The Bulgarian

In the Shadow of Thomas Wolfe

In the mid-1990s, as a student, I had the opportunity to work in the United States on a J1 Visa at a children’s summer camp in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. The camp, situated about 40 miles south of Asheville, was a for privileged kids but I nonetheless enjoyed my time there very much. Literary luminary Thomas Wolfe, who wrote Look Homeward Angel, was born close by, while poet Carl Sandburg lived his later life in Flat Rock, a few miles from the actual camp. I spent four seasons at the camp. Not wanting to work with children, I got a…