Nan K. Chase, Author
Writer and former Asheville resident Nan K. Chase recently released Asheville: A History, originally published in 2007, as an e-book. It was an oversight that the book wasn’t released as an e-book at the time of its publication. This release, however, brings it back to the public’s attention at a time when damage from Helene has made it all the more relevant.
“So far the e-book doesn’t have any additions from the 2007 version, although when I wrote the book I did try to take the narrative 10 or 15 years into the future,” says Chase. “A year or so ago, McFarland asked if I wanted to do an updated version. But I was no longer living in Asheville, and it would have required a great deal of new content, so I passed on that. I believe the right time to update the story will be in five to 10 years, after the worst effects of the Helene flooding may have passed. There really will be a lot to learn by then.”
Chase moved to Asheville in 2005, and unable find a book to answer her own questions about the city, she researched and wrote her own. “I was most interested to learn how complicated the city’s history has been,” she says. “The highs are so high, the lows are so low.”
After the hurricane, Chase reread her book. “Some of the wording about Asheville’s notorious 1916 flood could have been lifted verbatim to describe the most recent disaster,” she says.
Asheville: A History, January, 2025, history, e-book, $19.99, by Nan K. Chase, and published by McFarland, Jefferson, NC.
