CONTENTS F E AT U R E S 32 30 Covers for 30 Years 82 Keeping the Cherokee Skills Alive 50 Mary the Elephant: 84 Brown Mountain Lights: New Clues? A look back at some favorite covers and a note on what was in the issue. BY KURT RHEINHEIMER Revisiting a 1916 Tragedy Much has changed in Erwin, Tennessee since our 1997 piece on Mary. And much of it for the better-even for elephants. BY JOAN VANNORSDALL 56 Mama Bear and Her Cubs: A Photo Essay The legends and lore of the strange phenomenon are getting new attention. BY LINDA SHOCKLEY 90 Quirky: 30 Curios for 30 Years Quick revisits to the odd, the whimsical, the quizzical and bizarre. COMPILED BY ELLA TESTIN 105 Weeks and weeks of careful, distant vigilence yield a warm family portrait. BY JON PHILLIPS "Lonesome Pine" Author was National Star of His Day 64 Ezra Staengl: Champion Birder Best-selling novelist John Fox, Jr. even married an opera diva. BY ROBIN ROENKER The Virginia boy has a deep family background and personal commitment to things natural. Ice Cream! Great Taste and How to Earn It at Age 14 BY ANGELA MINOR 66 Summer in the Mountains: The Photos Our contributing photographers bring the beauty of the region to life. 76 Back to the Salt Mines, and Loving it Reviving the family business, decades after it closed and centuries after it started. BY ERIC J. WALLACE 79 Into the Wild Blue Yonder, Retro-Style How an obsession with flying has come to define a life. BY NANCY HENDERSON 4 Jeremy Arch is hard at work at Tennessee's Oconaluftee Village. BY JOE TENNIS BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM 112 You gotta go outside and move around some, and then make your visit. BY CHRIS OLSON