A man without arms from Chapel Hill who chainsaws trees with his feet; a 101-year-old woman from Southern Pines whose homemade snake oil cures every ailment; a Johnston County tinkerer whose floor-to-ceiling paper chain swallows half his living room; a Sunset Beach mailbox perched in a sand dune; and a Jackson County rock carved by a giant.

These are stories Scott Mason has reported for WRAL-TV in Raleigh and which he writes about in his new book, Tar Heel Traveler: Journeys Across North Carolina (Globe Pequot Press, Oct. 2010).

The book is a blend of oral history and memoir with a good dose of quirky humor. It takes its name from Scott’s nightly feature series on WRAL. He’s the TV reporter – the Tar Heel Traveler – who journeys across North Carolina profiling colorful characters and out-of-the-way places.

Tar Heel Traveler appeals to anyone with a North Carolina connection. They’ll come to know people they’ve never met, travel places they’ve never visited, and learn things they didn’t know. And they’ll laugh a lot along the way!