2011 Piedmont Laureate Huler read to BOCC Tuesday, advocated tax increase

The Orange County Board of Commissioners had an unusual visitor at their Tuesday night meeting.

2011 Piedmont Laureate for creative nonfiction Scott Huler, read to commissioners from his sixth and latest book, “On the Grid: A Plot of Land, an Average Neighborhood, and the Systems that Make Our World Work.”

The Piedmont Laureate represents Orange, Alamance, Durham, Johnston and Wake counties by traveling and presenting readings at public places, promoting literature and creative writing, and expanding appreciation of the literary arts, according to the program website.

Huler’s nonfiction history

Huler graduated from Washington University in 1981 and has since then pursued a career in various fields of writing.

He has written for newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times.

His radio work has been heard on such programs as “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio and “The State of Things” on WUNC-FM.

All of Huler’s six books have been nonfiction, and the one he read from Thursday discusses the infrastructure that neighborhoods depend on, including the crumbling state of roads and sewers.

During the reading he said, though people rely on roads and sewers, nobody wants to pay taxes for them.

“So now you can say to your children and spouses, someone came to your meeting and said, ‘please, please, please make me pay more taxes,’” he said.

The Piedmont Program

The Piedmont Laureate Program is in its third year.

Martha Shannon, arts commission coordinator for Orange County, said the program is a partnership among several local counties to promote literary arts in the Piedmont region.

Piedmont Laureates nominate themselves and are chosen by a panel made up of representatives from the partnering counties.

Every year, the program focuses on a specific genre of creative writing.

This year’s genre was creative nonfiction, and the 2012 genre will be screenwriting and playwriting, Shannon said.

The program is sponsored by various local arts commissions, including the Raleigh Arts Commission, Orange County Arts Commission and the Durham Arts Council.

“We like to work together and we thought this would be a great way to start working with the other art councils in the triangle area,” Shannon said.

The laureate is paid for his appearances from a budget funded by local sponsors.

“It just depends on how many sponsors we have,” said Margaret DeMott, the director of artist services at the Durham Arts Council. “As we add agencies the laureate gets more appearances, so they get paid more.”

She said the program has become a way to foster collaboration among organizations and to recognize talented local artists.

“It became a platform for us to do something, formally, together,” DeMott said. “We have so many talented artists in the area, and its great to highlight their abilities.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.