The State of Things

When Joan Didion suddenly lost her husband in 2003, she chronicled the experience in her memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking." Before the book was even published, her daughter, Quintana, died. In Didion's adapted play, "The Year of Magcial Thinking," she takes the audience on a journey through her sometimes surreal grieving process. Chapel Hill’s PlayMakers Repertory Company is staging the production from April 27th -May 1st.

Lou Lipsitz spent 30 years as a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and several more as a psychotherapist. Lipsitz is also a poet, often combining the art of teaching and counseling with his writing. His new collection of poems is called “if this world falls apart” (Lynx House Press/2011).

Photojournalist Chris Hondros was killed in Libya on Wednesday along with Tim Hetherington, the Oscar-nominated director of the war documentary "Restrepo." Hondros grew up in Fayetteville, graduated from North Carolina State University and worked for a time at the Fayetteville Observer. After Hondros left North Carolina, he became an acclaimed war photographer, winning numerous awards and becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2004.

Aaron Burr, Vice President for Thomas Jefferson’s cabinet, fathered only one child that survived past infancy. Her name was Theodosia Burr Alston, a well-educated and accomplished woman who was highly respected in her time. In the winter of 1812, Theodosia mysteriously disappeared on a ship voyage from South Carolina to New York.

Durham-based band Humble Tripe is the musical project of Shawn Luby. After years spent playing classical guitar in competitions, Luby retired from the world of music at the age of 20. He moved from Kansas to North Carolina, working first at a nonprofit, then as a clinical lab scientist. Once he entered his 30s, his desire to play music returned and he formed Humble Tripe with his friends.

Andrea Reusing's Chapel Hill restaurant Lantern is loved and respected by sophisticated foodies from around the world. So it's a bit of a surprise that her first cookbook is not full of recipes from Lantern’s menu. Instead, the book is a seasonal guide to a year's worth of unintimidating, easy-to-shop for, easy-to-make, fresh, local meals.

Just about every bluegrass musician has been directly or indirectly influenced by Wade Mainer. Mainer, a master of the banjo, taught himself to play his instrument of choice as a child and developed an innovative two-finger picking style. That style, combined with Mainer’s strong vocals earned him popularity as a performer and recording artist in the 1930s and 1940s.

North Carolina is home to a variety of interesting dialects, but none is quite so unique as the one found along the Outer Banks. Sometimes called the Ocracoke Brogue, the dialect is often mistaken for British, and it is rapidly declining as tourism inundates the area with a more diverse array of speakers. Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State University English professor and Director of the North Carolina Language and Life Project, has been studying the Outer Banks dialect for almost 20 years.

North Carolinians are no strangers to drought but there are many other factors that lead to water insecurity. Water pollution, contamination, rainfall levels and population growth all dictate the amount of water that is available to a community. Charles Fishman, author of the new book, “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water” (Free Press/2011), says we should be prepared for the day when water will no longer be inclusively cheap, clean and plentiful.

North Carolina halted executions about five years  ago. Capital punishment is still legal in the state, but a dispute over the lethal injection process led to a de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Since then, the state’s murder rate has fallen, and investigations of the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab have
exposed mishandling of evidence in criminal cases. Matthew Robinson, a professor of government and justice studies at Appalachian State University, has been researching those facts and other data about the death penalty in North Carolina. His findings reveal that capital punishment is more costly than life imprisonment and that race and gender frequently factor into death penalty sentencing.