Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1275677
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 14 UCW AUGUST 5-11, 2020 910-867-2364 • 4624 BRAGG BLVD. CONNECT with us! @legendspub910 Doors Closed for NOW We Look Forward to Hosting Good Times When We Re-open. 700 Ramsey St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 • Incredibly Fresh Flowers • Custom Silk Designs • Lovely Plants & Dish Gardens • Fabulous Showroom & Gi Shop • Conveniently Located Within Minutes of Fayetteville Hospitals & Funeral Homes Corporate Services: • Lobby & Office arrangements • Grand openings • Promotions Flowers Express What Words Cannot www.FloralArtsNC.com 910.822.0425 Celebrating 40 Years of Service Flower for August Poppies For more than 20 years UNC TV's "North Carolina Bookwatch" has broadcast great conversations with North Carolina-connected authors. An important part of the pro- gram's makeup has always been the warm and open spirit that authors bring into the television studio. Through the magic of bro- adcast television, their informative and entertaining conversations have made their ways into the living rooms and dens of many North Carolinians. It is one of the longest running locally produced UNC-TV programs. At the beginning of this year, plans were under way to produce some programs at bookstores and college campuses, similar to the successful production of three pro- grams at Isothermal Community College late last year. "Bookwatch" was also lining up authors and UNC-TV studio times for produc- tion of a new series. Then came the virus. Bookstores closed. So did college campuses. UNC-TV's studios and offices shut down completely, leaving its enor- mous facility an empty cavern. It looked like a lost season for "Bookwatch." Then the program's producer, Katy Loebrich, suggested a trial of the distance-connecting program Zoom to see if it could be suitable for regular broadcast. David Zucchino, author of "Wilmington's Lie," agreed to be a guinea pig. From her home, Katy connected to me in my house and to David in his den. The result was not perfect, a little patchy, but encouraging. Then, thanks to Katy's editing, the pro- gram was more than a successful experiment. It pas- sed muster and was aired last month. That success let us to try Zoom with Sue Monk Kidd, author of "The Book of Longings." That program will be broad- cast next month. We found that we were able to produce the pro- gram without being in face-to-face direct contact with our guests. Subsequently, we have produced programs with author Lee Smith, who was spending the summer in Maine. One of our prospective authors, Devi Lascar, author of "The Atlas of Reds and Blues," grew up in Chapel Hill but now lives in California. With the new distance capability, we were able to interview her from her home thousands of miles away, an inter- view that might not have happened otherwise. From her home in Cornelius, former Charlotte Observer reporter Pam Kelly talked about her book "Money Rock: A Family's Story of Cocaine, Race, and Ambition in the New South." Other authors who might have been too busy to make their way to the UNC-TV studios have given us interviews because they did not have to leave their homes or travel to the studio. For instance, William Darity Jr. and his wife Kirsten Mullen, aut- hors of "From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century," sat down in their living room and tal- ked to us about their recent work on reparations. We are planning interviews with Kathy Reichs, who will be talking to us from Charlotte about "A Conspiracy of Bones." Daniel Pierce, author of "Tar Heel Lightnin': How Secret Stills and Fast Cars Made North Carolina the Moonshine Capital of the World," will be able to save a seven-hour round trip from his home in Asheville by doing his interview with Zoom or Skype. Some authors, such as Allan Gurganus, Jodi Magness and Jill McCorkle, came to specially adap- ted, newly reopened studios after being assured that they would be in a separate room from the host, reducing the risk that might have been involved in communication across the same table. As bad as the coronavirus is, by adapting to it, "North Carolina Bookwatch" has made improve- ments that will be a permanent benefit for viewers and the authors who are the stars of the program. How North Carolina Bookwatch beat the coronavirus and got better doing it by D.G. MARTIN OPINION D.G. MARTIN, Host of UNC's Book Watch. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484- 6200.