KnoxTNToday announces Jan Loveday Dickens as a new addition to Our Town Stories on Tuesdays. Jan is an educator and historian who grew up in East Knox County, where she again resides.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee and Carson-Newman University, she has worked and taught at regional universities, as well as local schools. She calls herself an orophile and a taphophile.

What? An orophile is a person who has a deep love for mountains and a taphophile is a person who has a strong interest in cemeteries and gravestones. Her favorite pastimes include camping with loved ones, playing in flowerbed dirt, creating artworks and enjoying outdoor adventures involving research about local history.

Her focus for KnoxTNToday articles will be the history of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers, all the way to the Jefferson and Sevier County lines.

Jan is author of Forgotten in the Fork, a book about the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers, obtainable by emailing ForgottenInTheFork@gmail.com

KnoxTNToday’s goal is to inform, uplift and entertain. Send stories or comments to news@knoxtntoday.com.