Tom Sieg's
Celebrating the Underdog
Stories of Humor & Humanity in Everyday Life
Under one cover you'll meet Dennis the Menace's creator and the Winston-Salem woman who created the original beehive hair-do; learn more about the dangers of newspaper fact gathering and why snakes and waterbeds are never a good mix; and be exposed to some southern staples, such as how to cook greens, riding in a wagon train and what to do with kudzu (and what happens when you ignore it!). All you need is this book to guide you through the Piedmont and mountain regions of North Carolina. Stop to meet interesting folks along the way and inhale the beautiful scenery. Celebrating the Underdog cuts a nice slice of North Carolina life and delivers it right to your bedside table.
Tom Sieg has a clear eye for stories of individuals that show us to ourselves, not so much "warts-and-all" - still less "warts-and-nothing-else" - but as vulnerable, fallible human beings doing the best we can with what we have, and making a creditable job of it. In many cases, Elva Sieg has added follow-up comments at the end of columns, when the information has been available to her.This is a wonderful bedside book that can be picked up and read a little at a time with short stories and local lore.
Winston-Salem Journal / Sentinel - Tom Sieg left a legacy in his columns, which his widow Elva has compiled into this volume. Sieg's enthusiasm for victory against the odds, his straight forward style, his affection for people generally, make his work eminently readable, especially after a long hard day.
“The stories I have written…are of, for and about people who live and breathe and work and loaf and love and grieve and exult and despair, as we all do; and they were written in the hope that readers could laugh or cry or smile or scowl along with the writer or his subjects and sympathize, maybe even really share in some of the human experiences.”
Tom and his wife Elva enjoying the beauty of the NC Mountains