Salvation South

There are Pine Mountains all over the South. Maybe all of them are worthy of a poem.

A ranger job in north Georgia turned him into a keen watcher of black bears. Then, two friends wanted to come bear hunting. No bears fell, but lessons were learned.

“I was a middle-aged woman sitting semi-nude in the mud in the wee hours of the morning, singing to a stray cat in an ivy patch.”

In this special Thanksgiving feature, Indigo Girl Amy Ray talks about her new album, “If It All Goes South.” She explains how she made peace with the negativity that accompanied growing up gay in the Southern church, how her practice of gratitude is helping her transform into an “optimist Southerner,” and the ongoing importance of being earnest.

Indigo Girl Amy Ray talks to Salvation South about Thanksgiving and all things Southern.

From the North Carolina mountains comes a poem to remind us that the simplest moments are the things for which we should give the greatest thanks.

We give thanks for you and your support — and offer a week full of Thanksgiving stories.

In north Mississippi, close to the Tennessee line, the extended Brown family reunites for Thanksgiving. And sometimes, they tell their secrets.

In the Ross household, a turkey on the Thanksgiving table was never enough. Oysters were required.

A queer Southern mother’s complicated relationship with Chick-fil-A.

After the Civil War, the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association erected a monument to the Confederate dead in the city’s historic Oakland Cemetery. In 2021, it was removed. Writer Mark Beaver ponders what the evolution of that cemetery tells Southerners about themselves.

How a diverse crew of community-minded visionaries is betting on outdoor recreation to blaze trails to a more inclusive future for a sleepy Western North Carolina town.