Best known for his nonfiction work “Night Comes to the Cumberlands,” Harry M. Caudill also wrote fiction, including “Dark Hills to Westward: The Saga of Jenny Wiley,” first published in 1969 and recently reprinted in a new softback edition by the Jesse Stuart Foundation. When Jenny was an old woman, a preacher sat down with her and wrote out her captivity story.  Although Jenny may have embellished it many [...]

The recently completed Kentucky Derby is the most famous horse race in history. Run at Churchill Downs in Louisville since 1875, the derby has attracted huge crowds for the last three decades. The Kentucky Derby is a significant part of the cycle of Kentucky life. Well-known humorist and country philosopher Irvin S. Cobb of Paducah, Kentucky was asked to explain the derby’s magic. “If I could do that, I’d [...]

Jesse Stuart was an Appalachian original—a marvelously prolific writing man. Our fretful and fearful twenty-first century is not sure how to classify him or how to value him. So he is often ignored. But America cannot continue to ignore Stuart, for he is a great natural force, like Niagara Falls or old Faithful. Today, long after his death in 1984, Stuart’s words offer hope and direction to thousands and thousands [...]