Ernie West was a Greenup County man who received the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. Ernie was born in Russell, Kentucky, on September 2, 1931. He grew up in the Methodist Children’s Home orphanage in Versailles and dropped out of high school [...]
Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “All Over but the Shoutin’,” continues his personal history of the South with an evocation of his mother’s childhood in the Appalachian foothills during the Great Depression. The book is “Ava’s Man,” the powerful story of Charlie [...]
When you read this book, you will not find stories about Joe Bates, Terry McBrayer, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jesse Stuart, Don Gullett or dozens of other Greenup Countians who have achieved fame and prominence. The thirty essays in this book are about the county’s [...]
“True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia,” is a book that captures the spirit of Christmas in 43 stories by 39 authors. Thirty-five of the stories are from Kentucky and the others are from neighboring states. This book was sponsored by JSF Board [...]
In the 1940s and 1950s, books opened my mind to the big world beyond my poor Appalachian home. When I was a little boy, my grandmother, Clara Moore Clark, would walk to town with me so that I could check out books from the [...]
I moved to Ashland in 1985, and I have provided executive leadership for the Jesse Stuart Foundation for the past 40 years. During that time, the JSF has received dozens of state, regional, and national awards. For example, on Saturday June 2, 2007, I [...]
Jesse Stuart’s mother, Martha Hilton Stuart, died May 11, 1951. Three years later, on December 23, 1954, Jesse’s father Mitchell (Mick) died. As Mick lay on his death bed, he reflected: “I’ve been lonesome without Sal for nearly three years and I’d like to [...]
When Harry Caudill, a recipient of the Purple Heart, returned to Kentucky after serving as an infantry soldier during World War II, he resumed his studies at the University of Kentucky. Later, he graduated from law school and returned home to Whitesburg, Kentucky, to [...]
Billy C. Clark began life in storybook fashion. On December 29, 1928, Bertha Clark, who was pregnant with her seventh child, went to Huntington, West Virginia, to shop for second-hand clothes for her six children. While shopping, she experienced labor pains. Quickly gathering her [...]
The late Poet Laureate of Kentucky, Jesse Hilton Stuart, published 2,000 poems, 460 short stories, and more than 60 books. Yet his contributions are more than literary. During his life, this important educator and charismatic author served as a leader for the people of [...]
