“Realizing that some people might assume I disliked the preacher due to his religious views, I included this sentence in the book’s acknowledgements: ‘I don’t believe in supernatural beings of any stripe, and I happily acknowledge that I could be wrong.’”
“Like many people living in harmonious communities that are under constant assault, I don’t object to more neighbors per se — as long as the proper roads, sidewalks, tree buffers and infrastructure are in place before the first tree is cut, the first scoop of dirt moved, and as long as horrific decisions aren’t rushed and/or driven by panic or greed.”
“But for all the botanical diversity these mountains are renowned for, there are roughly twice as many known species of local fungi as there are plants.”
“Another watershed moment in the evolution of Jewish social acceptance came in 1992, when the Biltmore Forest Country Club accepted its first Jewish member.”
“With the city bond proposal and some rigorous assertion of eminent domain, we could fight back against this myopic system and turn all these properties into permanent, beautiful parks — or some other development with big green spaces and little crowding.”
“I knew he was a member of the Asheville Country Club. So, seizing the moment while we were waiting in the car, I raised the delicate issue of the club’s deliberate exclusion of Jews.”
“In academia, DEI crosses multiple disciplines, and in the real world, as in our classrooms, DEI is about learning to pass the mic.”
“Yet what of that distinguished legacy is reflected in our current and utterly unremarkable boom?”
“The onslaught started a few months ago, when my partner and I joined the City of Asheville’s composting program. The chore of taking our slop bucket to the East Asheville Library branch has been a revelation — of maggots.”
“I am a modestly successful author of 17 books, only one of which ever generated a steady income. (Hence the modesty.)”
“For the next 24 hours, we had armed agents guarding the gate and the driveway, and lookouts toting automatic weapons were posted on the roof.”
“The decision to begin collecting a stormwater fee was made because, prior to 2019 and 2020, Woodfin had essentially just gotten away with not satisfying the mandatory obligations of its MS4 permit.”
“Each March since 2020, the ivyleaf speedwell has returned and reminded me of a time of simplicity, anxiety, joy and boredom.”
“Recently, there has been a local movement to buy individual shares of HCA stock and submit a shareholder resolution to address the company’s profit-first business strategy at Mission.”
“So here’s my challenge: Let’s find ways to regularly challenge ourselves in good ways and let’s encourage others around us to do the same.”
“Meanwhile, despite the new respect that worldwide Jewry received after the war, antisemitism continued to rear its ugly head in Asheville, as demonstrated by two stories that community members shared with me.”
“In fact, much of the ire now being aimed at the TDA — and tourism in general — merely echoes concerns about the tourism of a century ago, and the mismanagement and negligence of city government back then.”
“Asheville lost one of its greatest when Connie Bostic died last month. Connie was a creator, and Asheville was her beneficiary.”
“Non-Jewish friends and even people I hardly knew were saying things like ‘I didn’t know Jews would fight’ and ‘You guys really kicked those guys’ ass.’”
Xpress readers engaged with a wide range of local issues in 2023 — from concerns about downtown Asheville to infrastructure priorities, a possible single-use plastic bag ban, education issues and more.
“Remembering the joy of seeing autumn’s falling leaves helped me feel better about the season ending.”
