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Ammons’ first book tells story of her grandmother’s life
By Lynn Hotaling
A lifelong Jackon County resident has used her grandmother’s stories as the basis for a book, and she will share those tales this weekend in Sylva.
Deborah Ammons of Cullowhee’s Wayehutta community will be at City Lights Saturday, Aug. 25, at 2 p.m. to read from “Nanny, Tell Me a Story.”
The book is based on the life of her grandmother, the late Minnie Bryson Dills, who lived in Wayehutta her entire life. Ammons’ book begins with “Nanny” looking through a box of photographs. The pictures trigger memories that stretch all the way back to the tragic day in 1928 when, at the age of 10, Dills lost her father in a mining accident.
Longtime Jackson County residents will remember some of the people and events listed in the book as well as the way of life it describes, and younger people and newcomers will find out what life used to be like in Cullowhee in the days before four-lanes, traffic congestion, e-mail, and online shopping, according to City Lights publicist Jessica Philyaw.
Ammons said she actually wrote the book almost 10 years ago while traveling with her husband, who then worked as a long-haul truck driver. She often called her grandmother, who died in 2000, while they were out on the road, and one day, while they were talking, Dills told her granddaughter that she had been looking through a box of old photos. She told Ammons something she had remembered while looking at the old pictures, and Ammons decided to start writing down the information her grandmother gave her.
Deborah Ammons of Cullowhee’s Wayehutta community has written a book based on stories told to her by her grandmother, the late Minnie Bryson Dills. She will read and sign copies at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 25, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
“She’d tell me something, and I’d write it down,” Ammons said. “Then I’d call her back with more questions.”
The book progressed “a page at a time” during 1998 and 1999, and was typed and in manuscript form before her grandmother’s death.
“I have a video of her reading the pages that became the book,” Ammons said. “She approved everything that’s in it.”
During their long telephone conversations Dills revealed details to Ammons that she’d never told her children. One example was the complete story of her own father’s death – Dills added more information when she told the story to Ammons.
Minnie Bryson Dills, who died in 2000, provided the inspiration for “Nanny, Tell Me a Story,” the first book by her granddaughter Deborah Ammons. The photo above was taken around 1995, and Dills is standing on the steps of the house where she lived when she learned of her father’s death.
“They knew Nanny’s father was killed in a mine accident in Wayehutta, but she didn’t tell them all the details,” Ammons said, adding that there were several other things her uncles and aunts were surprised to read in her book.
“Everything in the book is true except for one incident, and I’m not telling what that is,” Ammons said. “But there is one place where Nanny and I had to fabricate a little.”
The book covers Dills’ life from the time she was 10 until she was in her 40s and her son Leburn Dills (Ammons’ father) went off to barber school, Ammons said.
The book grew out of her desire to preserve the stories her grandmother told about her life.
“It’s part of our heritage, and I wanted to write it down for my children,” Ammons said.
Ammons, who also grew up in Wayehutta, attended Cullowhee High School and is daughter of Leburn and Sara Dills.
Married to Troy Ammons, Deborah Ammons, who’s already at work on a second book, said that their two children are the fifth generation of her family to live in Wayehutta.
During the Aug. 25 bookstore event, Ammons will read from “Nanny, Telll Me a Story” and take questions from the audience.
For more information or to reserve an autographed copy, call City Lights at 586-9499.
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