Latest Season of North Carolina Bookwatch Announced
Bookwatch Bloggers get an exclusive look at the first 10 authors in this year's lineup!

Sundays at 5 PM, spice up your summer reading with the 12th season of North Carolina Bookwatch ! In affable host D.G. Martin’s illuminating interviews, the Tar Heel State’s best and brightest writers shed light on their lives, works and the indelible imprint that our state leaves on their writing.

Don't miss the premiere, Sunday, July 5, at 5 PM.

July 5
John Shelton and Dale Volberg Reed Holy Smoke

July 12
Justin Catanoso
My Cousin the Saint

July 19
Todd Johnson
The Sweet By and By

July 26
Michael Walden
North Carolina in the Connected Age

Aug 2
Barbara Fredrickson
Positivity

Aug 9
Michael Davis
Street Gang

Aug 16
Dan Ariely
Predictably Irrational

Aug 23
Howard Lee
The Courage to Lead

Aug 30
Marianne Gingher
Adventures in Pen Land

Sept 6
Dan Barefoot
Hark the Sound of Tar Heel Voices

A NOTE FROM A COUPLE OF 'BEWITCHED' BOOKWATCH FANS:

Dear Mr. Martin,

We have noticed unusual similarities between Bookwatch and Bewitched. We are curious as to whether you realize that the font for "Bookwatch," Exhibit A, is virtually the same as Bewitched, Exhibit B.

Also, there is only one letter's difference between witch and watch . And, the two words are close enough to be phonetic first cousins. Say this out loud — B ook-watch Bee-witched Book-watch Bee-witched. See what we mean?

Then there's the passing resemblance between you, Exhibit C, and the second Darrin, Exhibit D (see photo).

The same tilt of the head to your right, the same hairline*, the same smile. Hmm. WCHL says that you can talk about anything. Well, let's talk about these curious parallels. What's going on here? Is this intentional or subconscious? Inquiring minds want to know.

*For the record, your hair is much more attractive than Darrin's.

Sincerely,

Evie Good and Louise Neaves
_____________________________________________________________________________________

What a great comparison! I have always thought that Bookwatch had a lot of magic, but maybe there is a little bewitchment involved, too. And many thanks for the comparison to Darin II (Dick Sargent). I wish I looked that good.

Bewitched, bothered, and bookwatched,

- D.G. Martin

A Note From Former Duke University President Keith Brodie

DG:

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to share my praise for you and Bookwatch with UNC-TV for public dissemination. You are a superb interviewer, and you radiate such enthusiasm for authors and their work, as to create a show which allows them to open to your audience with insight and personal material which I doubt they have shared with others. Many authors are shy and find it very difficult to talk to a TV public. You do such an extraordinary job of putting these people at ease, challenging them to disclose their innermost feelings while at the same time creating an atmosphere of trust which enables them to share their personal reflections. We have studied your interview skills, and find especially effective your use of non-verbal technique. In summary, I delight in your extraordinary show, and deeply appreciate that we here in North Carolina are afforded the opportunity to understand the contributions made by so many North Carolina authors thanks to your superb interview skill informed by your impeccable preparation. May you continue to enlighten us for many years to come.

Keith

Note: Duke University has used tapes of the North Carolina Bookwatch series to illustrate interviewing techniques in connection with training in the area of psychiatry, which is Dr. Brodie's field.

H. Keith H. Brodie (b. August 24, 1939, New Canaan, Connecticut) is an American psychiatrist, educator, and president emeritus of Duke University.

Click here to learn more about Mr. Brodie.

HEALTH CARE REFORM:
Discussion with Dr. Nortin Hadler
Dr. Hadler, author of "Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America," will lead a discussion about his book and the prospects for health care reform in a new presidential administration.



The Regulator Bookshop
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
7-8 PM
Durham, NC

Click here for more information.

At a time when access to health care in the United States is being widely debated, Nortin Hadler argues that an even more important issue is being overlooked. Although necessary health care should be available to all who need it, he says, the current health-care debate assumes that everyone requires massive amounts of expensive care to stay healthy. Hadler urges that before we commit to paying for whatever pharmaceutical companies and the medical establishment tell us we need, American consumers need to adopt an attitude of skepticism and arm themselves with enough information to make some of their own decisions about what care is truly necessary.

Each chapter of "Worried Sick" is an object lesson regarding the uses and abuses of a particular type of treatment, such as mammography, colorectal screening, statin drugs, or coronary stents. For consumers and medical professionals interested in understanding the scientific basis for Hadler's arguments, each topical chapter has an accompanying source chapter in which Hadler discusses the medical literature and studies that inform his critique.

According to Hadler, a major stumbling block to rational health-care policy in the United States is contention over the very concept of what constitutes good health. By learning to distinguish good medical advice from persuasive medical marketing, consumers can make better decisions about their personal health and use that wisdom to inform their perspectives on health-policy issues.

Dr. Hadler was a recent guest on North Carolina Bookwatch.
Click here to view his interview online.

North Carolina Bookwatch Drives Traffic to Conrad and Hinkle

"Conrad & Hinkle featured in documentary"
The Dispatch
Davidson County's News Source

When Mike Lassiter returned to his hometown of Statesville several years ago to practice law with his father, he was struck by the changes in the heart of downtown — two longtime corner drug stores were gone as well as the town’s hardware store.

Mike Lassiter, author of the 2006 book 'Our Vanishing Americana,' browses inside Conrad & Hinkle Food Market on Tuesday morning during a break in filming in the store for a documentary based on his book.
Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch

“I felt that was probably happening everywhere and decided I wanted to capture that before it was gone,” said Lassiter, a photographer who embarked upon a six-year quest to document a disappearing way of life in small towns across North Carolina.

The result was “Our Vanishing Americana: A North Carolina Portrait,” published in 2006, a 244-page coffee table book featuring old hardware stores, drug stores, barber shops, blue-plate diners and hot dog stands, grocers and single-screen theaters that are fading from the state’s landscape.

Lassiter traveled to all 100 counties to complete the book, which has more than 550 photographs. While continuing to practice law and attending his children’s ball games on weekends, Lassiter carved out time to hit the road and document the longtime family businesses still in operation.

“I wanted to examine what’s happening to Main Street, in the general sense,” he said, “and why it’s important to preserve it.”

When Lassiter drove into downtown Lexington several years ago, he found a place he wanted to include in his book — Conrad & Hinkle Food Market.

“I knew instantly, just from the storefront, that this was a place I’d enjoy spending some time,” said Lassiter, who lives in the small town of Davidson.

The book has several photos of Conrad & Hinkle and a narrative of the history of the business, which has been selling its famous pimento cheese, as well as fresh local produce and handcut meats, for the past 90 years in the same location on the Square.

On Tuesday, Lassiter was back at the old-fashioned Lexington grocer with a film crew. He is now producing a documentary based on his travels and the people he met while producing the book for WTVI, the PBS affiliate in Charlotte.

“I wanted to bring the book to life and be able to introduce the people I met doing the book to a wider audience,” Lassiter said.

That includes people such as Lee and Jim Hinkle, the grandsons of the founders of the store who still run it today. Lassiter said the multigenerational family business is one of about a dozen of his favorite places in the book that he is including in the documentary.

“This is a little bit of a success story here — they’ve been able to find their niche,” Lassiter said, noting that many longtime businesses close when the owners retire or die and there’s no one to carry it on.

Scott Galloway, the director of the documentary, said he was drawn to the project because it will allow the viewers to see a part of the state’s cultural history.

“It’s an opportunity to tell stories,” said Galloway, also of Davidson, who has made documentaries for nearly 20 years. “It’s more than bricks and mortars, it’s the people who work there and the investment they’ve made.”

The cameraman of the four-man crew, Randy Fulp of Charlotte, said being back in Lexington on Tuesday was a little bit of a homecoming. The Wallburg native and 1979 Ledford High School graduate said he had been to Conrad & Hinkle years ago. The Appalachian State University graduate has been with WTVI for nearly 25 years.

Jim and Lee Hinkle said they have been pleased with the recognition the book has given the store.

“We had a couple in here from Raleigh last week, and they had the book and wanted me to sign it,” Jim told Lassiter. “They were going across the state to see the places in the book.”

When Lassiter’s book was featured on UNC-TV's “North Carolina Bookwatch” in October 2007, Lee said there was an increase in out-of-town visitors.

“We had a lot of response right after that,” Lee said, noting that most visitors were day-trippers from the Triad and Charlotte areas.

He said he hopes the documentary will also bring in some new customers: “Like everybody else, we need all the help we can get.”

Click here to read more.

The mission of the Green Press Initiative is to work with book and newspaper industry stakeholders to conserve natural resources, preserve endangered forests, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize impacts on indigenous communities.

ATTENTION PUBLISHERS:

The recently announced Green Press Initiative membership program provides benefits and resources for individuals and companies interested in reducing the social and environmental impacts of publishing. Currently corporate membership is only available to companies in the book industry, though a membership program for the newspaper industry is in development.

Joining Green Press Initiative is a simple way to demonstrate your environmental commitment, gain access to valuable tools and resources, and support the efforts of a pioneering organization. The Green Press Initiative (GPI) provides its members with the expertise and resources to design, implement and evaluate successful, socially responsible business policies and practices.

Click here to get started.

HOME EXPERT WILLIAM HIRSCH SHARES NEW HOME DESIGN BOOK

Get expert advice on designing your own home when William Hirsch presents his new book DESIGNING YOUR PERFECT HOUSE: LESSONS FROM AN ARCHITECT. He’ll be at Quail Ridge Books on Sunday, January 11, at 3 p.m.

Architectural guru Sarah Susanka calls it "an excellent guide for anyone wanting to design the house of their dreams."

Click here to find out more.

Scott Huler Shares His Book, No-Man’s Lands On UNC-TV’s North Carolina Bookwatch, Friday, January 2, at 9:30 PM

When NPR contributor Scott Huler made one more attempt to get through James Joyce’s Ulysses, he had no idea it would launch an obsession with the book’s inspiration: the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey and the lonely homebound journey of its Everyman hero, Odysseus.

No-Man’s Lands is Huler’s funny and touching exploration of the life lessons embedded within The Odyssey, a legendary tale of wandering and longing that could be read as a veritable guidebook for middle-aged men everywhere. At age forty-four, with his first child on the way, Huler felt an instant bond with Odysseus, who fought for some twenty years against formidable difficulties to return home to his beloved wife and son. In reading The Odyssey, Huler saw the chance to experience a great vicarious adventure as well as the opportunity to assess the man he had become and embrace the imminent arrival of both middle age and parenthood.

But Huler realized that it wasn’t enough to simply read the words on the page—he needed to live Odysseus’s odyssey, to visit the exotic destinations that make Homer’s story so timeless. And so an ambitious pilgrimage was born . . . traveling the entire length of Odysseus’s two-decade journey. In six months.

In an all-new episode of UNC-TV’s local literary series North Carolina Bookwatch with D.G. Martin, premiering Friday, January 2, at 9:30 PM, Huler shares his new book—part travelogue, part memoir, and part critical reading of the greatest adventure epic ever written—and explores its extraordinary description of two journeys—one ancient, one contemporary— revealing what The Odyssey can teach us about being better bosses, better teachers, better parents, and better people.