Dr. Gail Palmer

Award-winning author Dr. Gail Palmer is a native of Blount County in the foothills of Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. She received a Community History award from East Tennessee Historical Society for her body of work including the creative non-fiction series, "Smoky Mountain Tales, Vol. 1 & 2: Feuds, Murder & Mayhem." Called a "captivating and entertaining model for communicating local history through storytelling," Palmer's work draws on her family roots in the Great Smoky Mountains through her maternal grandparents, John Sparks and Elizabeth Shuler, as well as archival material and interviews about many other individuals of the Smokies. John Sparks and Elizabeth Shuler are both featured in several of her works, including "Sacred Places of the Smokies," an historical DVD. In this DVD, stories about people who lived in communities of the Smokies are told in an interesting and entertaining fashion, revealing a "poignant...portrayl of the mountain people and their customs of life, death and burial," as Allen R. Coggins, author of "Place Names of the Smokies," put it. Photographs of rough tombstones and of individuals buried in the cemeteries of the Smokies allow viewers to see these individuals in places in which they lived and worked in the mountains. It provides a compelling view into their world, their unique sense of humor and how they lived their lives. A second DVD, "When Mama Was the Doctor: Mountain Medicine Women," contains video of some individuals who talk about their ancestors who were midwives, such as the Walker sisters and Annie Clark Cagle of Bryson City. An addition to Palmer's books about the Smokies includes a historical volume that tells the story of how the area became a national park. This book, "Great Smoky Mountains National Park: In the Beginning...Fact, Legend & Eminent Domain," tells about the mountain people and the heartbreak of those who fought to keep their land, as well as the story of some of those involved in creating the Park. Betty B. Best, journal editor of the Blount County Historical & Genealogical Society, called it “one of the best I’ve read…brief, accurate and easy to read.” In the future, look for "Cemeteries of the Smokies," a book by Palmer to be published soon by Great Smoky Mountains Association. This book lists all of the more than 150 cemeteries known to be located in the Park along with names of those buried there, how to find each cemetery including gps locations, information about former owners and tract information at the time the property was sold to the state. Stories about many of the people who lived in these areas are also included. Palmer’s most recent work, “The Midwives’ Quilt: A Tale of Conflict & Intrigue in the Smokies,” is her first work of fiction. "Palmer skillfully weaves fact with satisfying, fill-in-the-gaps fiction, herbal remedies along with more conventional approaches to healing, and some well-deserved, long missing from the tales of very gifted mountain healers who lacked only formal education," said Susan Jones, president of Blount County Historical Museum. The book tells a story about four women who live in the mountains known as healers and midwives. They become entangled in a tragic love story with one of the midwives being accused of murder by witchcraft. The book points to its historical context through an introduction with a history of midwives in the mountains, showing how the move from a rural, agricultural life to an urban, industrial life affected the people of the Smokies and how this dramatic shift in their lives was hastened by their land being bought by the states for use as a national park. The medical system represented by the midwives of the time, with people receiving medical help at home, shifting to that of one with the people having to go to medical providers is shown. In addition, an appendix is provided in the book showing photos and brief biographies of women known as midwives during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In addition to writing books and producing DVDs, Palmer gives presentations at many of the local historical societies and other groups. She ties each presentation to the area of the Park in which the talk is given, and talks about the people of that region. Some of the stories she tells are funny, some tragic. Each is entertaining and educational. There is no charge for any presentation and Palmer welcomes invitations to speak at any area event. Go to Amazon.com or to www.smokymountainpublishers.com for more information about the four books and two DVDs produced by Palmer.