By Paris Goodnight
pgoodnight@salisburypost.com
When Ken Upright held a reunion in 2002 for folks who remembered King’s Barn in Kannapolis, the seeds of a book were already starting to sprout.
Those sprouts have now produced fruit in “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Friends,” which tells tales from a bygone era. Many of the tales that show up in the book were ones he’d heard over and over again, with a few changes here and there. For the book, Upright said, he stuck with the version that he heard most often.
King’s Barn was the focal point of a business built by Upright’s great-grandfather and his two sons in 1934. Several generations of young children in the neighborhood grew up running around that barn. Grown-ups in the community went there not just to trade horses, but to listen to and tell stories.
When Upright, who still lives in Kannapolis, held that reunion for some of the folks who remembered gathering at the 8th Street barn, he wasn’t sure if anything more would come of it. But now his hopes of collecting the tales and turning them into a book are a reality.
His great-uncle, Mack King, was among those who made it to the reunion in 2002. He owned a farm off Old Beatty Ford Road and Upright visited him while he was working on the book.
Upright was still trying to decide what the cover should look like. In a stroke of luck, Mack had the photo that graces the front cover of “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Friends.” It’s the only photo Upright said he had ever seen that showed founders Lawrence, “Paw” and Fred King together.
“When I picked it up, my fingers were turning red and my hands were shaking,” he said. “I said, ‘This is perfect.’ And I walked right into it.”
Upright will sign copies of his book Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Southern Charm in Kannapolis and from 7-9 p.m. at Bookland in Signal Hill Mall in Statesville. He’ll be signing Monday from 7-9 p.m. at Waldenbooks in the Carolina Mall in Concord.
nnnComing Sunday: Paris Goodnight reviews “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Friends” on the book page.