Beyond the beaten path of local landmarks, residents and tourists can find curious secrets, lost mysteries and fascinating legends. The famed Hope Diamond once found itself, and its mysterious curse, buried in an Asheville girl's sandbox. Elvis once handed a cherished guitar to a local man at an Asheville concert, and he held on to it for forty years. At a flea market, an Asheville attorney paid a few bucks for an old tintype likely of Billy the Kid, and it may be worth millions. Native author Marla Hardee Milling recounts odd, but true, stories hiding behind Asheville's picturesque beauty.
Marla Hardee Milling is a full-time writer in Asheville and a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). She is the author of Only in Asheville: An Eclectic History (The History Press, 2015). More than 750 of her articles and essays have appeared in many publications, including Blue Ridge Country, where she is a contributing editor; Luxury Living; Parenting; Redbook; Our State; WNC; American Style; NICHE; and others. She spent ten years as a news producer at WLOS-TV in Asheville and six years as director of communications at Mars Hill College.