| By Bob Weaver 2001
When I last visited Larry Maynor's store at Elkview, conversation among
the visitors was about the fine obituaries in The Hur Herald, not those usual
ones submitted by funeral homes, but the "special" ones written about
people I have generally known for years. Maynor or one of his friends said
they might just move to Hur so I could write their obituary, a final send-off.
We all laughed.
Larry Maynor, a third-generation storekeeper in Elkview, died Friday at the
age of 53. He quit his job several years ago as a journalist for the Charleston
Daily Mail to return to his calling - the country store.
Maynor's store was different.
In 1985 he created a special room for the
people in his community to loaf, come together, tell tales and hang-out. It
had tables, chairs, newspapers, books and lots of pictures.
The "Glennie
Burford Room," a repository for Elkview history, had a welcome sign and lots
of interesting people who liked to talk, story-tell and joke.
I first went to Maynor's place at the urging of my friend Charleston Attorney
George Daugherty, better known to many as The Earl of Elkview.
"A place
you won't want to leave," he said, and he was right.
Daughtery spent lots of time there. "He provided a place for us to come and
share our joys and tragedies. Maynor cared more about our community and
the success of folks than any other person. He would rank among the most
loving and charitable," said Daugherty.
In many ways, Larry Maynor was a throw-back, holding on to disappearing
rituals and culture.
He knew the value of the bench in front of the old country
stores, and he took it inside his store.
In writing about my finest recollections of Calhoun life, the reflections center
mostly on a time and place where people actually talked to one another.
Larry Maynor did his best to keep that important tradition, and for that he
will always be remembered.
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