Saturday, December 19, 2009

Benefit Concert in Hiltons, VA, Jan 3

A benefit concert for the Forrester Family will take place on January 3 at the Carter Family Fold. Click here for details. As you may have seen in the previous post, the Forresters lost everything in a tragic house fire almost two weeks ago.

Last February, Rita was interviewed for an oral history project by Southern Foodways. To learn more about the Carter Family's love of music (and good cooking), watch a video of the interview here. Look to the sidebar for related interviews on food and music.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Heart-breaking news of tragic fire at Carter family member's home

Our hearts go out to Rita Forrester, who lost her home and her husband Bob in a tragic home fire that struck on December 7th.

Rita has been a kind and generous voice of help and information as David and I have worked on Don't Forget This Song. We have recently been working with her on corrections to our manuscript.

She has offered many helpful insights and corrections to some long-standing misinformation about the Carter Family's story. We're thankful for the gift of her insight and knowledge. Our book would, literally, not be the same without her kind-spirited input.

For news of the fire, read THIS ARTICLE.

A relief fund has been set up for Mrs. Forrester and her family. Details about that can be found HERE.

An updated version of the news story, with a video, can be found HERE.

It is heartening to see all the people who have offered help for the Forrester family in these dark hours.

If you can help Rita and her family with a donation, there is information on where you can contribute.

We wish Rita all the love and support in the world during this tragic time.