The Greats of Cuttercane

The Greats of Cuttercane

When Asa Holbrook Staggs stepped into the cold-water spring that would later bear his name, he was drunk. The date was November 18, 1914. He pulled himself from the water, sober, cold, and converted to a new life in the Lord. And thus began the legend of Asaâ€™s Spring, a pool indiscriminately dispensing favoritism to those who believed (or wondered about) the curative power of its water. These are stories of people born in Cuttercane, Georgia, the place of Asaâ€™s Spring, and who earned minor celebrity from the townsfolkâ€™s highest praise: â€œHe (she) is something else, ainâ€™t he (she)?â€

The â€œsomething elseâ€ is what a Southerner might call a catchall phrase, for it can apply to saint and sinner alike. It means exactly what it implies: the person referenced has made a name for him (her) self in some mannerâ€”Asa, the drunk, becoming a war hero; the reigning heavyweight lard watermelon champion and Indian terror, Newell Proudfoot, in a grudge match against the Prichard twins; Felton Eugene Weaverâ€™s rise from whiskey runner to Hollywood movie fame; Elmo Parker and Monroe Dawson in a showdown baseball game between the Claybank Textile Tigers and the Jefferson Bluejays; and, last, the stunning Mattie Mae Blairâ€™s career as the striptease artist, Princess Salome.
Written in the edged-in-humor style of caricature, these stories are shared daily in cafes and other gathering spots in rural communities in the South. It is a practice embedded in the culture, and all it takes for a casual mention to become a tall tale is one storyteller trying to outdo another. If you find yourself in the company of such men and women, pause nearby and eavesdrop. When the snickering turns into a cackle, you will know that someone has been elevated to being â€œsomething else.â€
Country USA
Manufacturer Mercer University Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2011-09-11
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Mercer University Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2011-09-11
Format	Kindle eBook

The Greats of Cuttercane

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