Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center’s Performing Arts Director DeDe Vogt has announced upcoming author interviews on their Virtual Center Stage. Local authors Donna Redfeather and Emory Jones will discuss their latest books.
The interviews can be viewed online anytime between 7:30 pm Saturday and midnight Sunday, May 15 through May 16, at www.snca.org. The program is free. Viewers will have an opportunity to donate to the SNCA Sustainability Fund during the program.
Author Donna Redfeather
Donna Redfeather, who is also known by her Passamaquoddy tribal name Kitchy Wabun Queye, was a member of the tribe that originated in the New Brunswick/Maine area. She grew up in Massachusetts. In 1987, Donna relocated to north Georgia in 1987. Redfeather was a founding member of “Women of Heart,” a Grammy award-winning musical group honoring Native American music. Sadly, Donna passed away in March 2021, following a long illness. DeDe Vogt was able to interview Donna in March, shortly before Donna’s death.
Her new children’s book, Little Dove and Kitchy is the story of a young Native American girl, Little Dove, who befriends a fairy named Kitchy. Kitchy has become separated from her family in the forest. With help from her grandfather, Little Dove goes on an adventure to help Kitchy get home.
Donna’s book has not yet been published, and there is a GoFundMe page to raise funds to have it printed in her memory. Donations to the fund also guarantee donors a copy of the book. Click here to donate to help get her book published. Before her passing, Donna graciously donated all proceeds from the sale of Little Dove and Kitchy to the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center.
Author Emory Jones
When you combine Emory Jones’s lifelong appreciation for pigs with his distinct sense of humor, the result is his new book, Cunningham and Other Pigs I Have Known. Every page is full of fun and presented in an easy-to-read writing style. This series of vignettes includes more than 30 stories about pigs – from Frank, the North Dakota hog who could play the piano, to Doodle Bug, Emory’s FFA pig who ran away from home. Whether Emory is taking his pet pig, Cunningham, to an art class in nearby Helen or for a romp around our nation’s capital, you never know what’s going to happen next.
Emory Jones grew up on a North Georgia farm in the gentle foothills of Southern Appalachia in White County. After receiving a journalism degree from the University of Georgia, he held numerous writing positions, including Southeastern editor of Farm Journal magazine. He has also been a copywriter, Director of Public Relations, and Executive Vice President of a major Atlanta advertising agency.
During his journalist and advertising career, Emory wrote about people and places in all 50 states. Travel only fueled his passion for words, and today, his humor and easy-to-read writing style shine through in books, plays, documentaries, and columns. Emory and his wife Judy still reside near Cleveland, Georgia. Visit EmoryJones.com for more information.
Emory is a prolific writer whose writings cover a wide gamut of genres–including, at least, articles, stories, plays, documentaries, and books. To date, Emory has written multiple books besides Cunningham and Other Pigs I Have Known. His book, Distant Voices – The Story of the Nacoochee Valley Indian Mound, written with Jean Rice in 2009, explores the history of the Sautee Nacoochee valley area. Emory also wrote a documentary based on Distant Voices.
Zipping Through Georgia On a Goat-Powered Time Machine with Ludlow Porch and a Parrot Named Pete was written in 2011 and is a humorous look at Georgia’s history through the eyes of Ludlow Porch, one of Georgia’s most loved broadcasters.
The Valley Where They Danced was written with Luciano Georgescu. This work, published in 2015, is historical fiction set in the Sautee Valley just after World War I.
Memories Etched in Pottery: The Cheever Meaders Story, a fictional account of a day spent with Cheever and Arie Meaders and then-Atlanta artist John Kollock and his wife Nancy, was published in 2018. The Meaders are considered pottery “royalty” from White County, and Kollock became a renowned artist and resident of Clarkesville.
Emory’s books, documentaries, and plays can be ordered through amazon.com or Emory’s website.
NOTE: DeDe Vogt, the Performing Arts Director at Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center, co-authored this article.
