SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Max Hunter, a folklorist who collected hillbilly songs, stories and expressions such as "Ugly as a mud fence" and "Pretty as a speckled pup," has died of emphysema at 78. Hunter, who died on November 6th, was known to run moonshine through the hills, chase chickens, haul hay or perform just about any task he could trade for a song or story. According to his son, David Hunter, "He devoted 30+ years of his life to trying to preserve and save what hillbillies stood for: simplicity and an easier way of living. It's a part of history that would have been lost if it wasn't for Dad's tapes", he said.
Over the years, Hunter became known as one of America's premier collectors of traditional Ozarks songs and stories, most of which are now on file at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.
During the 1950s, Hunter was a traveling salesman who spent time in motel rooms playing his guitar and recording songs. He later expanded his hobby by recording folklore from people he met on southwestern Missouri's dirt roads.
But pulling a story out of a hillbilly could sometimes be more like pulling teeth. To win their trust, Hunter would offer to help with chores or run errands. "It was very well known that he ran moonshine down into Arkansas on several occasions. Then he would go back and get a song for doing the delivery," David Hunter said. "I think they respected that."
Some of the songs he collected came directly from the Ozarks. Others could be traced back hundreds of years.
Other tidbits Hunter collected included ways to cure warts (start by stealing your neighbour's dish cloth), or suggestions for warding off bad luck after a black cat crosses your path (put your hat on backwards and the cat won't know if you're coming or going).
"It's just a total, different lifestyle that's not out there anymore," Hunter said in an interview last year. "It was a way of life that was slowly being lost. Words were being lost, actions, thoughts, just a complete lifestyle of some people."
