One Last Weekend to Join Salvation South
Read this roundup of four weeks of amazing stories, poems, and films—all reasons to join the Salvation South Family Circle.
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your support throughout this incredible membership drive. We welcome everyone who joined the Salvation South Family Circle for the first time—and we thank those who have been part of this community since we began two years ago. Because of your commitment, we've been able to thrive and continue our mission of sharing the unique stories of the South.
We end this drive with three amazing pieces of writing:
- From Ed Southern, the North Carolina author of Fight Songs: A Story of Love and Sports in a Complicated South, we publish a most unusual, unusually entertaining, and remarkably heartfelt look at what Southern men of a certain age thought a movie called Smokey and the Bandit was teaching them forty-six years ago. His "The South We Thought We Saw in the Bandit" is a must-read.
- A Christmas poem from Kentucky's inspiring poet Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr., author of this year's widely lauded collection Gay Poems for Red States. His "Requiem for a Dollar Store Christmas Bear" will make you sit up and pay attention to children from families too poor to make much merry.
- And from North Carolina poet M. Scott Douglass, we have a collection of two verses about the scars and gifts of age.
As we approach the last moments of this membership drive, we must emphasize that time is running out. The clock is ticking, and the membership drive will conclude at midnight this Sunday. If you haven't already subscribed, we implore you to do so right away to ensure that we can keep bringing you the stories that matter most.
To encourage you to take action, we leave you with the special treat below—a roundup of the amazing stories, poems, and films we've had the privilege of presenting over the past four weeks of this membership drive. These narratives have painted vivid portraits of the diverse and rich cultures, traditions, and experiences that make up the real Souths. Your support has made it possible for us to give these stories a home, and we can't thank you enough for that.
Our work is far from over. We still need your support to continue this vital mission. By joining the Salvation South Family Circkle, you not only gain access to a treasure trove of killer stories but also become an integral part of preserving and sharing the South's authentic narratives.
Don't let this opportunity slip away. Subscribe now and join us in celebrating the real Souths—and yep, that's plural—that define our unique region. Together, we can ensure that these stories shine brightly for generations to come.
Thank you once again for your incredible support. Let's finish this membership drive strong and keep this haven for Southern storytellers of every stripe alive and thriving.
“A Eulogy for King Coal” by Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Chuck Reece is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Salvation South, the weekly web magazine you're reading right now. He was the founding editor of The Bitter Southerner. He grew up in the north Georgia mountains in a little town called Ellijay.