Publication: Bristol Herald Courier Article Title: Author's Book Looks At Images From Sullivan County, Tenn Author: Tom Netherland Date: 10/12/08 Let's look deep into Sullivan County. Through historic Blountville, into picturesque Bluff City, all about Kingsport, across the South Holston Lake and down Bristol's State Street circa years gone by. Just part the pages of Joe Tennis' picturesque new book, "Sullivan County, Tennessee: Images of America" (Arcadia, $19.99). In stores now, the longtime Bristol Herald Courier features writer dips into the Volunteer State with a book that thoroughly examines Sullivan County via interspersions of text with numerous photographs. "I'm absolutely excited about this book because of how many years of photos it spans," Tennis said. "This is in many ways a then-and-now book. I kind of wanted to bring an evolution of the county to the book.
" Take Bristol. Tennis employs early and contemporary photographs of Bristol Motor Speedway, exhibiting the track's transition from Lilliputian to colossus. Shots of country music pioneer A.P. Carter and Bristol native Tennessee Ernie Ford from the distant past juxtapose with recent pictures of Johnny Cash and local historian V.N. "Bud" Phillips. "I wanted to make sure it was a good balance, had maps, had all the corners of the county covered and had just the right photos," Tennis said.
"I wanted every photo to make sense as to why they were in there." When Tennis began the book in January 2007, he ventured a bit into the unknown. Text drove his prior books such as last year's "Beach to Bluegrass," and therefore he searched for just the right words. With "Sullivan County," the scribe sought photos and then text. "You meet a lot of people and go into a lot of homes," Tennis said. "It was an education." But Tennis did not proceed willy-nilly. Architects do not simply draw, football coaches do not merely line up their players and play, and wordsmiths do not pick up a pen and write away.
Tennis had a plan. "I grabbed every resource I had in Sullivan County," Tennis said, "and wrote a massive outline of what needed to be in the book and took inventory of the landmarks." Let's see. Bluff City Mills? Check. The Netherland Inn? Check. Country music, King's Department Store, mountains, lakes, churches. Check 'em all. "The diversity of this county is so sweet.
You can't get bored with this county," Tennis said. "I think it translates to these pages. I wanted to explain the big stories and also tell you something new." YOU SHOULD KNOW Title: "Sullivan County, Tennessee: Images of America" Author: Joe Tennis Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Available: The book is available at local bookstores and online retailers, including http://www.amazon.com and http://www.barnesandnoble.com.
Info: (888) 313-2665 Web: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com E-mail: sales@arcadiapublishing.com BOOK SIGNINGS Oct. 13, 6:30 p.m., Bristol Historical Association, presentation at United Way Building, 315 8th St., Bristol, Tenn.
, (276) 669-3885. Oct. 17, 4-7 p.m., Avoca Branch Library, 1550 Volunteer Pkwy., Bristol, Tenn., (423) 968-9663. Oct.
25, 2-5 p.m., B. Dalton Bookseller, Bristol Mall, (276) 466-8931. Oct. 30, 6-8 p.m., Rocky Mount Museum, 200 Hyder Hill Road, Piney Flats, Tenn.
, (888) 538-1791. TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.