By Lewis Chapman
This year, the Long Journey Home Musical Heritage Homecoming Tour includes an author talk and book signing with Chuck Walsh on his historical novel The Isolate, the saga of legendary Johnson County hermit Nick Grindstaff. Walsh will visit with guests starting at 11:30 on Saturday, September 5 at the Johnson County Center for the Arts Gallery on Main.
Walsh’s family has a long lineage in Johnson County beginning in the early 1700’s. “My parents were born and raised in the Pandora area,” Walsh said, “though I’m born and raised in South Carolina, I’ve spent so much time in Johnson County, in my younger years visiting grandparents, and in my adult years visiting kin.”
“I learned about Nick Grindstaff when I was young, my mother gave me a copy of Nick, The Hermit (by A.M. Daugherty, an epic poem published in 1926). As I grew up, I heard tales about Nick’s life from my parents that were passed down from their parents. It was only recently that I learned that I’m related to Nick. He is my sixth cousin on both my mother and father’s side.”
“I was intrigued by what led Nick to escape the world and live on remote Iron Mountain for over forty years,” said Walsh. “I admired that he was able to become a true mountain man, surviving brutal winters and snakes and creatures on his own for such a long time. I thought it would be respectful to learn as much as I could about him, and to formulate a story line based on his life. I wanted to portray Nick as one to be admired, and not to be pitied.”
Walsh began focusing on writing in 2005 when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I decided I would write a book about her, and for her. When I began writing the book, and probably because it dealt with my mother, and my family, a light truly came on not just in my mind, but in my soul. And here I am twenty years later with seven published books and a contract being pursued by my agent for book number eight.”
There is a stone monument to Nick Grindstaff that can be reached by way of a 4 mile hike from the Cross Mountain section of the Appalachian Trail. Walsh has made this trek twice as part of research for his books. “Standing on the land where Nick lived, and standing next to his tombstone, felt like holy ground,” said Walsh.
The author talk and book signing are part of this year’s Long Journey Home Musical Heritage Homecoming Tour. This event will be followed by a performance with the Junior Appalachian Musicians and an update on the Heritage Oak History Timeline. Then at 3:30pm, the tour travels up to the Clarence Tom Ashley homeplace for a front porch concert with Kenny Price and Jerry Moses bringing Tom’s legendary clawhammer banjo music to life and Jack Proffitt and Backroads Bluegrass playing authentic mountain bluegrass. Visitors can enjoy ‘Lassy Cookies and hear Tom’s signature ‘Lassy Makin’ banjo tuning. The final stop on the tour is at Heritage Hall Saturday evening at 7pm for Portraits of Home, an evening of storytelling and music.
