Hear Dave Turner read Billy Ray's Chevrolet on Audio Book, get free eBook

Billy Ray's Chevrolet And Other Writings And Photographs From A Southern Appalachian Valley is a collection of writings and photographs by Dave Turner inspired by growing up and living in a Southern Appalachian Valley accessible by Riceville Road and Bull Creek Road east of Asheville, North Carolina. Some of the pieces are true stories, another is fiction, some are short contemplative reflections. Look inside the eBook by clicking on the thumbnail images below.

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More about the book

“I wanted to preserve the elements of the mountain culture I experienced growing up here in the 1970s, and have provided not an exhaustive account, but a personal one with my perspective to add to what so many others have shared about their mountain experiences,” said Turner. “I accomplished this in 15 parts. This all started from a writing exercise recommended in a writer’s book I can’t remember that suggested writing 15 pieces on the same subject. It evolved from there,” he said.

• The first, Billy Ray’s Chevrolet, tells a story about how an old truck is a symbol of mountain nobility and one man’s life in the valley and his perspective on life.
• Leafless Trees contemplates the winters of childhood.
• Friends tells about friendships from a 12 year-old’s perspective set in a small cabin, involving a Vietnam vet, an old VW and a German shepherd named Rommel.
• Snapper recalls a boy’s experience swimming in pond knowing that snapping turtles where at the bottom.
• Unexpected Freeze conveys what can happen by a creek side in the space between winter and spring.
• Fire Pit shows how building a fire in the valley surrounded by mountains can be a profound experience.
• Nineteen and Twenty-Seven is a fictional piece about a couple living in the real-life 1860s cabin that would become the author’s childhood home.
• Mr. Gaddy tells the story of a building project and a man without much education, missing fingers and a modest cinderblock house built beautiful fiddles and had a simple, positive outlook on life.
• Wildflowers and a Daydream explores how hard times can be put on hold by walking in a meadow and gathering wildflowers.
• Snakes addresses the subject of rattlesnakes and copperheads.
• Hell recalls the experience of a young boy observing the paradoxes of fundamentalism, fear and bigotry.
• Pavement moves from memories of a changed valley accessible via Riceville Road.
• Peggy is a piece about a neighbor in a hand-built cabin and a conversation with her about getting back to nature and the wonders of Southern food.
• As Rain Approaches recalls the sounds of a storm approaching deep in Bull Creek Valley.
• Finally, Seeing Forever is a memory piece of playing the piano, looking through wavy 150 year-old window panes, thinking of Billie Holiday and experiencing timelessness in a room with a crackling fire.

About the author

Dave Turner is a performing singer-songwriter, pianist, freelance writer, editor, website designer and amateur photographer. He grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and lives all over—wherever his music tours and other adventures take him. When he’s in Asheville, you’ll find him working often at his favorite virtual office, Izzy’s Coffee Den on North Lexington Avenue http://www.izzyscoffeeden.com. He spent most of his childhood in the valley that provides the backdrop for this book, his first. In 2007, Dave recorded and released his album Could Have Talked All Night. This record includes the song Billy Ray’s Chevrolet, based on the subject of the first piece in this book. More information on the album and Dave’s music is available at http://www.daveturnermusic.com. Additional information about Dave’s writing, editing and website design work is available at http://www.copywriterdaveturner.com.