Tag: hiking
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John Cook—A Life Lived in America’s Best Idea
Several years ago, I was watching Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan’s PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, when I saw a reference to John Cook. I immediately texted my friend Lafe Cook, longtime director of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band. “Is that your dad?” When Lafe answered yes, I was smitten, but I had…
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Maybe Others See Kingsport More Clearly Than We Do
I recently saw a Facebook post that said, “Kingsport gets the least credit of the three cities, and it’s not even close.” Then the commenters jumped in, comparing them. Here is a hot take: It is perfectly fine to be a citizen of the region. You can live in one community and enjoy everything the…
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River Crossings and the Story of Pactolus
Recently, the Kingsport Times-News reported that the Sullivan County Commission deliberated acceptance of grant funding to upgrade the swinging bridge over the Holston River in Bluff City. The article reminded me that development in a county like Sullivan, which is divided by the Holston River, has always been shaped by river crossings. First came fords…
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Kingsport: A Tale of Two Cities
Long before it had a name, geography made this place significant. Long Island of the Holston — four miles long and nearly half a mile wide — was a Cherokee sacred ground used for diplomacy. Situated where Reedy Creek meets the Holston River as it bends around Bays Mountain, it anchors a 6,000-acre basin known…
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Kingsport Checks So Many Boxes
One of the questions I’m asked most often is, “Why Kingsport?” Many newcomers are drawn to the mountain vistas of Northeast Tennessee. Most are “escaping” a place that, for one reason or another, no longer feels like home. Yesterday, I met a couple from Colorado Springs—a city I’ve always considered idyllic. The grass is always…
Kingsport Spirit 