Eliot Wigginton

#2

With nearly 9 million copies in print, The Foxfire Book and its eleven companion volumes stand memorial to the people and the vanishing culture of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, brought to life for readers through the words of those who were born, lived their lives, and passed away there—words collected by high school students who wanted to be a part of their community and preserve their heritage. All 12 volumes in the regular series are anthologies of Foxfire Magazine articles written by Rabun County high school students over the magazine's 40-year history, usually expanded through follow-up interviews and other research. - Publisher.

#3

In 1966, in the Appalachian Mountains of Northeast Georgia, a teacher and his students founded a quarterly magazine that they named Foxfire, after a phosphorescent lichen. In 1972, several articles from the magazine were published in book form and the acclaimed Foxfire series was born. Some thirty years later, the books continue to teach a philosophy of simplicity in living that is truly enduring in its appeal. Much more than "how to" books, the Foxfire series is a publishing phenomenon and a way of life, teaching creative self-sufficiency, the art of natural remedies, home crafts, and other country folkways, fascinating to everyone interested in rediscovering the virtues of simple living. This second volume celebrates the rites and customs of Appalachia, and includes sections on old-time burials, midwives, granny women, witches, and haints - as well as a variety of the kind of spirited firsthand narrative accounts from Appalachian community members that exemplify the Foxfire style.