When surfing the Internet, treat yourself to a Southern delight by kicking off your shoes and wading in the Swampland.
Swampland.com is a Web site begun by Jim Markel, an Orlando, Fla., man with Athens connections. He is the great-grandson-in-law of the late Jim and Dewease Beasley, having married their granddaughter, SuSu Day.
So when Markel established Swampland as a Web site for all cultures of the South, he made sure the chunk of the South on which Athens and Limestone County sits was featured prominently.
In 2007, retired Athens State University professor of English Penne Laubenthal became a contributing writer for Swampland. Laubenthal writes under the “River Vue” heading.
“I concentrate on Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi and they have other writers to handle the other states,” said Laubenthal. “What I primarily want to do is promote the arts and tourism.”
However, other headings on the site cover sports — especially football — so large a part of Southern culture. There are also sections on the Southern roots of music, art and architecture.
“I’m getting ready to do a series on Johnny Mercer on the 100th anniversary of his birth,” she said. “I’m kind of stepping into Georgia’s territory by going to Savannah, but they said they didn’t care.”
Laubenthal has done several pieces on Paxton Mobley, a California artist with Athens roots whose works are available at Pablo’s on Market.
“I recently did a review of a collection of short stories by Anita Garner of UNA, ‘“Undeniable Truths,”’ she said.
She has also reviewed poet Jeanne Thompson’s collection of poems, “The Seasons Bear Us,” and News Courier Managing Editor Kelly Kazek’s collection of columns, “Fairly Odd Mother.”
Laubenthal has also reviewed the George Lindsey Film Festival at UNA, Athens’ first film festival, “Southern Shorts,” movies, restaurants, music, folk festivals and the Alabama Writers Forum. She also helped judge the four-week Pat Conroy essay contest, which gave as prizes 15 first editions of Conroy’s latest novel, “South of Broad.”
“The great thing about Swampland is you get to see works from not just one perspective,” she said.
Local News
Web site celebrates Southern culture
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- Holiday closings
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Memorial Day ceremony slated for Monday
The event, presented by American Legion Post 49 with assistance from the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the Limestone County Event Center on Pryor Street.
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Tornado artifacts sought for exhibit
Scientists at the National Weather Service in Huntsville are asking Limestone County residents to contribute to a historical and educational display about the tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011.
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Schools chief is 'ecstatic' over job
Board members cited Sisk’s experience in handling personnel issues, his working for a large school system, his outgoing personality and his willingness to help obtain money to buy laptop computers for students as evidence of his promise.
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'Significant' local arrests net drugs, cash
Limestone County deputies made what Sheriff Mike Blakely termed “significant arrests” with a Friday evening drug bust of a house at 817 Westmoreland Street.
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BREAKING: Reward offered in Limestone burglary
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Bills in meth trash lead to arrest
Trash included the portions of phone and cable bills that led investigators to the address of 43-year-old Larry M. Mason of Tuscumbia.
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Space Camp celebrating 30th anniversary
The center is hosting a weekend of family-friendly activities and a reunion of Space Camp alumni on June 15.
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Community colleges seeing declining enrollment
American Association of Community Colleges spokeswoman Norma Kent says changes in the economy are to blame.
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