Do you know the Mountain Man?

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

If you traveled the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains back in the day, you probably met him, unless he wished otherwise. He was corn-fed, creek-baptized, lean as a fishing pole, wore clod-hopper shoes, bib overalls, a black floppy hat, grew a long black beard, carried a huge shotgun and was “mean as a snake when messed with,” so it was said.