway with a community talent show, 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 9 – call the library at 336-622-4605 and sign up to perform.

Criss Cross Mangosauce will appear at each library in June with a bilingual English/Spanish musical performance featuring riddles, songs, finger games, dramatic play and storytelling. In July, storyteller Yasu Ishida will combine traditional Japanese theatre, lion dance, music, origami and magic to guide audiences at each library to the enchanting land of Japan.

Other performers include family-friendly rock ‘n’ rollers Big Bang Boom, Caleb Sigmon’s “The Fun Factory” and Shepherd Shakespeare. All will appear at various libraries over the summer. The North Carolina Zoo and Wild Tails NC will bring live animal ambassadors to several libraries, as well.

All libraries also will offer an array of storytimes, craft activities, STEAM events and more, and the Mobile Library will be on the move around the county.

For further information, contact the Asheboro Children’s Room at 336-318-6804, or call your local library.

Appearances by Criss Cross Mangosauce and Yasu Ishida are sponsored by the Friends of the Library with support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Historian Smallwood returns to Asheboro library for Juneteenth talk

Dr. Arwin Smallwood

ASHEBORO – The history and importance of Juneteenth, which commemorates the 1865 proclamation announcing the end slavery in the United States, is the topic of a talk by Dr. Arwin Smallwood at the Asheboro Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15.

Smallwood, chair of the History Department at North Carolina A& T State University, will talk about the impact of enslavement not just on African Americans, but on all Americans, and the historic effort require to abolish it. He will draw attention to slavery in North Carolina, and the over 5,000 African Americans, Native Americans and white people who fought to end it.

He also will explain why the celebration of Juneteenth brings a strong sense of pride about the commitment that African Americans have made to the betterment of their lives and those of their children, grandchildren and future generations.

Smallwood’s talk is free and the public is invited.

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