Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived - (A Ferris and Ferris Book) by Diane Flynt (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Showing how southerners cultivated over 2,000 apple varieties from Virginia to Mississippi, Flynt shares surprising stories of a fruit that was central to the region for over 200 years. Colorful characters abound in this history, including aristocratic Belgian immigrants, South Carolina plantation owners, and multiple presidents, each group changing the course of southern orchards. She shows how southern apples, ranging from northern varieties that found fame on southern soil to hyper-local apples grown by a single family, have a history beyond the region, from Queen Victoria's court to the Oregon Trail. Flynt also tells us the darker side of the story, detailing how apples were entwined with slavery and the theft of Indigenous land"--

Book Synopsis

For anyone who's ever picked an apple fresh from the tree or enjoyed a glass of cider, writer and orchardist Diane Flynt offers a new history of the apple and how it changed the South and the nation. Showing how southerners cultivated over 2,000 apple varieties from Virginia to Mississippi, Flynt shares surprising stories of a fruit that was central to the region for over 200 years. Colorful characters abound in this history, including aristocratic Belgian immigrants, South Carolina plantation owners, and multiple presidents, each group changing the course of southern orchards. She shows how southern apples, ranging from northern varieties that found fame on southern soil to hyper-local apples grown by a single family, have a history beyond the region, from Queen Victoria's court to the Oregon Trail. Flynt also tells us the darker side of the story, detailing how apples were entwined with slavery and the theft of Indigenous land. She relates the ways southerners lost their rich apple culture in less than the lifetime of a tree and offers a tentatively hopeful future.

Alongside unexpected apple history, Flynt traces the arc of her own journey as a pioneering farmer in the southern Appalachians who planted cider apples never grown in the region and founded the first modern cidery in the South. Flynt threads her own story with archival research and interviews with orchardists, farmers, cidermakers, and more. The result is not only the definitive story of apples in the South but also a new way to challenge our notions of history.

Review Quotes

"A beautifully produced book. . . . Flynt is in the business of apple growing. The tensions she writes about are ultimately not the same that we historians focus on. As she explains in the coda, 'When I began writing about southern apples, I felt trapped between the comforting blanket of nostalgia and the realities of commerce' (p. 250). That is the tension that modern apple growers face in the twenty-first century. Flynt's book captures it well."--Journal of Southern History

"An important contribution to the body of work supporting the farm to table ethos and a testament to the value of biodiversity. . . . In a world that is increasingly digital, remote, and not place-based, Flynt eloquently reminds us to consider our important connections to nature, one apple at a time."--Southeastern Librarian

"Diane Flynt is a natural storyteller. Her voice gently draws the reader into her world; a world of apples and dreams."--Cidercraft Magazine

"Diane Flynt says it herself: she's someone who loves nothing more than being at the top of a swing, because it lets her see the familiar with new eyes. Decades ago, she trained those eyes on--if you'll pardon me--the most boring, ubiquitous fruit: the apple. But now that we can see apples from her point of view--their stories, their botany, their place in creating, changing, and reflecting the landscape of the South and of our country--I have never been more fascinated by them. Diane's a brilliant mind, a passionate grower, and a generous writer; this book is a gift."--Francis Lam, host, The Splendid Table

"Flynt is sharing her knowledge in the definitive Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived . . . The book is part history, part botanical reference, and part memoir, chronicling the cidermaker's own journey and experiences in the orchard."--Garden & Gun

"Flynt's book is a testament to apple and cider making--a real person's journey in growing and distributing apple-made cider that begins in her youth and ends in her retirement. Flynt's stories at the beginning of chapters of her own journey could be a book in their own, describing the tribulations and triumphs of starting and running her own cidery, but it's the history and stories of apple aficionados before her that outline her true love for apples and agriculture."--Washington Gardener

"Flynt's life story is a fascinating parallel to her scholarly but beautifully written and thorough tale of the history of the Southern apple."--Gardenia, Southern Garden History Society

"For as long as I have known the delightful and learned orchardist, cidermaker, and apple whisperer Diane Flynt, I've imagined what a rare gift it would be to sit down with her and say, 'Please, tell me everything you've learned about southern apples and how it is you came to be on such a journey to find out.' This book is almost all that. It could only be better if it came packaged with Diane's welcoming smile."--Ronni Lundy, scholar from the holler and author of Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes

"Vivid and poetic. . . . [Flynt] paints a captivating picture of her journey as an orchardist and cider maker. In this context, the historical sections of the book root her story in the deep legacy of southern apple culture. . . . Flynt invites the reader to meditate on the importance of the past and reminds us that we can only truly be rooted in a place when we know its history."--Agricultural History

About the Author

A multiple-time James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional, Diane Flynt founded Foggy Ridge Cider in 1997 after leaving her corporate career and produced cider until 2018. She now sells cider apples from the Foggy Ridge orchards in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains.