Otto Wood, the bandit : the freighthopping thief, bootlegger, and convicted murderer behind the Appalachian ballads / Trevor McKenzie ; foreword by David Holt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKenzie, Trevor, author.

Contributor:

Holt, David, 1946- writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminals--North Carolina--Biography.

Criminals.

Criminals--Appalachian Region, Southern--Biography.

Appalachian Region, Southern--Folklore.

Appalachian Region, Southern.

Wood, Otto, 1895-1930.

Wood, Otto.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2021]

Summary:

"Legions of bluegrass fans know the name Otto Wood (1893-1930) from a ballad made popular by Doc Watson, telling the story of Wood's crimes and violent death. However, few know the history of this Appalachian figure beyond the larger-than-life version heard in song. Trevor McKenzie reconstructs Wood's life, tracing how a Wilkes County juvenile delinquent became a celebrated folk hero"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Time among strangers: childhood and early crimes, 1893-1912

Outlaw of the Boone Trail: carjacking and the Wood crime family, 1913-1917

The mountains were the safest place: Otto Wood, blockader and highwayman, 1918-1923

Killing a rattlesnake: The Greensboro killing and the 1924 prison escape, 1923-1924

The Houdini of Cell Block A: Otto Wood, criminal celebrity, 1925-928

An experiment in humanity: the reformer and the renegade, 1928-1930

I'll make'em earn their reward: final days, December 1930

Step up, buddies, and listen to my song: the ballads of Otto Wood, 1931-present.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-152) and index.

ISBN:

979-88-908608-4-2

979-88-908608-5-9

1-4696-6471-2

1-4696-6567-0

OCLC:

1264389392