Sylva's Carden receives awards, honors

By Rose Hooper

The award was for his book "Mason Jars in the Flood" and for its "contribution to the collection, preservation and perpetuation of North Carolina's rich history."

Storyteller, writer and mountain humorist Sheila Kay Adams of Madison County reviewed Carden's book in the latest edition of the "Appalachian Journal."

In it she said, "Gary Carden is a powerful storyteller - a master of the art. I have experienced first-hand his ability to take the stage and pull large audiences of all ages along with him, so completely that when he finished his performance, there would be a collective sigh as we all realized an hour and a half had passed and we wanted more...

"When I recently did a writer's workshop for some nice folks wanting to record their family stories, maybe even try to get them published, I recommended Carden's book as a shining example of how it should be done. I was not at all surprised to hear that it received Book of the Year Award from the Appalachian Writers Association. The book is touching, tender and moving. It is also, at times, darkly humorous and flat-out hilarious at other times. There's a little something for us all in Carden's book. Well worth the read."

Carden is also featured in a three-page spread in the spring issue of Smoky Mountain Living magazine. In his article writer Geoffrey Cantrell said of Carden, "Picture a fireplace glowing bright, a rocking chair and the sound of a single voice.

"And on that voice we ride to places familiar and imagined, meet heroes, friends and villains and get carried away by adventure, comedy and drama. The words chosen and shaped by that single voice help us travel back generations and come back to the present in the span of minutes.

"The voice and the words - these are the tools of a storyteller. Here in Western North Carolina, the best storytellers remind us of our roots and provide a link to the history of these hills and the characters, living and gone, who populate them. Gary Carden of Sylva is such a storyteller, a genuine craftsman in the age-old practice of Smoky Mountain storytelling."

As yet another accolade, Carden was invited this month to become a member of the N.C. Writers Conference, an invitation-only organization.

Those who would like to see the Sylva storyteller in action can catch Carden at SoHo Grill and Racquet Club, located across from the Cullowhee Post Office, Saturday, May 4, at 7 p.m.

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