ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A new book with more than two dozen pieces of writing and artwork about Hurricane Helene is hitting bookstores everywhere today, Tuesday, Feb. 18.
“Stronger than the Storm: Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina,” edited by local writer Shelley McKechnie, has been in the works for months. 828newsNOW first interviewed McKechnie in November 2024.
Read our conversation with her about the book’s origin here.
Four months later, “Stronger than the Storm” is finally here. The book retails for $24.99 and is available on Amazon and in bookstores around the country.
“But I want to stress, and this is really important, it’s better for people in western North Carolina. I’d be happiest if people bought it at a bookstore,” McKechnie said. “Because that keeps more money in the mountains.”
Every cent of the money earned from the book sales will go toward a charity selected by the artists represented in “Stronger than the Storm.”
“We’re in the process of collecting all the writers’ and artists’ ideas of where they’d like to go,” McKechnie said. “Once we feel like everybody’s got a chance to weigh in, we’ll put it out to a vote, and whatever vote wins among the people in the book is gonna get the money.”
While McKechnie lives in Asheville, many of the book’s contributors hail from elsewhere in the mountains.
“We’ve got somebody in Cullowhee from Western Carolina University. He’s a professor there. Terrific piece,” McKechnie said. “People really did a great job here. A woman who manages the Hot Springs Resort & Spa who talked about her experience that morning at the spa.”
Others came to the project from Fairview, Swannanoa and Hendersonville. Each artist has a short biography in the appendix.
“I did that on purpose,” McKechnie said. “I want the wider world to see what talent is here in western North Carolina too.”
Granting the wider world a glimpse into western North Carolina is a defining mission of “Stronger than the Storm.”
The book is a way for “the people in the book and anyone else to send it to folks who weren’t here,” McKechnie said. “To try to explain a little bit what happened. Because it’s kind of hard, I’m finding, it’s hard with friends and family who are very well meaning and very loving. It’s hard for them to really understand what happened, and I can explain it, but the book does a better job than I can do in one phone call with somebody.”
However, McKechnie believes the book ultimately paints a picture of resiliency in western North Carolina. The idea is captured by the painting on the cover, a hummingbird in flight.
“The hummingbird is traditionally a symbol of resilience and persistence,” McKechnie said. “They’re in North Carolina, but then they fly all the way, these little things, they fly all the way to Central America in the winter. I’m like, how can they do that? If you look at a hummingbird it doesn’t seem possible. But they do and they come back. The same ones come back.”
The hummingbird is by Kimberly Smith, whose piece “Breaching Limits” is included in “Stronger than the Storm.”
“Stronger than the Storm: Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina” is available for order in your local bookstore today.