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Best Part of the BookAuthor: Mark Perzel
Mark Perzel hosts engaging conversations with authors of nonfiction books published by McFarland. Language: en-us Genres: Arts, Books, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Janet Pittard: A Hospital for Ashe County
Episode 1
Friday, 10 May, 2024
In this pilot episode of Best Part of the Book, a personal nod is given to the small rural town of Ashe County where McFarland has called home since it was founded in 1979. Host Mark Perzel talks with Janet Pittard, author of A Hospital for Ashe County: Four Generations of Appalachian Community Health Care. Janet shares favorite stories she uncovered in the extensive research and over 100 interviews she performed in the writing of the book. You don’t have to be from Ashe County, North Carolina to appreciate these hometown stories surrounding a small hospital in a rural Appalachian community. BOOK DESCRIPTION: When Ashe County Memorial Hospital opened in November 1941, it was the realization of a dream for the poor, sparsely populated county in the mountains of northwestern North Carolina. Building a hospital is a major undertaking for any community at any time. Accomplishing this in the waning days of the Great Depression and on the brink of World War II, while scant local resources were taxed by catastrophic floods and severe snows, was a remarkable feat of community organization. This is the story of the generations of supporters, doctors, nurses, emergency personnel and others whose lives are interwoven with regional health care and the planning, building and operation of (the “new”) Ashe Memorial Hospital. This legacy, brought to life through 114 photographs and personal interviews with 97 individuals, traces the development of health care in a remote Appalachian community, from the days of folk remedies and midwives, to horseback doctors and early infirmaries, to the technological advances and outreach efforts of today’s Ashe Memorial Hospital. LISTENER DISCOUNT CODE: BESTPARTReceive a 25% discount on any of Janet's titles published by McFarland with coupon code BESTPART. BOOKS BY JANET PITTARD A Hospital for Ashe County: Four Generations of Appalachian Community Health Care, McFarland, hardback (2016), softcover(2019) - https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/a-hospital-for-ashe-county-2/ The Ashe County Frescoes of Benjamin F. Long IV, McFarland, 2021, co-authored with David Chiswell. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-ashe-county-frescoes-of-benjamin-f-long-iv/ Stephen Shoemaker: The Paintings and Their Stories, McFarland, 2013, co-authored with Stephen Shoemaker. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/stephen-shoemaker/ ABOUT JANET PITTARD Janet was born and raised in Southern Pines, North Carolina and has always loved writing stories. Her love of stories came from her father, who entertained his little girl with stories he thought up while driving the state’s winding mountain roads for his job. That is where Janet’s love of western North Carolina originated. Now she combines her love of writing with her love of her mountain home in West Jefferson, generating stories and books set in the High Country. Janet began her career as a freelance writer after retiring from the North Carolina Governor’s Office with 30 years of service. She wrote over 100 stories for Our State Magazine from 2003 to 2009 and also wrote for several projects with UNC-TV’s Our State program. Later she contributed stories to two published anthologies related to Ashe County and wrote for an online newspaper called Ashe County Line. Janet is a regular participant in Wordkeepers, a local writing group. ABOUT MCFARLAND McFarland, a leading independent publisher of academic and general-interest nonfiction books, is perhaps best known for the serious treatment of popular culture. Founded in 1979, we are recognized among authors and readers as adventurous in range and a reliable source of worthy books that other publishers overlook. We have about 7500 unique works for sale and each year we publish about 350 new titles. Meeting high library standards has been a major focus since the company began, and many McFarland books have received awards from the academic-oriented (e.g., Choice Outstanding Academic Title, ALA Outstanding Reference Work) to the mainstream (Hugo, Edgar, Stoker, and Eisner, among others). www.McFarlandBooks.com
