thedrifter
02-04-07, 04:46 AM
Books roundup: Author takes tour of 'Silent Speedways'
The Herald-Sun
February 3, 2007 12:01 am
Perry Allen Wood has "lived and breathed" stock car racing all his life, he states in the preface to his book "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas: The Grand National Histories of 29 Former Tracks." He learned that love growing up in his native Spartanburg, S.C., which from the 1940s and into the 1970s "had far, far more than its share" of mechanics and drivers, whom Wood met through his father, Jesse L. "Smoky" Wood.
"Silent Speedways" is Wood's gift to the sport he loves. Wood went scouting around to find and explore some of the old tracks where the sport began. Speedways he visited had to meet three criteria: be located in the Carolinas, have hosted at least one NASCAR Grand National race, and no longer be in use. For each track he visited, Wood gives directions for those who might want to undertake their own explorations, a description of the speedway in its current state, a detailed history of some of the major races that took place at the track, photographs and finally a set of statistics, which he calls "Track History by the Numbers."
Of local interest is his extensive history of Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, where Jayne Mansfield visited during a March 1963 race ("waiting to plant one on the victor"). The history of two Raleigh speedways -- the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Speedway and the Raleigh Speedway -- are included. Racing fans will want Wood's book for the statistics and sports history, but even those who do not follow the sport will want to go exploring these old tracks, whose storied histories are quickly going back to nature.
"Silent Speedways of the Carolinas" ($35, paperback, McFarland & Company Inc.) is available at www.mcfarlandpub.com or (800) 253-2187.
Other new releases and events:
- Melton A. McLaurin, a retired UNC Wilmington history professor, has written an important contribution to military and civil rights history with "The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines" ($29.95, University of North Carolina Press), which tells the story of "the first African Americans to serve their nation as Marines since the American Revolution." In the early 1940s, as the United States prepared for war, President Roosevelt ordered that blacks be given more opportunities to serve -- albeit in segregated ranks. In pursuit of Roosevelt's order, the Marine Corps in 1942 opened Montford Point, an area of Camp Lejeune where black soldiers would train.
McLaurin and a team of researchers tracked down many of the former Marines, eventually taping interviews with 61 people. This book is a set of excerpts from those interviews which, in Studs Terkel fashion, create an oral history of the experiences and legacy of this group of Marines.
Publication date for McLaurin's book is Feb. 27. Local readings and signings are planned for the near future. For information about the book, visit uncpress.unc.edu.
- When Kathy Norcross Watts set out to write a biography of potter and painter Sid Oakley, he told her to "Find Mildred." Oakley then told her the story of a young black girl born into a white family, who was refused a place in a Stem public school around 1945. Watts' book "A Simple Life" ($16.95, Winterberry Books, available at www.lulu.com) is part memoir of her experiences with Oakley, who started Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, and part story of the search for Mildred -- and her eventual reunion with Oakley.
Watts will read and sign copies of her memoir at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Quail Ridge Books Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh. For information, call (919) 828-1588.
- Karla FC Holloway will discuss and sign copies of "BookMarks: Reading in Black and White: A Memoir," at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth St. For information, call (919) 286-2700.
- Lee Smith will read from and sign copies of her new novel "On Agate Hill" from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at Durham Technical Community College's Educational Resources Center. This reading is free and open to the public.
- The paperback edition of "She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana," Durham author Haven Kimmel's follow-up to her memoir "A Girl Named Zippy," is now available. Kimmel will mark the release at two local events this month. She will read and sign copies at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, and at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Quail Ridge Books Music in Raleigh.
- Allan Gurganus will discuss Algonquin Books' "New Stories from the South: 2006 -- The Year's Best," which he edited, at 5 p.m. today on "North Carolina Bookwatch" on UNC-TV.
Send information about readings, signings and other book-related events to cbellamy@heraldsun.com.
Ellie
The Herald-Sun
February 3, 2007 12:01 am
Perry Allen Wood has "lived and breathed" stock car racing all his life, he states in the preface to his book "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas: The Grand National Histories of 29 Former Tracks." He learned that love growing up in his native Spartanburg, S.C., which from the 1940s and into the 1970s "had far, far more than its share" of mechanics and drivers, whom Wood met through his father, Jesse L. "Smoky" Wood.
"Silent Speedways" is Wood's gift to the sport he loves. Wood went scouting around to find and explore some of the old tracks where the sport began. Speedways he visited had to meet three criteria: be located in the Carolinas, have hosted at least one NASCAR Grand National race, and no longer be in use. For each track he visited, Wood gives directions for those who might want to undertake their own explorations, a description of the speedway in its current state, a detailed history of some of the major races that took place at the track, photographs and finally a set of statistics, which he calls "Track History by the Numbers."
Of local interest is his extensive history of Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, where Jayne Mansfield visited during a March 1963 race ("waiting to plant one on the victor"). The history of two Raleigh speedways -- the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Speedway and the Raleigh Speedway -- are included. Racing fans will want Wood's book for the statistics and sports history, but even those who do not follow the sport will want to go exploring these old tracks, whose storied histories are quickly going back to nature.
"Silent Speedways of the Carolinas" ($35, paperback, McFarland & Company Inc.) is available at www.mcfarlandpub.com or (800) 253-2187.
Other new releases and events:
- Melton A. McLaurin, a retired UNC Wilmington history professor, has written an important contribution to military and civil rights history with "The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines" ($29.95, University of North Carolina Press), which tells the story of "the first African Americans to serve their nation as Marines since the American Revolution." In the early 1940s, as the United States prepared for war, President Roosevelt ordered that blacks be given more opportunities to serve -- albeit in segregated ranks. In pursuit of Roosevelt's order, the Marine Corps in 1942 opened Montford Point, an area of Camp Lejeune where black soldiers would train.
McLaurin and a team of researchers tracked down many of the former Marines, eventually taping interviews with 61 people. This book is a set of excerpts from those interviews which, in Studs Terkel fashion, create an oral history of the experiences and legacy of this group of Marines.
Publication date for McLaurin's book is Feb. 27. Local readings and signings are planned for the near future. For information about the book, visit uncpress.unc.edu.
- When Kathy Norcross Watts set out to write a biography of potter and painter Sid Oakley, he told her to "Find Mildred." Oakley then told her the story of a young black girl born into a white family, who was refused a place in a Stem public school around 1945. Watts' book "A Simple Life" ($16.95, Winterberry Books, available at www.lulu.com) is part memoir of her experiences with Oakley, who started Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, and part story of the search for Mildred -- and her eventual reunion with Oakley.
Watts will read and sign copies of her memoir at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Quail Ridge Books Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh. For information, call (919) 828-1588.
- Karla FC Holloway will discuss and sign copies of "BookMarks: Reading in Black and White: A Memoir," at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Regulator Bookshop, 720 Ninth St. For information, call (919) 286-2700.
- Lee Smith will read from and sign copies of her new novel "On Agate Hill" from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at Durham Technical Community College's Educational Resources Center. This reading is free and open to the public.
- The paperback edition of "She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana," Durham author Haven Kimmel's follow-up to her memoir "A Girl Named Zippy," is now available. Kimmel will mark the release at two local events this month. She will read and sign copies at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, and at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Quail Ridge Books Music in Raleigh.
- Allan Gurganus will discuss Algonquin Books' "New Stories from the South: 2006 -- The Year's Best," which he edited, at 5 p.m. today on "North Carolina Bookwatch" on UNC-TV.
Send information about readings, signings and other book-related events to cbellamy@heraldsun.com.
Ellie