Today’s guest post was written by Jim Casada.
A few days back a short e-mail from Tipper brought sad but not entirely unexpected news of the passing of Ken Roper. I had known for some time that he was in declining health and pretty much out of touch with the wider world. First there was the loss of e-mail contact, something both of us had embraced although we were a pair of aging hillbillies who, at best, understood little of the mysteries of computers, the Internet, and modern technology in general. Then phone calls yielded nothing, and the same was true of attempts, through third parties I knew who lived in the Topton, NC area Ken called home, to learn more about his status. Tipper had told me that the last time she and Matt saw him that “things weren’t good,” and she too had lost contact other than a couple of phone conversations with his daughter.
I came to know Ken through the Blind Pig & the Acorn, and almost from the outset both of us realized that we were kindred spirits. We grew up in the same general area. Ken’s youth was spent on a hardscrabble mountain farm in a deep hollow in the Nantahala River drainage while Bryson City, maybe 20 or 25 miles away, was my boyhood home. Ken’s knowledge of the topography of his old Homeplace and memories of boyhood were etched so deeply in his mind that he was able to describe it to me with a degree of detail that enabled me to hunt turkeys in his old stomping grounds without so much as a second thought about the lay of the land.
Ken had a way with words that was enchanting. He wasn’t highly educated in a formal sense and indeed some of his comments on this blog amounted to sheer butchery of the King’s English. Yet after his own fashion he was singularly eloquent. What better way to describe a big frost than to say, as he did, “It was a frost so heavy you could track a rabbit in it.” Or there was the time he shared a tale with Br’er Don and me of somehow managing to set a goat on fire and what ensued. It was so hilarious I might nigh hurt myself laughing.
Then there was his ingenuity as a machinist (which had been his career). Tipper once described and pictured a device he developed that greatly simplified the process of affixing staked tomatoes to posts as they grew. He made a bunch of those devices for me. She also wrote of a little hand-operated gadget for cracking black walnuts Ken developed. It beats anything I’ve ever seen along that line all hollow. I can’t do it justice with words but suffice it to say he affixed some discarded engine parts to a wooden frame, attached a handle for applying pressure to gear teeth, and voila!, you had a nutcracker. He didn’t make many, saying they were too much trouble, but I sure do prize mine.
That dandy little nut cracker came from his machine shop along the road from Topton to Andrews, and that site (he often spent the night there although he had a mountainside home at the end of a gravel road just a few miles away) was the scene for two unforgettably joyous experiences. One came when Ken wanted to “show off” his young’uns and grandbabies to Tipper and her immediate family and Miss Cindy. He graciously invited me, along with Br’er Don and his wife Susan, to the gathering. It was pure pleasure in every moment, with Ken being suffused with pride and pleasure. He told the tale of the flaming goat, one of his grandbabies got into a yellow jacket nest and got stung but showed so little evidence of pain it was amazing, some of us had a great watermelon seed spitting contest, and, as little weekly newspapers used to write when describing some social event, “a good time was had by all.”
The other special moment with Ken at his shop involved just Ken, Br’er Don, and me. We somehow decided to get together for a good old mountain meal, with each of us providing a part of the provender. Ken had baked a fine pone of cornbread, fried some taters, and offered one or two other things. Don brought a big bait of ramps to be fried along with some green beans (grown from seeds of what Ken called Nantahala Runner Beans, and he could tell you the history of the seed tracing back many generations). I stopped off on the Nantahala River en route from Bryson City and caught a fine mess of trout that we fried. I had brought some morel mushrooms I found back home along as well. Then, strictly by chance, while fishing I stumbled across a bit patch of water cress and picked a bunch of it for a salad. We ate like lords, reminisced about the myriad glories of having enjoyed mountain boyhoods, and generally reveled in one another’s company.
Ken was a warm and winsome fellow of the sort only the storied mountains that were his highland homeland can produce, and some of that showed forth in his frequent and piquant comments on this blog. They spread over many years and for a lengthy period appeared almost daily. They were usually short but invariably dug up some memory or alluded to some moment that translated to sheer enjoyment (at least for me). I think deep down Ken was quite lonely, but through Tipper, her family, and her blog he found a sort of home that brought him comfort, solace, and pure pleasure. Getting to know him was a joy for me, and I’m blessed that he lightened my days and brightened my ways.
Jim Casada
I hope you enjoyed Jim’s post about Ken.
Last night’s video: Granny’s Tater Cakes are the BEST!
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
What a beautiful tribute to Ken Roper
Such a moving tribute to Mr. Roper. He sure sounds like a wonderful feller to have known.
Really enjoyed Mr. Jim’s post sharing these memories of Mr. Ken, he seemed to be a very nice & interesting person that added so much joy & substance to anyone he met. I wish I could have been blessed enough to meet him, but then again because of Mr. Jim’s awesome post I feel like I some what know him.
Thanks for sharing!
I truly appreciate you sharing precious memories of my Daddy, Ken Roper and times shared.
This sincere tribute touches my heart and gives us comfort. I’m humbled & grateful.
This blog was truly so special to him. Daily reading and writing gave him great joy. Many faithful friendships were formed from a common love of God’s beautiful land he was so proud to call home.
Thank you again, more than words can say, for being a good friend to my Daddy and for sharing.
That was a beautiful tribute to Ken. I know he was a wonderful man.
He sounds like a person I would love to meet
What a wonderful way to honor Ken with such great memories of him written by Jim. My heart hurts for you all that knew Ken and the loss y’all are all feeling with his earthly departure. May God bless you all with comfort and peace as y’all remember the special relationship y’all had with Ken both as family and friends.
Jim’s tribute to his friend is beautifully done and a moving report. From what I read Ken had a way with machines like Jim has a way with words.
I can make out that Matt and Tipper are beside each other at the back. I think that’s Jim’s head between them. I can’t identify the others but I’m thinking that Ken must be the fellow in the white shirt with the pens in the pocket.
Thank you for celebrating Ken’s life, Tipper, and thank you Jim for such a beautifully written tribute.
Blessings to all and especially Miss Cindy.
Can you point out which of the ladies in the picture are Ken’s daughters if indeed they were present. I have seen some pictures of Lauralea Janelle Roper from the Andrews High School yearbook. Judging from the number of appearances there one could presume she was well liked and outstanding student. Her sister Jennifer Rhiannon Roper doesn’t seem make many online appearances. She was born in Asheville and might have spent her early life there.
I created an extensive online family tree for Ken. I found a lot of information about the Ropers and the Passmores, his parent’s surnames. There is a plethora of information online going back hundreds of years. The best is found from 1850 to about 1970. After that it dwindles away. I shared everything I found about Ken’s ancestors but failed to ask him about his descendants.
I’m not just being nosy. I developed a friendship with Ken and that extents to his family too.
Ed-Laura is just behind the little girl (her daughter) who is between Corie and Katie. Jennifer is on the backrow to the far right-she is hugging her daughter who is the last one in the row. You were so kind to do all that research on Ken’s family. I know you have done that for many people including me 🙂
Thank you, Jim for that beautiful tribute to Ken Roper. It sounds like he was the type of many who touched so many lives & filled them with love, laughter, fun & knowledge. Those who knew Ken were blessed. May God bring comfort & peace to all of his family & friends that are left behind right now.
Thank you, Tipper for giving us more insight into Ken’s beautiful personality & life.
Prayers for Miss Cindy and all the extended family.
Hugs!
Seeing your cookbook lying on my kitchen table made the memory of a mountain meal all the more meaningful. Thank you for sharing this fond tribute celebrating a life well lived.
What wonderful memories! Thank you! I feel like part of our time here on earth should be about making memories with our family and friends and if we can do that, then when we have gone to our heavenly home, we will have left behind something much more valuable than money or possessions and just maybe when someone remembers us, they will have a smile on their face. Sure sounds like Ken was one of those folks.
When
When Jim Casada puts his pencil to a sheet of paper, I want read what he has written.
What a tribute. It makes me feel like I really missed out on knowing someone special. And he’s right Tipper your videos do make you feel like your part of the family. Thanks for that.❤️
We should all strive to live a life that touches so many in such a profoundly honest way. What a great legacy. Tipper thru The Blind Pig you are doing just that. Thank you for providing this avenue for all us proudly enduring mountain people to connect.
You did my heart good, Mr. Casada, by your loving tribute to Mr. Roper. Thank you.
Thank you Jim for sharing your friendship with a man I never knew. Just reliving the past brought him closer and knowing about other good people is a blessing I treasure.
Well, Mr. Casada your tribute to Ken is also one to yourself and Don, (though I’m confident you werent thinking of that.) And I think what you wrote of Ken finding a ‘home place’ on BP&A is true for most of us, for sure the ‘old timers’. Tipper may not have thought about that in the early days, but the long life of BP&A is convincing evidence. That meal you describe truly was fit for a king and the personal gathering from the wild meant that even kings couldn’t match it. You two sure were a blessing to Mr. Roper and you three made a lasting memory.
God bless you friends of Appalachia God bless you and your family in Jesus name
Ken Roper leaves a beautiful legacy of many people who knew him well, loved him dearly and truly understood him. What pleasures and memories you all have to comfort you, not to mention a nutcracker tooled just for you by a man who deeply cared and wanted to make others happy. I’m willing to bet, he won’t ever be lonely again in the family of heaven! May God bless and comfort every one of you in this time of great loss and sadness. When it’s your last day here, it’s the first day in heaven where there is only joy forever with God. Now that’s a very good thing!!! P.S. Maybe we are all a bit lonely and that’s where the BP & A blog comes in— to fill long empty places and wake mountain memories long sleeping. It’s a place we feel a part and belong. It’s like home we can’t ever return to in the hills—for who made it home has long since gone and a cold lonely spot remains—always longing to go home again. For a few moments a day, we get to share and be a part and it’s priceless!
What a beautiful tribute. I wished mine and Ken Roper’s path had crossed!
God comfort those that love Ken Roper, in Jesus name
Thank you for sharing this tribute by Jim to someone I’d love to have known. His passing leaves a hole in this world for sure.
I am no good with words, but to me Jim is describing Ken aa a simple man. In my life, these simple people like Ken make the best people or friend you will ever know or have. These people will stick with you through thick and thin. Since Saturday, I have been to two longtime friends funeral. Like me and some others have said spending time and making memories with family and friends, like Jim’s memories of being with Ken, are worth more than any amount of money or material things you may ever have, those things can be lost or taken away, no one can take away your memories. I wrote these words trying to say the memories I have of my time with the two friends I mentioned are priceless. The same can be said about the good memories many of you have of Ken.
Such a sweet tribute! Someone we would all like to know!
sounds like a really wonderful man.
What an eloquent description of this fine mountain man. Makes me feel like I knew him all of my life. God meant for Ken to touch lives and he surely did.
I love the sentiment you gave – God meant for Ken to touch lives and he surely did. I wish more people believed in this as the whole world would be better for it as well as the people who practice it. I hope to remember this phrase in the future and provide encouragement to those that practice it. Thank you!
What a beautifully written tribute to your friend!
From Jim’s post and what you have written, Ken was a man’s man and a tribute to many. Jim does have a way with words and his take on life in general. I can see how the two of you worked so well on the precious cookbook I have and I for sure will enjoy my treasure. Back to the potato cakes. Granny is so cute in giving her recipe and then admonishing you to not share. You guys are so Blessed to have the individuals in your life that you have. Other families could learn a thing or two, lol, from watching you and the way you work together. Thanks for all you share. Give my best to Granny and Miss Cindy. God Bless
Thank you for sharing this tribute to a lovely man that I will never meet (on this side of the river), but that I, too, now appreciate. The good times you described brought joy.
Rita, do you by any chance live in Roane County Tennessee?
A beautiful tribute!
Ken certainly blessed many. That is a beautiful, warm remembrance by Jim Casada
Such wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing.