Profiles in Mountain Character: People of the Smokies

As a carefree child in Bryson City, North Carolina, Jim Casada had no idea his childhood had been blessed with the kinds of unforgettable characters who belong in storybooks. In Profiles in Mountain Character, readers will get to know these folks—military men, moonshiners, and a murderer; teachers and preachers; lawmakers and lawbreakers. With a reporter’s eye and a neighbor’s affection, Casada brings to life men and women who shaped—and were shaped by—the Great Smoky Mountains.

Casada write...