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New book tells of ‘vanishing way of life’
When former East LaPorte resident James Wike and his wife, Eva, arrive in Jackson County for this weekend’s Cullowhee High School reunion, they won’t come empty-handed.
The couple, who now live in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will have copies of Eva’s recent book, “The Matheson Cove – in the Shadow of the Devil’s Post Office,” available for those who are interested in mountain history and lore.
It’s Eva’s first book, and James, who has been retired from the Oak Ridge nuclear research facility for 17 years, provided the illustrations. Though the events in “The Matheson Cove” take place in Clay County near the North Carolina/Georgia border, they could just as easily have happened in once-isolated local communities such as Caney Fork or Whiteside Cove.
James Wike, above, a 1948 graduate of Cullowhee High School, and his wife, Eva, below, have collaborated on a book about Eva’s child hood: “The Matheson Cove.”
“It’s the story of a vanishing way of life,” said Eva, one of 11 children born to Joseph and Martha Jane Mull. “It’s about the hardships of growing up in the poorest county in North Carolina.”
In addition to sharing the story of her parents and childhood, Eva wanted to “put (her) great-grandmother in the history books,” she said.
That great-grandmother, Minnie Little, was a young Cherokee girl who hid in a cave near Track Rock, Ga., during the winter of 1838 to avoid the long forced removal that came to be known as the “Trail of Tears.”
The sub-title of Eva’s book, “In the Shadow of the Devil’s Post Office” comes from another cave – one located high above her childhood home. Because she and her sisters were never allowed to climb to the cave, which is located on Shewbird Mountain, it seemed a forboding place to Eva.
“As a child, I imagined the Devil’s Post Office holding many dark secrets of times long ago,” Eva said. “Daddy told us that young folks actually used to write letters to the Devil and place those letters in the dark reaches of the Shewbird Mountain. That fact scares me even today.”
As a child Eva was fascinated by the stories her mother told of Minnie as well as the tales of her other ancestors. Members of Eva’s family were among the first white settlers to arrive in the area of Clay County known as Tusquittee.
“The Matheson Cove” is Eva’s first book. Before trying her hand at letters, she taught physics in Nashville, Tenn., and earned her doctorate in education. In addition to showcasing Eva’s writing, the book also features drawings James created to complement the story.
James, who is a son of the late Homer and Jessie Wike and a brother of former Jackson County Commissioners’ Chairman Bruce Wike, who died in January, graduated from Cullowhee High in 1948 and from Western Carolina University in 1953. He and Eva met and married in Atlanta, where James worked for Lockheed before accepting a job at Oak Ridge. While at the nuclear facility, James was part of the team responsible for research and development into radiation treatment for prostate cancer.
Both James and Eva are currently involved in promoting the new book, which is also available at City Lights.
“It’s important to let people know what to expect,” Eva said. “It’s the story of a way of life – of a large family growing up in a remote cove.”
In addition to their return for the upcoming CHS reunion, the Wikes also plan to be in Sylva for November’s third Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair, an annual fund-raiser for the new Jackson County Library.
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