"Take Your Lover to Lover's Leap for Valentine's Day," Suggests Co-Author of Lover's Leap Legends
Crystal Payton adds, "Just look, don't leap"
SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "Cliffs throughout America had stories of Indian princesses jumping to their death when their dictatorial chieftain fathers forbade their marriage to a brave of another tribe," related Crystal Payton, co-author of the new book, Lover's Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco. This Lens & Pen Press 352-page all-color book is illustrated with vintage souvenirs and current photographs of obscure and well-known Lover's Leaps.
Husband Leland explained, "Long ago, courting couples flocked to these overlooks. Curiously they found these tragic tales moving and romantic, even though skeptics doubted their authenticity."
"When we visited some of the most famous Lover's Leaps we saw couples holding hands, even embracing and kissing—'trysting,' as their grandparents called it," Crystal related.
"These excessively sentimental stories say much about the cavalier treatment of Native Americans in popular culture, the nineteenth century cult of romantic suicide, and possibly the desire of girls then to choose a life partner without the usual parental interference," reflected Leland. "But jumping off a cliff because Dad disapproves of your boyfriend seems extreme."
For a quirky Valentine Day (or anytime) visit here are a few publicly accessible Lover's Leaps. The views are sensational—just don't get too close to the edge:
LOVER'S LEAP PARK, HANNIBAL, MISSOURI
A great place to begin a tour of Mark Twain's scenic hometown is Lover's Leap City Park. From it you have a panorama of the town and sweeping view of the Mississippi River. Its Indian legend is cast on a bronze marker.
ROCK CITY, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE
Yes, the mega-promoted tourist attraction has kitschy gnomes peering out from the flowerbeds and from behind boulders but the view from its Lover's Leap cliff is truly awesome.
CAMERON PARK, WACO, TEXAS
It has incredible sculptured cliffs and a great view of the Bosque River, but the Indian legend of Wah-Wah-Tee's leap is so hokey that folklorist J. Frank Dobie left it out of his authoritative Legends of Texas.
NOCCALULA FALLS PARK, GADSDEN, ALABAMA
It's a pretty place and the eleven-foot tall bronze sculpture of Noccalula poised on the edge of the gorge to jump must be seen to be believed.
"Lover's Leap Legends is the definitive visual sourcebook for an American tradition that is as disturbing as it is amusing." - Jared Farmer, author of On Zion's Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape
Reviewers Bookwatch wrote: "An inherently fascinating, beautifully illustrated, impressively informative, expertly organized and presented study, Lover's Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco is an extraordinary, unique, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library collections."
Available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and publisher's website, hypercommon.com which has more about other Lover's Leaps you might visit across America and their legends.
Leland and Crystal Payton have collaborated on more than a dozen books on popular culture and the Ozarks. They have two sons and live in Springfield, MO.
LOVER'S LEAP LEGENDS: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco
Leland & Crystal Payton
ISBN: 978-0-9673925-9-2
352 pages 7.5x10 545 color illustrations
$35.00
Contact:
Leland Payton
LENS & PEN PRESS
Email [email protected]
Tel 417 886 7124
Cell 417 894 4030
www.beautifulozarks.com
www.hypercommon.com/press-kit
Related Links
http://hypercommon.com/
SOURCE Leland and Crystal Payton
Share this article