Ol' Man on a Mountain Weekly Passage and Yiddish Word of the Week

Dear Friends of Watauga River,

I want to share good news about Ol' Man On A Mountain. A neighbor in my town hosted a book signing party last Sunday at their home. 50 people, all of whom had an interest in the beauty of Appalachia attended. We sold 31 copies of Ol Man. Also, I did a signing at our local Farmers Market and donated all proceeds to the Winter Park Day Nursery, a marvelous school http://winterparkdaynursery.org which is predominantly for children whose family income is below national poverty line. Finally, there is a probability of Terry Teacher, critic for The Wall Street Journal, writing a review. He just did one on Nicholas Nickolby, the ongoing production of the Theater that I Founded. Wow!

Weekly Passage:

"Shelly Sue’s was located just up the mountain and in front of Sugar Creek Mountain Church, where we’d been invited to revisit immediately after we’d witnessed the river baptism. And in emergencies Shelly Sue’s was the place to get help with no questions asked. To us, used to the supermarkets and Sam’s Club of urban America and to our local super-convenient 7-11, where indifference or an obligatory smile were more the order of the day than cordiality, Shelby Sue’s was a gift in its sincere goodwill. Need to use the phone? Fine. Don’t worry yourself about it. Long distance? Don’t worry. Pay me later. Cash a check?" “So long it’s good. Heck, I know where you live.”
 
"At Shelly Sue’s you could find pretty much anything you needed, as long as the emphasis was need and not want. Further, if she didn’t have the item, she would get on the phone to ask another small general store a few miles up the road to ask if they did. Such courtesy to save you a trip and gasoline was just part of the right way to do business."
 
Yiddish Word of the Week:

"Mameloshn"rhymes with Mama caution. Literally, Mother tongue, but it is used to mean," tell the bold truth or Cut the cr...p. Or Lay it on the line.

Best wishes to all!

Sincerely,
 
Stu Omans
Prof. Emeritus, Univ. Of Central Florida
Ol' Man On A Mountain

 

Weekly Passage from Ol' Man on a Mountain

There are many words in Yiddish, the universal language of exiled Jews that is now making a strong comeback among young people.

" nar,nefesh,shnook,shlemiel,shmegeggeh,shlimazel,yold( one of my mother's favorites). I once asked I.B. Singer the great Jewish writer why he thought we had so many words for fools.

" Why Dr. Omans," he replied with twinkling eyes." I'm surprised at you. Because there are so many kinds of fools running around in this world."

I realize now that when I lived and wrote Ol' Man On A Mountain, I was consciously putting myself in the role of fool. Much  Jewish humor is self deprecating and the protagonist plays the role. Often, it is on purpose to learn a new way.

When my wife and I decided to buy a little farm in Appalachia we knew we would begin as misfits, fools,  but insisted that all the fears we had were misguided. " Those people" we kept hearing...
But we jumped in:  urban, theatrical, academic, artists... Democrats among precivil war, country, long - time Repuplican farmers!

Ol' Man is the result: what I know is a funny, honest report of our experiences, a growing  multiple level love story between Baptists and Jews, conservatives and liberals, city " fools" and country wise men.
It's a salute to good willed people, regardless of background.