WHKP Special Anniversary Edition clipping: 'FitzSimons Book Coming!' announcing 'On Banks of the Oklawaha'
Book 1, Page 585 ·1976
Transcription
Upper left photograph caption:
A RECENT PICTURE taken of Frank FitzSimons at his beloved Golden Glow Farm where he is now considering a sequel to his first book which will be released in early November.
Center / right article:
Fitzsimons Book Coming!
‘On Banks Of Oklawaha’ To Be Released In Early November
For almost 25 years, the WHKP announcer would say, “The great Northwestern Bank with convenient neighborhood offices to serve you brings to you stories about Henderson County and our people with Mr. Frank L. FitzSimons.” And 5 minutes later, on more than 5,000 broadcasts Mr. FitzSimons would conclude, “until I speak to you again from the cool, crystal clear waters of the sparkling, bubbling, rippling Oklawaha.”
When Mr. FitzSimons retired several years ago, there was an instant clamor for the release in book form of some of the material contained in these broadcasts. FitzSimons had covered local history, had traced the trees of founding families, had recounted legends, anecdotes, and had featured visits with a mysterious “man on the mountain” who was wise to the ways of weather, and had little use for modern gadgets.
In the fall of 1975, unable to withstand the strong urgings from his family and hundreds of friends and local historical buffs, he finally agreed to go through all of his handwritten notes and “put it together if you don’t bother me with any headaches about getting a book printed.” His manuscript was completed this spring. It will be published and released in early November. It is being assembled and edited for the printer by Grady Edney, of Coral Springs, Florida, a retired executive of Storer Broadcasting Corporation and former resident.
On November 29, 1973 the Northwestern Bank through a gift to honor Frank FitzSimons asked that a special section be established in the public library to be known as Henderson County History & Writers Section. The dedicatory plaque reads: “Resourceful football coach; gifted and beloved educator; a successful and honorable politician; a tiller and lover of the soil; the dean of local raconteurs of his time; but most widely known for his love and dedication to local history and to the writers who either recorded it, or lived among us while writing.”
It’s good that this section will, in the future, contain a book by the very man it honored.
Boxed coupon (center left):
AT LAST!
A BOOK WHICH TOOK 25 YEARS TO RESEARCH, WITH MATRIAL [sic] EXCERPTED FROM OVER 5,000 BROADCASTS
“FRANK FITZSIMONS SPEAKS”
- FOUNDING FAMILIES
- FAMOUS DUELS
- MOON EYED PEOPLE
- KINGDOM OF HAPPY LAND
- BUSHWHACKERS
- EARLY POLITICAL BATTLES
PLUS: VISIT WITH THE OLD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN!
TO RESERVE AN ADVANCE AUTOGRAPHED COPY PRIOR TO PUBLICATION, FILL IN COUPON & MAIL WITH CHECK FOR $9.95 TO WHKP, P.O. BOX 247½, HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.
NAME ____________________
STREET OR P.O. BOX ____________________
CITY ____________________
PERSONAL NAME TO USE IN AUTOGRAPH ____________________
Right column advertisement:
THE NORTHWESTERN BANK We Agree!
We’re ever growing to better serve our Henderson County friends and customers. But… we’d like to take “time out” to salute the Radio Hendersonville “Family of Broadcasters”…WHKP and now WKIT for their contribution to this area growth and community pride. We agree…it’s a great place to live and make a living.
THE NORTHWESTERN BANK We Agree!
AI Notes
A clipped newspaper page from the WHKP Special Anniversary Edition. The page advertises the forthcoming first volume of Frank FitzSimons’s book ‘On Banks of the Oklawaha’ for release in early November 1976. A head-and-shoulders photograph of Frank FitzSimons sits at the upper left under a caption describing the picture. A boxed mail-in coupon under ‘AT LAST!’ allows readers to reserve an advance autographed copy for $9.95. At right is a boxed advertisement for The Northwestern Bank with the slogan ‘We Agree!’
Frank L. FitzSimons Sr.'s WHKP broadcasts and the Banks of the Oklawaha book series became the standard popular history of Henderson County, North Carolina; the 1976 first volume previewed here was followed by two further volumes, and the series won the Western North Carolina Historical Association’s Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award the following year (see page 589).