Wiffle Folk (and Slabtown Sages) Allen Peltier Those who appreciate a light sprinkling of irony over their literary entrée may be drawn to the fact that Allen Peltier was born in an apartment above the Sugar Grove Virginia Odd Fellows Hall. One shouldn't infer that the dozen or so dirt farmers, lumbermen, egg merchants and sharecroppers listed on the club's membership roll were particularly odd. Nevertheless, the folks who populated Rye Valley and the nearly town of Wytheville in the 1930's, 40's and 50's provided Peltier with sufficient quirks, nits, and Blue Dog Methodist virtue to flesh out this collection. Granted, readers will find the occasional rogue or rascal, but this work is mainly populated by good-natured Appalachian folk trying to wrest a living from the land and salvation from the Almighty. Peltier, who spent a few years in the comedic trenches polishing sitcom scripts for a cable network, seldom uses the actual names for his characters, and embroiders his recollections of his favorite Wiffle and Sugar Grove friends and relatives with well-intentioned exaggeration. Readers may conclude Peltier paints the local characters of his youth with the fondness of the long-since displaced. That this collection defies literary categorization is an understatement. It could be compared to Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, Lerner & Loewe's "Brigadoon"or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County fiction, but the characters herein have an added dimension and depth of character that made the originals on which they are modeled so memorable for the author. Along the way, readers are treated to insights into an American subculture long since buried with the Keeslings, Baumgartners and Umbergers of Rye Valley, Virginia. As the boys behind the Wiffle barber chairs might observe, these are folks fit to run the river with. This collection is rounded out with additional collections drawn from Peltier's fascination with the changing seasons, some video essay scripts from his TV features personality days and some patriotic essays prompted by a decade of working with the USO and American military personnel countering the Soviet threat of the Cold War years.
About the Author: Peltier acquired his television production skills at WSM TV where he was employed as a staff reporter and special projects producer. He later was named film critic for the station. As a film critic, he interviewed the top actors, producers and directors of feature films in Hollywood and New York. During his WSM days, he also wrote the National Public Television "Summerfest" series, produced through a consortium formed by WNET, WETA and WGBH. Nelson also scripted PBS specials with Sarah Vaughn and the New Jersey Symphony, and three PBS "Live from the Grand Ole Opry" specials. He left WSM TV in 1983 to serve as one of the first four employees of the fledgling TNN, The National Life and Accident Insurance Company's venture into cable television. During the Desert Storm conflict, he wrote another monologue which was subsequently performed by Jimmy Dean. "An Open Letter to America" has been used extensively by the military as a morale booster. In his spare time, Peltier writes poetry, essays and song lyrics. The hobby has netted him recordings by 1960s pop singer Jimmy Rogers, folk artist Pete Seeger, Tex Ritter, Hank Williams Junior, the Hollyridge Strings and Merle Kilgore. He has also served on the Board of Directors for two Nashville community theaters, and has sung with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Pro Musica. His resume' also includes stints as a WMAK air personality, a WSM Radio news reporter, an advertising agency copywriter and public relations director for WSM's Grand Ole Opry. .