When Joshua Darty moved to Asheville in 2006 with a freshly minted forest management degree from N.C. State University, an open position at the city’s Parks and Recreation Department seemed like a potential fit. But when he showed up for his interview at 53 Birch St., he was in for a surprise. “I’m like, ‘This […]
“For being a town mostly known for being heavy on the gay more than straight ratio — where are our safe places?”
After his 1994 graduation, Robb Smith left his hometown. Like a story from an independent gay movie, he jumped on a Greyhound bus bound for Asheville, where he started a new life — complete with a drag persona — with the help of an accepting uncle.
After many years of visiting from New Orleans, we arrived in Asheville in September of 1981, finally ready to make it our home. Once again we were struck by the skeletal remains of a once-vibrant city now barely connected to its illustrious past, except for a mishmash of glorious but unkempt early-20th-century architecture. But even […]
