By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS —

Remarkable lady.

A sweet soul who had a heart the size of a school bus.

Tough.

Tenacious.

Warrior for justice.

Those are a few of the phrases used to describe the late Dot Jackson at a memorial for her held Sunday afternoon at the Pickens Community Center.

But the word used over and over to describe Jackson, who passed away in December, was “storyteller.”

“Dot was a phenomenal storyteller,” emcee Ryan Ferrell said.

The memorial included music, readings from some of Jackson’s work, an excerpt from a play and many stories about the woman herself.

Ferrell began by listing some of the accomplishments throughout Dot’s storied life.

She was a journalist and columnist who worked for the Charlotte Observer and the Greenville News, among other newspapers and publications, including the Foxfire books.

“Dot was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize,” Ferrell said. “I did not know that.”

Her novel, “Refuge,” was named the Southern Appalachian Book of the Year, and Jackson was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of the Arts.

Jackson was also a community activist who “fiercely fought for local environment concerns,” Ferrell said.

“Dot, through her smile, her wit, her poetry, has brought color to our life,” Ferrell said. said. “Everyone knows that Dot was a

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