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| 'Alabama Lore' author Wil Elrick |
Writer and “weirdologist” Wil Elrick will visit the “Bigfoot
Capital of Alabama” this coming Tuesday to kick off the publicity campaign and
book tour for his latest book, “Alabama Lore.”
Elrick, a native of Guntersville who enjoys researching the
state’s unusual history, is a self-described Bigfoot enthusiast and told The
Courant earlier this week that he decided to launch the publicity campaign for
his new book in Evergreen because it is the “Bigfoot Capital of Alabama.”
“Alabama Lore,” which will be officially released by The History
Press on Monday, features an entire chapter on “Bigfoot in Alabama,” including
details about sightings in Conecuh County as well as photos of local officials
like Evergreen Mayor Pete Wolff, Evergreen City Councilman Luther Upton and
State Senator Greg Albritton. A photo of local Bigfoot witness Carl Pugh and “Bigfoot
claw marks” on a tree at Pine Orchard can also be found in the book.
Elrick’s book also contains the complete resolution passed
by the Evergreen City Council in February 2017 in which the council declared
Evergreen to be the “Bigfoot Capital of Evergreen.” Albritton later had the
State Senate officially bestow that title on the City of Evergreen, and since
then other cities across the country with reported Bigfoot sightings have
followed Evergreen’s lead by having themselves declared the “Bigfoot Capital”
of their respective states.
Upton is also a widely-known local radio personality and station
manager at WPPG 101.1 FM in Evergreen, and Elrick plans to join Upton’s radio
show live on Tuesday morning between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. to discuss his new book.
Elrick also plans to bring along plenty of copies of “Alabama Lore” and also
his custom-made Bigfoot suit, which he plans to put on when he arrives at the
station.
Elrick, who is married to AL.com “weird news reporter” Kelly
Kazek, noted that as of Tuesday afternoon, he was still trying to set up a
book-signing event in Evergreen but had not finalized any of the details.
“Alabama Lore” also contains stories from Monroe County, and he plans to have a
book-signing in Monroeville sometime in August. Portions of the book also
contain stories from Butler County, and Elrick noted that the book contains
something for just about everyone in and around Conecuh County.
Other tales in the book include stories about the Keel
Mountain Treasure, stories about famous authors Harper Lee and Truman Capote,
the USS Alabama, the Fyffe UFO Incident of 1989, Oakey Streak in Butler County,
Mobile’s Church Street Cemetery and Boyington Oak, Huntsville’s “Dead Children’s”
Playground, giant-sized fish from the state’s waters, the “Coosa River
Monster,” vanishing hitchhiker Lonnie Stephens, the strange disappearance of
Orion Williamson in Dallas County, the Wolf Woman of Mobile, the Alabama White
Thang, Huggin’ Molly, the Choccolocco Monster, Hartselle’s “Cry Baby Hollow,”
the Old Georgia Cemetery, the ghost town of Cottonport, Old Cahawba and an
entire chapter on mythical creatures known as Pukwudgies.
Elrick noted that Upton and Conecuh County are also
prominently mentioned in the chapter on Pukwudgies. The book talks about how
Upton reported that a man from Pennsylvania called his radio show one morning
to report that he had seen a Pukwudgie standing by the side of Interstate 65 in
Conecuh County. Elrick also discusses the reports of supposed Pukwudgie
sightings in the Flat Rock community, east of Evergreen.
In the end, “Alabama Lore” will be available for sale in
book stores and online on Monday and is already available for pre-order on
Amazon.com. Cover price of the book is $23.99, and copies of the book can also
be purchased directly from the publisher at www.arcadiapublishing.com.
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