Crack open a peanut or two and enjoy this must-read storytelling from N&O journalists
If you read one story this weekend, start with peanuts.
Not the dry roasted, lightly salted, sea salt, sea salt and pepper, smoked, boiled, honey roasted, honey roast chipotle, or even Carolina barbecue kind.
Get a bag of peanuts hidden in their shells, the ol’ fashioned kind, the ones that you crack open and your spouse/partner immediately brings out the vacuum.
If you’re allergic to peanuts, visualize because this story is best consumed as sensory journalism.
You’ll find this must-read on the front page of the Sunday, July 30, print edition or on newsobserver.com sites with the headline “Big League peanuts: North Carolina’s essential role in feeding the American pastime.”
News & Observer journalists Robert Willett and Andrew Carter spent months turning the simple, mighty peanut into a joyful tale of Carolina pride and Americana lore. There’s even a mention of baseball.
Wonderful photos, lyrical writing
There are so many wonderful photos that create a story onto itself. Thank you, Robert.
There are so many reasons to read this story aloud — or find someone to do so, especially an enunciator extraordinaire — because the words become mindful photos with a cadence that’s lyrical, playful and comforting. For this, thank you, Andrew.
Why peanuts and why North Carolina? There are so many photos, so many passages worth sharing that I can crib the following paragraph-plus from the story without spoiling your N&O snack time. Andrew touches on agriculture, geography and iconography as if this ode was orchestrated into the next big show at Durham Performing Arts Center. It is pure Andrew. It is “Wicked” good:
The bond between the crop and the region is part of American mythology, dating to before Jimmy Carter’s rise from a Georgia peanut farm to the presidency. The land southwest of Norfolk, Virginia, and through North Carolina, following the coast, is especially inviting for the Virginia peanut, the kind destined for the Big Leagues. A Virginia peanut looks like Planters’ Mr. Peanut, except for the top hat and monocle and other accouterments. A Virginia peanut has needs. It needs the sandy loam soil endemic to northeastern North Carolina. It needs the July and August rains that roll through on their way to the sea.
Robert and Andrew have been on a hot streak. I hope you saw their names credited to a recent series on Jarin Stevenson of Seaforth High School, one of the top basketball prospects in the nation. They got to know Jarin and his family, spent time with them at home and throughout the basketball season, as the college decision loomed. When Jarin announced that he was going to Alabama, Robert and Andrew put you in the Stevenson’s living room for this national story.
The Robert-Andrew double play
You don’t need to be a sports fan to connect with the themes of passion, discovery and love — community love and, yes, peanut love — that emanate from the Robert-Andrew double play. Both spend a lot of time observing the games we love to play, but their collective souls reflect North Carolina’s persona.
Robert has been with The N&O for 41 years and is North Carolina’s Mayor. He knows everyone. And everyone loves Robert. Humble yet gregarious, he’s contributed to a Pulitzer-winning project but also can tell you where to get the best peaches in the state.
Andrew grew up in the Triangle and aspired early to work for The N&O. Andrew is the state’s reigning Sports Writer of the Year and still early in his career. He’s not yin nor yang, but more the balance of both, a constant observer and explorer, reflective of his ongoing love of hiking and camping where tree-filled mountains outnumber people.
You have a lot of choices as readers. And the story stream often looks like the Interstate 40 interchange during rush hour.
That’s why I’m recommending the latest Robert-Andrew exhibit of sensory art. It’s different.
So, find a cool place, get your bag of peanuts, and start crackin’. The only vacuum you need are for the pictures and the prose.
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He’s a fan of baseball, peanuts and storytelling.
