Sandbar Lecture Series: The Life and Times of Crazy Dale Varnam

Rescheduled from July 14. This unusual Sandbar Lecture features the writer of My Right Hand To Goodness: The Life and Times of Crazy Dale Varnam. The quaint fishing village of Varnamtown, North Carolina—full of zany Southern characters—is the backdrop for the story, and town clown Dale Varnam, who perfected his own brand of crazy, is the protagonist. As this remarkable story is told, Varnamtown became the second busiest port of entry for illegal drugs on the Eastern Seaboard. Find out what Dale had to do with that during this Sandbar Lecture. Author Lynn Cook Betz, true to a 60’s child in choosing life’s work, earned a degree in Sociology-Anthropology and minor in Philosophy, followed by a Master’s degree in social work. Lynn built her career out of that passion for understanding others, their worries, and their worlds. Hospital-based social work led to hospital administration and then Lynn– along with her husband Thom– decided it was time to become entrepreneurs. Lynn’s diverse careers, combined with the joys and dramas of living are cooked into the book. Add in Lynn’s love of crime stories; writing and words; history; research; and, a return to small town life, and, it was a homecoming. It was a ‘God moment’, when this story came to her to discover and write about. Maybe it was serendipity. The truth is: Dale Varnam had everything to do with it!