An Appalachian love affair: Dabney chronicals moonshiners

I've only once tasted shine and that was years ago when a friend brought up a few jars from North Carolina. Whew! that was some powerful stuff. A couple of swallows was enough for me.

http://www.daily-tribune.com/view/full_story/25880650/article-An-Appalachian-love-affair--Dabney-chronicals-moonshiners?instance=most_recommended
The Daily Tribune News
An Appalachian love affair: Dabney chronicals moonshiners
by Neil B. McGahee

At 86, Joseph Earl Dabney’s love affair with Appalachia is strong as ever. The former Daily-Tribune reporter, author of “Mountain Spirits,” “More Mountain Spirits” and “Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine,” is seeing his work resurrected once again.

“Mountain Spirits” is an entertaining chronicle of Appalachian history seen through the culture of moonshiners and bootleggers. Dabney said he had originally tried to interest publishers in a biography of Martha Berry but they showed little interest. Frustrated, he and his wife, Susanne, went for a drive in the mountains. In Dawsonville, a sign advertising a “moonshine museum” caught the couple’s eye and they stopped for a visit.

“I was astounded at how much information was contained in that little building,” Dabney said. “We ended up staying for hours, and when we got back in the car, Susanne said, ‘Well, it looks like you found your book.’”

Dabney began interviewing retired moonshiners and revenue agents about the art of making corn whiskey. He laboriously compiled a glossary of moonshining terms, and selected photographs and illustrations to give the reader an inside look at Appalachian moonshining from distilling to bottling to delivery. Several people he interviewed were from Bartow County.... MORE at link provided above.