Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Folktales from the Mountains of Northern Pennsylvania

This is a great book of folktales from Tioga County in Northcentral PA. I found in in a little bookstore in Wellsboro called From My Shelf Books. The clerks at the store also recommended "Snakebite" by the same author. Both are funny and educational. I highly recommend. I was sad to hear that the author had passed away and that there wouldn't be more of these great books.

Two flatlanders are hiking in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon when they find themselves trapped between a mother bear and her two cubs. The bear roars and starts to charge towards them. One of them stands rooted to the spot, while the other bends down, calmly takes off his fancy hiking boots, and starts to lace up his running shoes. The first flatlander looks over and says to his friend, "Why bother? No one can outrun a bear." His friend looks up and says, "I know that. But all I have to do is outrun you..." I'm a ridgerunner and thus a natural storyteller and I love flatlander jokes. Just what is a flatlander? If you have to ask, you probably are one. Natives, also known as ridgerunners, use flatlander as a term for people from "down state", especially people from Southern Pennsylvania around Philadelphia area and especially folks from New Jersey. Really though, it can stand for anyone from outside the endless mountains of North Central Pennsylvania. The term can be used jokingly, but also with a fair amount of contempt. The common understanding, as represented in the book Flatlanders and Ridgerunners by James York Glimm, is that the flatlanders lack the knowledge of the hills and the means of basic survival and should go home. Unfortunately, this collection of folktales has gone the way of the Sidehill Mootie. Well, being that I'm made of earth and stone, and pure mountain spring water flows through my veins, that answer wasn't good enough for me. I decided to track down the publisher and find out who owned the rights and see if I couldn't use some of that old country charm to get it reprinted. I have a copy of my own that I've perused so much that it's only held together with spit and spider webs. I've found several of the out of print editions, but these sell upwards of eighty dollars for the hardcover edition, and close to fifty for the paperback, and that's money I need for the still. It seems I'm not the only one who knows their "arse from a hole in the ground". Margie Bachman of University of Pittsburgh Press has been instrumental in this book seeing the light of day, and bringing it back into print. Margie says of the book, "First published in 1983, and continues to be in high demand...a must read." It's been a process for Margie, and she's run into a number of snags along the way, but this tome of local folktales is available once again. James York Glimm was born a city boy. So when he took a position at Mansfield University in the heart of the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania in 1968. He was unprepared for the weather, the animals, and getting only three television stations, two of which didn't come in. He was ignorant, an outsider--yep, a flatlander. As he explains in the introduction to his now beloved book. How does one become a ridgerunner? Well, most locals say you have to be born one, and there's some truth to that. But with the passage of time, people might just forget that you "aint from these parts", at least most of the t

I also attended Mansfield University (just as it switched over from being Mansfield State College), and had the pleasure of taking Dr. Glimm's folklore class. He was an excellent professor, and this book is fantastic. For anyone that attended Mansfield, there are even stories about the (previously dark and ominous-looking) North Hall building, which for many years stood empty in the center of campus. We all had our own stories and fears of that place...and some would even try to sneak in, as there were always rumors of ghosts and scary phenomena surrounding the building. Dr. Glimm made sure to include information about all that, as well as so many other entertaining stories he had gathered from the local folks all over the state. I love this book, and if you are from PA, or are interested in PA folklore, THIS is the book you should read. It's GREAT!

My high opinion of this book is biassed for several reasons. I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania and find similarities in the regional folklore. I attended Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (around where much of the folklore was gathered) and had the great fortune to study folklore, taught by author, Jim Glimm. I have come to re-read this book with the utmost reverance and respect for a talented author/story-teller and an inspiring instructor who has recently passed away.

I love this book. I read it over and over. I read the stories just for a good laugh. Want to go and find these people. I bought the book looking for supernatural legends, I got that and much more.