Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 5

Su Clauson-Wicker
FROM THE EDITOR
CONTRIBUTORS
Remembering
H
er first piece for the magazine
was the lead story in our inaugural
issue, June/
July 1988: " Clean Air, Clean
Fuel and Homegrown Plastic. "
Su Clauson (husband Bruce
Wicker would come along a few
years later) set the tone for profiles
ever since with her careful,
perfectly detailed and appreciative
portrait of a rural man who
" helps preserve the rural lifestyle
by creating jobs for rural
people. " For the 30th anniversary issue,
Su revisited the delightful Staengl family.
Su remained with us-as a contributing
editor and dear friend of the magazine-for
the rest of her writing life, before
the cruelties of ALS began sapping
her strength until her death in April. She
contributed dozens upon dozens of features,
many set in what became her beloved
beat for Blue Ridge Country, West
Virginia.
Her last piece was in Jan/Feb '23, and
was Su at her Blue Ridge Country best:
A quirky, twisty West Virginia-based tale
of " The Bridge the Soviets Nearly Built "
about the 1970s funding battle for a
bridge across the Tug River from Vulcan,
West Virginia, to Kentucky. The self-appointed
mayor of Vulcan threatened to
address the repeated lack of funding for
the much-needed bridge by writing the
Soviet Embassy asking for money. West
Virginia Governor Jay Rockefeller soon
came through with the funding.
Su's last sentence: " Vulcan residents
celebrated with illegally imported Russian
vodka and the American flag hung
high. "
If she had a secondary beat it was the
fascinating filling-and-emptying cycle of
Virginia's Mountain Lake.
Su Clauson-Wicker, who lived in
JULY/AUGUST 2024 5
Lauren Stepp
(Lake Toxaway) is a
lifestyle journalist from
the rural North Carolina
community of Mills
River. At 15, she was hired
as a stringer for a local newspaper.
She hasn't stopped writing since.
Her work regularly appears in Blue
Ridge Outdoors, Smoky Mountain
Living, The Laurel of Asheville and
many other publications.
Blacksburg, Virginia,
was many things beyond
a valued contributor for
us. She was for 10 years
the editor of the Virginia
Tech Magazine. She was
the author of " West Virginia Off the
Beaten Path, " and one of my favorite
guidebooks, " Inn to Inn Walking Guide:
Virginia and West Virginia. " That book
was an award-winner, as were several of
her pieces for Blue Ridge Country.
She was a selfless volunteer in and
around Blacksburg in many realms, perhaps
most visibly at the Lyric Theater,
where one day long ago she handed a
box of popcorn to Gail and me as we
walked in to watch Greg Brown perform.
Su lived a careful, conscientious life,
and Blue Ridge Country was honored to
be a part of it with every piece we ran
under her byline.
Eric J. Wallace
(Loughran Cabe) is
an award-winning
lifestyle journalist based
in Staunton who has
contributed to WIRED,
Outside, Reader's Digest,
Atlas Obscura, Best American Food
Writing and more. He is a two-time
James Beard Foundation media
award nominee and was named an
International Association of Culinary
Professionals Best Feature Story
media award finalist in 2021.
Angela Minor
(Water Wonders) is
a contributing editor
and writer of travel
and nature articles for
regional and national
publications. She's the " Park
Watch " Beat Writer for 10,000 Birds;
and she created and authors the Bird
Watcher's Digest state park birding
series.
Ginny Neil
(Farm Crawl) is a
contributing editor who
lives with her husband
on a farm in the
Appalachian Mountains.
Her work has appeared
in Grit, Country Magazine and
elsewhere. She writes dramas for the
Christian drama service, Skit Guys,
and sends manuscripts off in the
hopes of being a published children's
author someday. Follow her at
thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com.
http://thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024
