978-1887905-72-5
1-887905-72-3
$14.95 paperback
166 pages
b&w photos, index, bibliography
Parkway Publishers |
The
name of Orlean Puckett is known to the millions of visitors who stop at
the Puckett cabin on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Carroll County, Virginia. A
sign erected in front of the cabin, at Milepost 189.9 along Virginia’s
Blue Ridge Parkway, by the National Park Service provides a brief glimpse
of the legendary midwife’s life. "Aunt" Orlean took to
midwifery in her mid-forties. She is famous for having successfully
delivered over a thousand babies in the Virginia counties of Carroll,
Patrick, and Floyd. Ironically, none of Aunt Orlean’s own 24 babies
lived past infancy. During her 49-year career, the midwife traveled on
horse or by foot to homes of expectant mothers. She never failed to make
her way to a birthing. When ice covered the mountain paths, she hammered
nails in the soles of her shoes to assure proper footing. At the age of
94, Aunt Orlean caught her last baby. One year later, construction of the
Blue Ridge Parkway forced her from her home. Three weeks after the move,
she died.
about the author
Karen Cecil Smith has worked as a newspaper reporter, editor and
photographer. Her stories have appeared in Woman's World magazine, Writer's
Journal, and other national publications. A graduate of Salem College,
she lives with her husband in Winston-Salem, NC. |
