I found an intriguing post on Becky McCray's 'Small Biz Survival' blog about the potential in attracting tourists to a rural community by featuring its local characters in a travel article. My thoughts:
This got things up there in my brainbox stirrin' - Not just small towns (but that is your focus) but NYC - when America's great Hoosier novelist/poet Marguerite Young died (she'd been living in The Village for decades & Scribners had published her 'MissMacIntosh, My Darling" back in 1965) - doing research for her novel had her 'haunting' the entire small town of NYC from the upper east side to Wall Street and beyond. When her obituary appeared in the N.Y. Times she was described as an 'icon' - Well, that'd be another word for 'town character' -
One of the values I pick up from visiting Small Biz Survival is a strenghthening of my perception that we all inhabit small towns, even those of us who live right smack dab in the center of a big city.
But back to Hooker, Slapout, Beaver, and Buffalo - I've visited and made myself a 'resident for a day' in so many small towns that I can attest to the fact that the local characters do stand out.
I always bring it back to Mozart - my business is Mozart - so I've got a few ideas brewing about Mozart Around Town.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Wayne
Here is a link to the blogpost:
@ Value your town characters