Author Ronnie Evans

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. - Author Ronnie Evans
This book, BRINKLEY: Goat glands, Radio, and Country Music, is about Dr. John R. Brinkley’s humble beginnings in the mountains of Western North Carolina and his quest to become a doctor in Chicago, on the plains of  Kansas, down at the southern border in Del Rio, Texas, where he eventually established the world’s most powerful radio broadcast station in Mexico.

This book is based on the dramatic rise and fall of Dr. John R. Brinkley, who was
born in the Beta settlement near Sylva, North Carolina. He rose from the humblest
beginning to become one of the most notable 'charlatans' of the 20th century,
bilking millions from aging men who believed he could restore their sexual virility
through goat-gland surgery or bogus prostate concoctions. In the process, he
unintentionally pioneered the idea of organ transplants, political promotions, and
advanced the science of radio broadcasting, which led to the popularization of
country music as we know it today.
Brinkley’s XERA radio station, the most powerful in the world, gave these
mountain musicians of North Carolina and Virgina a chance to perform on the
world’s stage. (top to bottom) Harry Cagle , Samantha Bumgarner, Fiddlin’ Jim
Corbin and The Carter Family.
 
 

Location

Macon County Public Library

149 Siler Farm Rd.
Franklin NC
28734

Telephone: 828-524-3600
http://fontanalib.org/franklin