Author Jim Gulledge’s novella, A Poor Man’s Supper, is set in the Asheville area and is particularly inspired by the his experiences in the Saluda community. North Carolina writer Ruth Moose has said of A Poor Man’s Supper that it …”reads like a ballad and …could be set to music.” Dr. Gulledge acknowledges the influence of his own European ancestors on his work. “Our folk culture in Western North Carolina was and continues to be heavily influenced by waves of English and Scottish immigrants who brought their songs and stories with them from Great Britain. The majority of my mother’s people immigrated from Scotland to Pennsylvania and then down the Great Wagon Road to North Carolina. I tried to imagine one of their old folk songs coming to life in prose.” The main character of the tale is a young woman named Vancie Keller who is trying to survive on her mother’s failing farm when her life is forever altered by the arrival of two very different men: Josiah Buckland and Jagger Hill. The book is in part a morality tale about the tremendous consequences of our choices and actions, but is sprinkled with revelry in the natural world, faith, song and myth. For readers who would like to further explore the book, they can find access to a copy at: https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Mans-Supper-Jim-Gulledge/dp/1625969155
Jim Gulledge earned a B.A. in Christian Education from Pfeiffer University, an M.A. in English from Clemson University, and a DMin from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Linda, have four grown children. In his spare time Dr. Gulledge explores the nearby Uwharrie Mountains with his dog, Shasta; serves as a guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children in his community; and continues in his futile attempts to master the ukulele. A Poor Man’s Supper is his first book and was recently selected for inclusion in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State University.
