Sarah Atkins
mnjreporter@gmail.com
She walked into DT’s carrying two large binders of newspaper clippings, pictures and papers covered in script, as well as several small books. Her smile denoted an eagerness to tell the stories of her past and present.
As a poet, a storyteller and a reporter, Joyce Boone found her passion in writing.
Her love for writing began when she was a young girl, taking articles written by her mother, Jessie Rhyne, to what was then the Tri-County News. She witnessed how much her mother enjoyed writing for the paper and began to form aspirations of her own for what she could do with a pen and some paper.
After her mother passed away in the early 1980s, Sammy Ledford, the Tri-County News editor at the time, asked Boone if she would like to bring in articles for the paper.
“It was just sort of a natural flow,” Boone said.
Boone reminisced on what the News-Journal was like when it used to run a printing press. “I remember the sound [of the machines] and the smell of the oil,” she said, fondly looking back on old pictures and memories.
Before the modern luxury of phones, Boone said, “The newspaper was the life of the community, it kept us all tied together.”
The newspaper held the community together through reporting on social news such as who visited who after church and weddings.
“When I first started writing no one even thought of a computer,” Boone said. “And lots of people didn’t have telephones.”
Boone’s time submitting articles for the newspaper coincided with her time as a recruiter and public relations liaison for Mayland Community College. This gave her many opportunities to interview students and alumni, cover graduation and even assist in establishing a newspaper at the college.
She also submitted writing to Blue Ridge Christian News, the Yancey Journal, the Toe Valley Shopper, and other organizations. Her extensive experience with writing and reporting has only made her love it more.
Boone said she is “fascinated with words” and the power they have.
“You get to take your reader on a journey to a place they haven’t actually been,” Boone said.
It was encouragement from others that kept Boone writing for as long as she has, it “fueled the fire” of her passions.
She continued to write for the paper and work at Mayland until around 2018 when she decided to focus more of her energy on family.
Writing for the newspaper and interviewing people from the community “was all a pure joy” for Boone. She said one of the key things writing has taught her is that “people love when we are honest and truthful and fling open the doors of our heart and our spirit.”
Today, Boone spends her time volunteering with different ministries that serve vulnerable populations and those who need encouragement.
Boone still enjoys writing and has published two books, one of which is a collection of poetry titled “My Mountains, My Love.” The other is a compilation of short stories and poetry called “Precious Memories,” published in honor of her brother.