Liz LaMac

Introduction I currently write from Blacksburg, Virginia, where I live. I grew up in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and have lived in south Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. My childhood was not full of hard work. However, it was filled with company, and relatives. They were colorful relatives with stories, jokes, skits, singing, and poems. There was Sunday school, church socials, and Country Music. Almost every Sunday the minister came to dinner and our table was set with our best china and our best silverware. There was always an abundance of good food. But we didn’t have a bathroom. Just a path. My books are part of who I am and the people and places I’ve come across. You will find a bit of humor, and perhaps some useful information or old-fashioned advice. Hopefully there will be a tale or two or more that will make you laugh out loud. I enjoy mountain views, the hot sun, and antiques, foot stomping music and a good cup of tea. More about me below: Minister’s Wife Days: I took part in Women’s Clubs, Youth Groups, and Church Camps. I did church secretarial duties and taught classes for Sunday school teachers on a State level for the United Methodist church. All while I raised five kids. I took part in Scout troop events, and many late nights you could find me writing jingles for Greeting Cards under an assumed name. I was a “go getter” and the church ladies frowned upon my camper sales business and they always thought my dresses were too short. By the time my oldest was in 6th grade I was entertaining crowds as a ventriloquist and had learned how to belly dance. Antiques: Antiques became part of my life when an elderly neighbor gave me a set of beautiful old salt and pepper shakers. I was in grade school and I still have them. I bought an 1898 Victorian house in the mountains and gave tours through it. We had an antique store down the street and my serious love of antiques began. I interviewed Mr. Frank of the Frank Tea and Spice Co and published an article in the Antique Times on the Jumbo Peanut Butter Jars. There has been more than one antique shop since then and I’ve been known to sell an estate ring right off my finger at a party. School Days: My husband and I traveled the mid-Atlantic and southern states for years doing school shows. Besides ventriloquism with my main dummy and lots of other character dummies, there were magic tricks and songs. As a guest on To Tell The Truth with Gary Moore, I did the talking for the other guests. I’m known to make a teacup talk at a restaurant now and then. A young man just back from Iraq walked into my Antique booth one day and told me that I saved his life. I was shocked to learn that he was one of those school kids that saw my show. In a long battle where he was seriously frightened for his life, the song my dummy Rag Mop sang came to his mind. He sang it in his head over and over until his immediate crisis was resolved. He sang it to me, hugged me and thanked me. Whenever people get on a high horse and act like laughter and fun are not important, I think of him. Nashville Days: The Nashville Scene at the peak of Hee Haw was right up my alley. We made wonderful friends there. I am forever grateful for the advice and friendships’ of Archie Campbell, Jack Kirby and many others on the Hee Haw set. I was welcomed by friends back stage at the Grand Ole Opry. We went every Friday and Saturday night if I could and loved every minute of it. There was always food back stage and people were constantly exchanging recipes. The stars on stage were good ole country food lovers back stage. Erby Mandrel, Speck Rhodes, Wilma Lee cooper and others become best of friends. My own music show, The Liz LaMac Show, was on the road during these days. We had at least two Opry stars a show, my ventriloquism, my band, Liz’s Sugar Daddys’ and the Clogging Dolls. I’m blessed with wonderful Nashville experiences and an incredible husband. I met stars as well as stars before they were stars. With my long red hair, many stars and fans mistook me for Dottie West. The great Dolly Parton (thinking I was Dottie West) once put her arm around my shoulders at a party and asked me where I had been so long. I loved Nashville My dummies and I have been in newspapers and magazines all over the world. The famous Stars and Stripes featured us three times. The Associated Press picked up a Nashville story about my dummy, King Joe, getting his arm broken once when our van was vandalized on a street in downtown Nashville. We’ve even appeared on the cover of Country Music USA. All told, my dummies and I did over 200 live shows a year for 30 years. I wrote country songs, children’s songs and thousands of jokes. I wrote Wynn Miller’s Mopkin’s Joke Book. Television and Radio: My first radio event was an interview about the Council of the Southern Mountains during my Minister’s Wife Days. The council was an important part of changing church policies and the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King spoke but had to leave early as some of his men and his son had been thrown in jail for setting up front on a bus. I enjoyed the interview and have always felt I had a small part in the early Civil Rights Movement by learning of the issues and talking about them. The King Joe’s Palace TV Series was my syndicated children’s television show. This half hour show was up on satellite and could be picked up in the states and overseas. Those days were tiresome and my husband and I worked very hard to make it all happen. We had some Opry stars and new comers on each show. Joe Edward, a regular musician at the Opry was also a regular on King Joe’s Palace, what a wonderful, colorful character he is. Everyone had such great fun doing the shows. I wrote most of the children’s songs and all the jokes and script. My experience as an artist at Nashville’s Fan Fair was eye opening and inspiring. I met lots of fellow artists and more. All my Nashville contacts were so interesting one on one that we put together a local radio show and I started interviewing them. Books and Publications: I was working on my first major children’s book during my Nashville Days, The Story of Dummyland. It was published in a colorful hardback and I did the bookstore tours. Of course there were show books, coloring books, and jokes books published and for sale during my school performing days and my short stories were in church bulletins and my jingles on Greeting Cards way back. I’ve always loved to write. I had a syndicated Newspaper Column called, Mud and Dud. Of course there were jokes along with some character stories as well as children’s crafts. I wrote this column many years for local and regional newspapers. Most of my books are geared toward children and adults who love a good story or easy read.