Paul Green's Wordbook

The culmination of more than sixty years of observing and collecting superstitions, customs, cures, riddles, games, stories, songs, and beliefs Paul Green's Wordbook: An Alphabet of Reminiscence was published in 1990. A personal collection of folk traditions, Paul Green thought that these common idioms served to showcase the heritage of mankind. With roots in eastern North Carolina, Green took inspiration from his peers to write down the traditions of his home state in 1600 pages. The first rendition of Paul Green's Wordbook was released in March 1937 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and tentatively titled Folk Beliefs and Practices in Central and Eastern North Carolina 1926-28. It took Green most of his life to revise the workbook until it was in its final state in 1990.

Paul Green (1894-1981), winner of the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, pioneered a new form of theater with his "symphonic drama," The Lost Colony. A native of Harnett County, North Carolina, he taught philosophy and drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.