Charlotte's literary community kept me busy! I started off the week speaking with David Radavich, president of the Charlotte Writers' Club. We met at The Book Mark where we picked a quite little corner and discussed the literary scene in Charlotte. Next, I went to the intersection of Trade and Tryon where I met up with Rick Rothacker who is a writer for the Charlotte Observer. He recently released a book called "Banktown" about the rise and struggles of big banks in Charlotte like Bank of America and Wachovia (now Wells Fargo).
I spent a couple days at UNC-Charlotte interviewing two professors. David Goldfield talked about his book "America Aflame" regarding the Civil War's impact on the nation. We taped his interview in the beautiful gardens of the University. Then, traveled to the Historic Rosedale Plantation where we heard from Karen Cox about her book "Dreaming of Dixie". I also caught up with Katie McCormick, assistant University Librarian for Specials Collections, to talk about the rare books located in the J. Murrey Atkins Library.
I stopped by Park Road Books and spoke with owner Sally Brewster about her store and readership in the community. I visited the Mecklenburg Public Library, where Jane Johnson was kind enough to give me a tour and talk to me about the library and rare finds they have in their Carolina Room.
I ended my week with an interview with Kevin Morgan Watson, founder and editor in chief of Press53, an independent publisher. We talked about the nature of the business and how he competes with larger publishers.
You will get a chance to view these unique video segments during C-SPAN2's Charlotte Weekend on BookTV September 24th and 25th. They will also be available to view online at www.c-span.org/lcvcontent or C-SPAN's Video Library at www.c-span.org/videolibrary indefinitely!! Thank you Charlotte!
Tiffany
