Dorothy Owen passed away on June 16 in Wilkesboro. She was the wife of the late Guy Owen who was author of the acclaimed novel Ballad of the Flim Flam Man. Dorothy's obituary includes multiple references to Community UCC. Two of them read as follows:
The full obituary can be viewed here ...
- "The couple caught one of Dylan Thomas' last public readings on one date and later married at the Community Church, a breakaway congregation set up to allow integration when segregation still lingered here in the fifties."
- "For a time Guy Owen taught at Stetson but after his first novel was hired by NCSU. He had written The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man at her family homeplace in Wilkes County in the interim while on leave. She typed all his novels as no one else could decipher his handwriting. Settling in Raleigh, she eventually took a job as secretary to the local UCC church, later moving on to acquire a NC Craft Shop with a friend, enjoying the folk art of our state. After Guy Owen's untimely death in 1981, she chose to relocate back to her home county of Wilkes in 1986."
A YouTube video (below) is linked to from the obituary. In the video you'll see Dorothy with a number of well known people, including North Carolina's legendary Doc Watson.
The full obituary can be viewed here ...
http://www.reinssturdivant.com/obituary/Dorothy-Jennings-Owen/Moravian-Falls-NC/1631384
There are numerous photos of Dorothy and Guy Owen to be found in the 100th Anniversary Scrapbook assembled in 1981. (Just search for "Owen" in the file listing for the Scrapbook.)
There are numerous photos of Dorothy and Guy Owen to be found in the 100th Anniversary Scrapbook assembled in 1981. (Just search for "Owen" in the file listing for the Scrapbook.)