"Miracle in the Hills" by Mary T. Martin Sloop, M.D.

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"It was during this year (1902) that I learned that the church would not accept me as a candidate for the foreign-mission field. They said I was too old - and I was still under thirty! - to learn a foreign language, and to this very final observation they added the declaration that at such an advanced age I wouldn't be physically able to stand the rigors of a tropical country. I wonder what those Presbyterian brethren would think if they knew that fifty years later this old woman could still tramp over the mountains around Crossnore."
~ Dr. Mary Sloop "Miracle in the Hills"

The Crossnore School was started when Dr. Mary Sloop encountered the children of Avery County North Carolina where she and her husband "Doctor" had come to practice medicine. Many of the children wanted a good education and many of their parents wanted it for them but it took considerable will to create this residential school during times of little money.

Dr. Sloop found sources of money, inspired local citizens to donate materials and time to build the buildings, fought moonshiners who were keeping their sons home from school to work in "the business" and she fought the practice of allowing children to marry at very young ages. She knew that education and, in many cases college education, would change their lives. It did and it continues to do so.

This book is the story of the determination of this woman, her family and the whole community and the "miracle" it led to.

"The Suitcases" by Anne Hall Whitt
forward by Charles Kurault

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"Crossnore is known as a school for underprivileged children, but most there would consider themselves fortunate. They have learned early that life can be unfair and have made their adjustments to it. And the love they have been denied elsewhere they will find at Crossnore."
~ Anne Hall Whitt "The Suitcases"

In "The Suitcases" Anne Hall Whitt tells the story of her childhood and the events that led her to the Crossnore School. The lives of Anne and her 2 sisters were forever changed when their mother died during the Depression and their father was unable to care for his daughters. The three girls stayed together through a series of orphanages and foster families until they arrived at the home of the Nye family in Charlotte, initially just to stay for one week. The Nyes quickly grew to love the 3 sisters, added them to their family and gave them the love and stability they had lost.

Anne did not do well in school and Mrs. Nye admitted her to the Crossnore School. The environment there helped her let go of her anger at her early circumstances and to channel her efforts to learn and to help others.

The Crossnore School has helped thousands of children transform their lives. There is no story of the "average" Crossnore student but this book gives insight into the lives of these children and the nature of the transformations that the school continues to produce even today.

"Wet-Wall Tattoos: Ben Long & the Art of Fresco" by Richard Maschal

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What is a fresco? Who was Benjamin Long IV? When you spend some time in the Boone North Carolina area you are likely to eventually hear a reference to a Ben Long fresco. Yet, you may live there for years and not actually see one.

You have to do your homework and set out intentionally to find them but they are worth the effort and the journey. Ben Long is a world-master fresco artist and to find his work in small churches in the North Carolina mountains. The simple settings for these powerful religious paintings are unique in the world of art, particularly in the U.S.

Ben Long's fresco style involves mixing paints with the plaster thereby making the painting a part of the actual wall. He learned fresco painting and developed his style while learning from master artists in Italy. To find his work in the simple, small church buildings of our mountains is almost as breathtaking as the work itself.

"Wet-Wall Tattoos" tells the story of an earlier project of Long's but it describes his process and gives an understanding of the uniqueness of each of his projects. It makes clear why he would accept the "Suffer the Little Children" project at the Crossnore School.