PAMELA DUNCAN

Novelist Pamela Duncan was born in Asheville and grew up in Black Mountain, Swannanoa, and Shelby, North Carolina. She holds a B.A. in journalism from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She lives in Alamance County, North Carolina.

Her first novel, Moon Women, was a Southeastern Booksellers Association (now Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Award Finalist, and her second novel, Plant Life, won the 2003 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. She is the recipient of the 2007 James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South, awarded by the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Her third novel, The Big Beautiful, was published in March 2007.
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L'essentiel est invisible pour lest yeux; on ne voit pas bien qu'avec le coeur.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Le Petit Prince

(It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.)

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END MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining in which entire mountains are literally blown up -- and it is happening here in America on a scale that is almost unimaginable.

Mountaintop removal is devastating hundreds of square miles of Appalachia; polluting the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans; and destroying a distinctly American culture that has endured for generations.
But mountaintop removal can be stopped -- with the help of people like you.


To learn more, visit ilovemountains today.

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REBUILD NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC LIBRARY
The New Orleans Public Library was hit hard by Katrina and the flooding that followed. Every library was damaged; eight of twelve branches were completely ruined by wind, water, and mold. Revenue loss forced layoffs of 80% of the staff. Total damage may be as much as $30 million.

Like many cities, the City of New Orleans is “self-insured,” but the Katrina calamity left the City with insufficient revenue to fund rebuilding. In time FEMA will reimburse the City for up to 90% of the cost to repair its libraries and purchase new books, discs, and equipment.

The FEMA process could take years, however, drastically limiting New Orleans families’ access to books, discs, computers, and the Internet -- holding back children’s education, confounding adults’ efforts to rebuild their lives, and preventing everyone from gaining the solace that books provide.

To find out what you can do to help rebuild the New Orleans Public Library, visit www.nutrias.org

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SAVE NORTH CAROLINA PIERS
North Carolina piers are a part of the state's and the country's coastal heritage. Many longstanding public fishing piers are disappearing today due to coastal development and redevelopment. The Town of Emerald Isle, North Carolina is working to keep this from happening in its community, where since 1963 the Bogue Inlet Pier has provided wonderful fishing opportunities and treasured memories for generations.

To learn what you can do to help, visit NC Fishing Pier Society and www.saveourpier.com.

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The North Carolina Arts Council announces the debut of a guide that connects the lives and work of 170 of North Carolina’s visiting and native writers with destinations across the 25 counties of the mountain region.

Visit the website at North Carolina Literary Trails

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