Henry McCarty interviewing Charlie Nall of Book Ferret Bookstore in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Henry McCarthy loves acting, storytelling and people. This fuels his passion for his radio show “Poets and Writers.” He’s been doing the show on WEHC 90.7 since fall 2010 – so far that’s about 350 episodes. WEHC, a NPR affiliate, is housed at Emory & Henry University, Emory, Virginia. Poets and Writers concentrates on the philosophy of poets and writers and primarily features interviews, poems and songs of artists from Virginia, North Carolina and the surrounding regions.
Interviewees on the program include authors, poets, musicians, actors, academics and folklorists, among others. Noted guests include Roseanne Cash, Pat Conroy, Lee Smith, William Ferris and Dale Carter Jett.
McCarthy got involved with the program because “I had transitioned from teaching college at Appalachian State and was doing poetry open mics when Rees and Kathy Shearer and Teresa Keller asked me to be a part of originating the show. Ivy Shepherd and Leigh Hunter are the producers now. We have grown from a few listeners to an audience over the world including listeners in China, Germany, Finland and Mexico,” McCarthy says.
He finds his writers in a variety of places: coffee shops, bike trails, festivals, Flamingo Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg, Florida, and rural grocery stores. “Heck, just call them or text folks. They love to tell their stories,” he says.
His first interview was about Mark Twain. He’s also talked to many writers from Abingdon and the region, such as Lee Saunders, Donnamarie Emmert, Sean O’Sullivan, Jane Hicks, Rita Quillen and many others.
He says that all his interviews interested him, but there are a few standouts. They include a former Secretary of Defense reading poetry, Rosemary Harris asking him to read a poem to her, and children and grandchildren telling stories on his show. Beth Macy, who wrote “Dopesick” baked him a pie. Lee Smith had him capture her dog, Betty. “She is originally from Grundy and can outtalk me,” he says. Barbara Kingsolver “was gracious when she talked about her book ‘Demon Copperhead.’ She also made coffee for us and is a talent. Another fine talent was Michael Hogan. I interviewed him twice in Mexico during a volcanic eruption,” he says.
He wishes he could have interviewed Mark Twain. He also wishes he could have talked to William F. McCarthy, Pearl McCarthy, Cormac McCarthy and Johnny Cash (“I knew him from the Carter Fold but never got to interview him,” he says.). He’d also liked to have talked to Thomas Wolfe because Wolfe’s relatives come from the same counties McCarthy’s family comes from.
It isn’t just deceased people that he wishes he could talk to. He’s still working on getting to interview John Grisham, Dolly Parton, Eugene Wolfe and a lot of writers in Asheville, North Carolina. “I’m reading Matthew McConaughey and hope to get an interview. Also, I plan to keep interviewing the little people who are always kind and generous – that’s why we started the show,” he says.
“Poets and Writers” is archived on WEHC FM’s website, www.ehc.edu, and many can be found on Apple Podcasts. They are also available in the Wilson Library collection at the University of North Carolina, which is accessible though their website.
“The future of ‘Poets and Writers’ is unknown. Perhaps one of my grandkids will take over. Until then I plan to retire at 100 and ride the Creeper Trail full time,” McCarthy says.
