Abstract:
This is a transcription of a speech made at a 1981 memorial service and opening of the James Larkin Pearson memorial Library in Wilkes. Born in 1879, James Larkin Pearson was a mountaineer from Wilkes whose poetry reflected his humble surroundings. Pearson was the poet laureate of North Carolina from 1953 until his death in 1981. The speech is given by a friend and relates anecdotes of Pearson.