Maryland's Vanishing Lives

Maryland's Vanishing Lives by Sherwood, Professor John. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780801847028.

For more than two years, John Sherwood roamed Marylands small towns and city neighborhoods, traveled Appalachian back roads, and sailed the Chesapeake looking for people whose work or way of life recalled the states rich and varied tradition. Marylands Vanishing Lives is his vivid account of the people he met on those journeys. Working in a country store or an old-time movie house, on a small tobacco farm or a weathered skipjack, Sherwoods subjects interest us as people, as stubborn survivors who have watched -- sometimes defiantly, sometimes wistfully -- as the world moved on. These Marylanders stories poignantly show what happens to family businesses and ordinary folk in the face of new technology, suburban sprawl, franchise outlets, and changing tastes. But Marylands Vanishing Lives is also an engaging celebration of pride and craft, and the ability to survive. In this collection of sixty-six short profiles, illustrated with memorable photographs by Edwin Remsberg, Sherwood preserves for posterity the lives of Marylanders who hang on to values and skills that are quickly disappearing.