Description

In her book, Under a Blue Bowl, (The Life of Olive Scott Benkelman, Mostly in Her Own Words) Scottie Pritchard introduces us to her mother, Olive Scott Benkelman – artist, community historian, writer, sage – through Olive’s own words. In the true proactice of Oral History, Olive told many of these stories to her daughter and then had the foresight to tape record her memories of early Grayson County, its people, and its customs. She entrusted these recollections to her daughter and Scottie transcribed tapes and gathered stories together for this book. Under a Blue Bowl is a must-read for those interested in life in rural Appalachian Virginia during the early 1900’s. No one could tell a story better than Olive. She told her stories with great humor and compassion. Prepare yourself for a pocketful of laughs and an occasional tearful eye as you read Olive’s stories of real people and their experiences, and follow Olive’s life as she left her home community and later returned to it.