Bethel Writers and Media Contributors

The environs of Bethel Community have spawned a contagion that has left some of its citizens infected with the creative writing/media bug. Inspiration for these individuals finds its outlet in journalism, proofreading, publicity, editing, genealogy, videography, writing text or narrating for CD/DVD collections, composing stories, novels, historical fiction, drama, songs, medical texts, documenting oral and factual history, folklore, web site construction, and grant writing. Musicians, and there are many who have called Bethel home, are included only if they have also played a role in documenting history or in composing songs. This incomplete list features authors who were born in Bethel and moved away, writers who were born elsewhere and moved to Bethel, and composers of the written word/media narratives who were born here and decided to stay. A few non-residents are included at the conclusion because they are members of Bethel Rural Community Organization's Historic Preservation/Rural Preservation Committees who have contributed to the documentation of Bethel history and literature. Numerous individuals have received awards for their material. Others have written about Bethel topics but are not from Bethel nor affiliated with BRCO.

While we would like to be able to include Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, in the group of Bethel writers, Frazier did not actually live in Bethel, though he frequently visited relatives in the community. Frazier, however, did compose the best known work that derives its inspiration from Bethel history in the somewhat fictionalized journey of his ancestor, William Pinkney Inman, who was born, lived, murdered, and buried in Bethel. Cold Mountain became a New York Times best-seller for sixty-one weeks, received the National Book Award for Fiction, and was honored with the Weatherford Award. The subsequent Cold Mountain movie received seventy awards, including seven Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture. Renee Zellweger received a Best Actress award for her performance in the movie. The movie was also nominated and received Golden Globe and Screen Actors' Guild Awards. Subsequently, an opera has also resulted from the original Frazier Cold Mountain inspiration.

This list is incomplete. If the reader has documented information about any other Bethel writers/media contributors or any other works composed by Bethel writers/media contributors please contact BRCO via email: haywoodbrco@gmail.com.

The following list includes individuals who have had some affiliation with composing/writing/media who at some time in their lives lived in Bethel. Authors/Media Contributors and their works are listed alphabetically. If the information is readily available, works are numbered to show sequence. Click on the author/media contributor's name to view more information about their works.