Kudzu
Date: Wed, 8 May 1996
From: Tim Silver
Subject: Kudzu Query
Tim Silver writes:
This summer I'm team-teaching an NEH Institute on environmental history at the National Humanities Center. My part of the course centers on local environmental history, especially that of the North Carolina piedmont. I'm looking for a short, readable article on kudzu in the upper South. I'm familiar with some of the scientific work on the plant, but I need something suitable for a general reader (the students are high school teachers). I'm not especially concerned about assigning a scholarly work. An article from a popular magazine (say, Southern Living) might do nicely. I'd welcome any suggestions. Thanks.
Editor's note: As a North Carolinian, I advise checking the major newspapers of the state. Kudzu is common topic and has been featured numerous times over the years. Also, check in with the places like the Intimate Bookshop - local writers have discussed kudzu - often with humor.
Date: Thu, 9 May 1996
From: Annette Wright
Subject: Kudzu Query
Annette Wright writes: There is a short piece in the Enc. of Southern Culture on Kudzu.
Date: Thu, 9 May 1996
From: David Herr
Subject: Kudzu query - 4 responses
Tim might wish to show the short film made in the 1970s by the Georgia Film Commission on Kudzu. It features James Dickey's poetry and a brief cameo appearance by the then governor of Georgia, one Jimmy Carter. At the time I thought it was a very clever short film.
Charles H. Martin
History Department, UTEP
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Get James Dickey's poem on the stuff. It will serve in a thousand ways. Great stuff.
David Dalton
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Tim:
This isn't much help with articles, but some Scottish friends call Kudzu "Alabama Heather" (or "Mississippi Heather," etc) since the Scots use/treat/view their heather in ways similar to our use-treatment/view of Kudzu. There's nothing more disappointing for visitors to Scotland than to see lots of *burned* heather across a glen. But many Scots love our Kudzu.
Has anyone tried to fry it?
Carol Ann Vaughn
Auburn
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John Hare writes:
The American Automobile Association travel guide for South Carolina included a couple of paragraphs on kudzu a few years back, and the current edition might, although I haven't checked it. It was very readable and included the kind of material that might work with hisgh school teachers--for example, the information that kudzu can grow as much as a foot a day.
Date: Fri, 10 May 1996
From: David Herr
Subject: Kudzu query - 2 responses
Tim,
Steve Bender's May 1994 _Southern Living_ article, "Who Let Them In?" gives a brief account of kudzu's introduction, as well as other invasive plants. Bender's articles are always fun and this one is no exception.
Jason Burnett
Southern Progress Corp. Library
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Caroline Landrum writes:
Could Charles H. Martin supply more information about the film - where one might find it to view it, title, etc.? I think I remember seeing this once or maybe even twice, and indeed, I think I had a friend who was shown in it. I would love to see it again. I am in Atlanta and travel to Athens (UGA) frequently, so perhaps I could find it in one of the two cities, if I knew where to begin looking.
I've enjoyed all the responses to the Kudzu query, having grown up with the stuff.
Caroline W. Landrum
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
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