IN THIS ISSUE
garden & gun
David DiBenedetto Senior Vice President & Editor in Chief Executive Managing Editor Phillip Rhodes / Creative Director Marshall McKinney Photography and Visuals Director Maggie Brett Kennedy / Deputy Editors Amanda Heckert, David Mezz Style Director Haskell Harris / Art Director Julia Knetzer / Photo Editor Margaret Houston Senior Editor CJ Lotz / Copy Chief Donna Levine Editorial Assistant Caroline Sanders / Art Production Assistant Jacqueline Stofsick Editorial Intern Holly Roberts Chief Digital Officer Chris Kraft Digital Director Kim Alexander / Digital Editor Dacey Orr Sivewright / Social Media Editor Olivia Dello Buono Digital Projects Manager Emily Deal / Digital Intern Jessica Giles Contributing Editors Roy Blount Jr., Rick Bragg, Dominique Browning, Monte Burke, Marshall Chapman, John Currence, John T. Edge, Clyde Edgerton, Charles Gaines, Allison Glock, Winston Groom, Mike Grudowski, Jessica B. Harris, Matt…
heavy hitter
One of my favorite places in the South is an uninhabited barrier island off the coast of South Carolina where I’ve left tracks in the sand since I was a kid. In grade school I lost my first bull redfish in the surf there (and broke down in tears on my knees as the waves washed around me), and I encountered my first rattlesnake that wasn’t behind glass, coiled perfectly between clumps of sea oats on a brisk November morning. These days I love watching my kids’ enthusiasm as we beach the jon boat and they run wild on the vast and open sand flat, hunting for lettered olive shells and collecting feathers left behind by the resident pelicans and terns. Recently, we nearly stubbed our toes on a hunk of…
ten years of made in the south
We asked you to choose your favorite Made in the South honoree of the past ten years, and the votes are in. The first inductee into the Made in the South Awards Hall of Fame is Jerry Talton Decoys in Stella, North Carolina, which won the Outdoors category in 2016. Talton carves his decoys in the traditional North Carolina Core Sound style, influenced by the region’s working rigs of the past. Since Talton’s win, he’s hardly had time to put down his bowl adze and spoon gouge, with orders coming from across the country and even internationally. To see Talton and his work in person, check out the Core Sound Decoy Festival (December 7–8), on Harkers Island, North Carolina.…
judges meet the tenth annual made in the south awards
Erin and Ben Napier CRAFTS Thanks to Erin and Ben Napier, Laurel, Mississippi, is enjoying a boom of sorts. There, the couple founded Laurel Mercantile Co., on Front Street, to design and sell heirloom-quality goods such as kitchenware, comforters, and coffee mugs; and Scotsman Co., where Ben handcrafts one-of-a-kind home furnishings. In 2017, their HGTV series, Home Town, premiered, giving the Napiers the chance to restore historic houses throughout Laurel. “Southerners take the modest things they have and make them beautiful,” Erin says. Dara Caponigro HOME “A human touch in a home is so important, especially in our technological society,” says Dara Caponigro, the creative director at F. Schumacher & Co. Before overseeing the company’s inventive fabrics and wallpaper, she worked as editor in chief of Veranda, a founding editor of Domino, design and decoration…
“could you prepare us for the good dog story by giving, say, a one-to-five-tear-jerk emoji rating?”
BATTLE OVER THE EVERGLADES Thank you for “Wild Hope” (October/ November 2019). The problems of pollution, fertilizer runoff, loss of flora and fauna, and their effect on Florida are very real, and time is of the essence. Kudos for raising the issue and providing impetus to the stakeholders—Floridians, environmentalists, fishermen, tourists, Big Sugar, farmers, Corps of Engineers, and politicians—to restore the Everglades. Tim Saewert Placida, Florida I was extremely disappointed in “Wild Hope” unfairly targeting sugarcane farmers, who have done more for Everglades restoration than any other private entity. Since 1994, Florida’s sugarcane farmers have achieved a 56 percent average reduction in phosphorus, more than double the 25 percent required by law. Farmers have spent nearly $450 million on special taxes, and for research and infrastructure to implement cleanup measures. The author didn’t note…
social chatter
WE ASKED... What’s your go-to bourbon, and what’s your splurge? In a Talk of the South newsletter, we called for bourbon opinions. Top picks: Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, Blanton’s, Pappy, Angel’s Envy, and a few surprises. Old Charter. “Everybody who is anybody” drank that when I was growing up in the Mississippi Delta. Splurge: Angel’s Envy. Marilyn Brookes I drink Woodford Reserve every day, including special occasions. A slice of heaven in a busy world. Scott Griffin Shop the middle shelf. Not the bottom’s plastic bottles, not the top. For all times: Old Forester. John Scull Everyday: Rebel Yell. Special: Maker’s Mark julep. John Zebelean III Once the drinking lamp is lit, I pour Buffalo Trace. After the second, I go to Elijah Craig. Steve Layton Blade and Bow. Jason Brow I serve George Dickel whiskey to…
