Juanita (1888), Behind the Blue Ridge: A Homely Narrative (1887), On Both Sides (1885). Short stories: A Shocking Example and Other Sketches (1889).
S ECONDARY
Dictionary of American Biography , Vol. 1 (1964), 76. C. Carroll Hollis, âFrances Courtenay Baylor,â Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary (1979), 20â21. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (1898), 366.
B EHIND THE B LUE R IDGE (1887)
from Chapter 1
Unfortunately, John Shore's connection with the church was of the briefest. There are Pharisees in every fold, and that ancient element of all the churches was represented in this one by certain well-to-do farmersâ wives who generally sat together, and somewhat apart from all the others, in the chief seats. In the course of the next âprotracted meetingâ a very poor, and particularly frowsy, unkempt, but reputable young girl imprudently took a seat on the end of one of these benches, tacitly reserved for the elect ladies; and that from sheer embarrassment and not from any desire to intrude upon her neighbors. Up rose the leading lady of the party, and, seizing a blue parasol, and a magenta fan, and a gilt-edged hymn-book, she swept ostentatiously across the aisle and took up a fresh position where paupers could not come between the wind and her nobility, bridling haughtily as she did so, and saying, âI can't get religion with no such people.â John Shore heard her, and felt as if he had received a blow in the face; but the forlorn girl accepted the insult meekly, and when âthe mournersâ were invited to go up she rushed forward and fell weeping on her knees beside her fellow-sinners in a tumult of feeling that made her oblivious of the fact that religion was intended exclusively for the rich and respectable. To John Shore's amazement she was not allowed to stay there. Her tattered robe was not the robe of pharisaic righteousness at all, and, unobserved by the preacher, certain of the elders went up to her, said something to her, and then half led, half hustled her to the back of the church, where she was allowed to drop into a seat near the door. On seeing this, John Shore, who was singing a hymn, suddenly closed first his lips and then his book, and, turning, marched fiercely down the main aisle and out of the church, followed by his wife's startled gaze and the eyes of the whole congregation. âEf that's religion, I've got no use for it!â he said, hotly, when explaining his defection to his wife afterwards. âShe had as good a right to be there as anybody. I'll not set foot in meetin agin, and it's no use askinâ me.â
And so snapped one of the cables that might have held this soul in the storm that was to beat upon his house and make his heart desolate; nor is it only simple and ignorant folk who make the mistake of confounding Christianity with Christiansâso-called.â¦
S UE E LLEN B RIDGERS
(September 20, 1942â)
Fiction writer Sue Ellen Bridgers grew up in Pitt County, North Carolina, and moved to Jackson County, North Carolina, in 1971. She was the middle child of the three children of Elizabeth Abbott Hunsucker and Wayland Hunsucker. While her father struggled periodically with depression, her mother encouraged her ambitions to be a writer. âShe knew instinctively the value of story. She knew how it brought light into the shadows, meaning to the ambiguous, shape to the fears and delights in daily life. Her encouragement strengthened my resolve to find meaning in the world through language.â
Bridgers earned her B.A. from Western Carolina University in 1976, the same year her first novel, Home Before Dark , was published. It was named New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year. She is best known for her novels for young people and adults, including All Together Now âwhich was named Library of Congress Book of the Year, recipient of the Boston GlobeâHorn Book Honor Book Award, and the Christopher
S ECONDARY
Dictionary of American Biography , Vol. 1 (1964), 76. C. Carroll Hollis, âFrances Courtenay Baylor,â Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary (1979), 20â21. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (1898), 366.
B EHIND THE B LUE R IDGE (1887)
from Chapter 1
Unfortunately, John Shore's connection with the church was of the briefest. There are Pharisees in every fold, and that ancient element of all the churches was represented in this one by certain well-to-do farmersâ wives who generally sat together, and somewhat apart from all the others, in the chief seats. In the course of the next âprotracted meetingâ a very poor, and particularly frowsy, unkempt, but reputable young girl imprudently took a seat on the end of one of these benches, tacitly reserved for the elect ladies; and that from sheer embarrassment and not from any desire to intrude upon her neighbors. Up rose the leading lady of the party, and, seizing a blue parasol, and a magenta fan, and a gilt-edged hymn-book, she swept ostentatiously across the aisle and took up a fresh position where paupers could not come between the wind and her nobility, bridling haughtily as she did so, and saying, âI can't get religion with no such people.â John Shore heard her, and felt as if he had received a blow in the face; but the forlorn girl accepted the insult meekly, and when âthe mournersâ were invited to go up she rushed forward and fell weeping on her knees beside her fellow-sinners in a tumult of feeling that made her oblivious of the fact that religion was intended exclusively for the rich and respectable. To John Shore's amazement she was not allowed to stay there. Her tattered robe was not the robe of pharisaic righteousness at all, and, unobserved by the preacher, certain of the elders went up to her, said something to her, and then half led, half hustled her to the back of the church, where she was allowed to drop into a seat near the door. On seeing this, John Shore, who was singing a hymn, suddenly closed first his lips and then his book, and, turning, marched fiercely down the main aisle and out of the church, followed by his wife's startled gaze and the eyes of the whole congregation. âEf that's religion, I've got no use for it!â he said, hotly, when explaining his defection to his wife afterwards. âShe had as good a right to be there as anybody. I'll not set foot in meetin agin, and it's no use askinâ me.â
And so snapped one of the cables that might have held this soul in the storm that was to beat upon his house and make his heart desolate; nor is it only simple and ignorant folk who make the mistake of confounding Christianity with Christiansâso-called.â¦
S UE E LLEN B RIDGERS
(September 20, 1942â)
Fiction writer Sue Ellen Bridgers grew up in Pitt County, North Carolina, and moved to Jackson County, North Carolina, in 1971. She was the middle child of the three children of Elizabeth Abbott Hunsucker and Wayland Hunsucker. While her father struggled periodically with depression, her mother encouraged her ambitions to be a writer. âShe knew instinctively the value of story. She knew how it brought light into the shadows, meaning to the ambiguous, shape to the fears and delights in daily life. Her encouragement strengthened my resolve to find meaning in the world through language.â
Bridgers earned her B.A. from Western Carolina University in 1976, the same year her first novel, Home Before Dark , was published. It was named New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year. She is best known for her novels for young people and adults, including All Together Now âwhich was named Library of Congress Book of the Year, recipient of the Boston GlobeâHorn Book Honor Book Award, and the Christopher
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