We are very pleased to announce that we have just released My Stories & History of Ashe County, a new history book written by Ashe County native Lonnie C. Jones, under our Star Route Books imprint.
The first section of the book is made up of personal, biographical memoirs by Mr. Jones. The second part contains stories relating to various communities in the area, including Shatley Springs, Healing Springs, the Fairview Community, and Smethport. Mr. Jones also shares his memories about several individuals, including A.B. Hurt, R.E.L. Plummer, Frank M. James, C.M. Dickson, J.B. Hash, and Gertrude Allen Vaught, among others.
On Saturday, August 16, the Alleghany Historical-Genealogical Society is holding its annual fundraiser, at the VFW in Sparta. We’re glad to support it, again this year, by donating books for a basket.
If you’d like to win our basket, go to the event, buy your chances, and put your tickets at our basket! (Or, you can always visit starroutebooks.com, to make a purchase!)
We are proud to announce that we just released Memories, a history book written by Ashe County native Sally Hartzog Walters, under our Star Route Books imprint.
In the book, Mrs. Walters recalls family histories, stories of growing up in Ashe County, NC, life in a dairy farming family, as well as stories of her father’s logging business and her mother’s work at home. After the death of her father, the family continued to operate their farm. The stories continue, covering Sally’s college experience, her marriage, and her life after the loss of her own husband.
Sally has included stories and photographs of her Fleetwood community and the Old Fields Baptist Church. The book also features a section of old sayings, some old-timey recipes, and a glossary which explains how many regular, daily tools were used.
The softcover, 7.440” x 9.690” book is 242 pages, with a black & white interior, and many photographs. The book is available by contacting Mrs. Walters, at 336-877-4048.
Our friend, Carl White, recently talked to Mara Lynn & Suzanne at the Wilkes County Public Library, about the Veterans History Project. We’re glad to help with this project every year – the newest edition is available now!
This month is Woman’s History Month, and our most recent books have something special in common: all five titles we published in 2024 were by women.
In the Spring, we released the fourth (and final) story in the Stratford Oaks Tales by Dr. Suzanne Mellow-Irwin. The Stratford Oaks Tales is a series of books about the good life for the animals at Stratford Oaks Farm in North Carolina. Written for older kids, The Tale of Bella is the story of a wild mustang from the American Southwest, that was relocated to Stratford Oaks, here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Through a career in education bridging elementary classes to the university level, Dr. Suzanne Mellow-Irwin has served in various positions: classroom teacher, curriculum supervisor, superintendent of schools and university professor. Educated at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., she holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives at Stratford Oaks Farm in Sparta, North Carolina, where her stories have endeared her to “children of all ages.”
This Summer, we published a three-volume treasury of stories, poems, and illustrations from the pen and imagination of the iconic naturalist, artist and author, Emma Bell Miles (1879–1919), describing life in her beloved, southern Appalachian mountains:
Miles was a wife and mother whose poems and short stories appeared in national magazines in the early 1900s. Her adult life was filled with poverty and health issues. She endured a troubled marriage. She was interested in women’s rights and suffrage. Her work reflects those themes, but through her writing, she also asserts great and positive and complex ideas- both, in her descriptions of interpersonal situations and of the natural world.
In the Fall, we published Family Favorites Cookbook, by Eloise C. Halsey. It is an accumulation of recipes, beloved by the author’s family, through the years.
Author and domestic culinary expert with over 80 years of experience, Eloise is a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother who lives in the Blue Ridge mountains. Born in Mulberry Gap, Tennessee, and raised in nearby Rose Hill, Virginia, she met her husband Ron at Berea College and they raised their own family in Kingsport, Tennessee. They lived in Kansas City and Greensboro, North Carolina, before retiring and moving to Ron’s boyhood home in Alleghany County, North Carolina.
All of these books, and several others by woman authors, can be ordered online at https://starroutebooks.com.
