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Stuart's autobiographical account of much of his educational career. This great Kentucky novelist, short story writer, poet, and teacher writes about his boyhood, his elementary school and high school experiences, and his days at Lincoln Memorial University. He tells of teaching in a one room rural schoolhouse, his experiences as a county school superintendent, and his stay as a teacher at American University in Cairo, Egypt. He explains what classroom methods worked best, and why, and speculates on what has gone wrong with American schools. By Jesse Stuart -
Born April 5, 1909, Gertrude Ramey grew up on a small farm near Morehead, Kentucky. One of six children, their lives were full of fun, with books, and songs, in a family that turned work into fun. Her life was almost "idyllic" until at age nine, Armistice Day (Nov 11, 1918), "Spanish Flu" killed her mother, her older brother Taylor, and her sister Margaret. The following spring she had a vision or dream that she would some day care for lonely children like herself. During World War II (1944), her dream came true, and citizens of Boyd County (Kentucky) rallied to help her open a Children's Home. She wrote about her experiences hoping her friend, Jesse Stuart, would write a book about her life. But after Jesse's heart attack in 1954, this project faltered. Then after forty-five years of caring for others, Gertrude totally collapsed and needed others to care for her. Amidst the background of a work in turmoil, her mission continued and her legend lives on. SOFTBACK By Dr. Robert Emerson French -
Prepare to Meet Me in Heaven: The Story of Gertrude Ramey SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Dr. Robert Emerson French -
Appalachian Values is a series of essays written to counter the persistent negative stereotypes about Appalachian people. The stories used to illustrate various values are accompanied by powerful photographs of Appalachian people and settings. Covering values from our Early Appalachian forebears to today, the books speaks of freedom, religion, independence, self-reliance, pride, neighborliness, hospitality, familism, personalism, humility, love of place, patriotism, sense of beauty, and sense of humor. It gives a positive view of Appalachian culture that will serve students and a general audience, too. Essays by Loyal Jones Photography by Warren Brunner -
Jesse Stuart wrote a collection of poetry, Songs of a Mountain Plowman, that was published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation in 1986, two years after Stuart's death. The book was edited by the late Jim Wayne Miller, a great Appalachian scholar and long-time member of the JSF Board of Directors. Twenty-five years after its first appearance, the JSF re-issued this Special Edition hardback, an important book for Stuart fans who wish to understand Stuart's development as a poet. HARDBACK By Jesse Stuart -
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Within the pages of this book, more than sixty-five local combat veterans of World War II share their experiences. There are stories of life in the foxholes, on the beaches, having ships torpedoed out from under them on the deep oceans, and bailing out of burning bombers behind enemy lines. Soldiers and sailors and airmen saw their young friends die beside them but found no time for mourning. They spent sleepless nights with artillery shells exploding all around. They were scared and homesick. Sam Piatt, calling on his thirty years of experience as an award-winning daily newspaper reporter, relates these stories so poignantly that at times it seems the reader can actually hear and feel the battle as they are described. Men of Valor is a book that will keep the reader riveted to the combat stories of World War II veterans from Ohio and Kentucky. SOFTBACK By Sam Piatt -
Sharon McDonald grew up on a farm near Shelbyville in Bedford County, Tennessee, and, more the seven decades later, she still lives in the same house and on that same land, Her story of family live covers four generations, It is a strong contribution to our understanding of the hard-working middle class that has made America a great nation - a middle class that is beginning to appear more frequently in Appalachian memoirs. It is a gracefully written remembrance that neither exploits nor exaggerates the difficulties of rural life in southern Appalachia. It is a rich tapestry of the work, emotions, thoughts, and words of a family that represents millions of unrecognized rural people who are the true flesh and blood of history. SOFTBACK By Sharon McDonald -
By Jane B. Stephenson -
A unique and personal book bound for its own kind of immortality. Head o' W-Hollow has a permanent if modest historical value. Jesse Stuart has a "rattrap memory" for turns of speech, and he has given a socio-historical record of daily life in his remote world — now so much less remote and more changed. By Jesse Stuart REVIEWS "Stuart's first book of short stories remains haunting, powerful, and humorous." "A unique book, bound for its own kind of immortality." — Robert Penn Warren "The most honest writing that has ever been done about Kentucky mountain people." — The Nation -
Written by a beloved American author who grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians, these twenty-one short stories explore the daily lives and activities of Kentucky mountaineers. Life, animate existence, absorbs Jesse Stuart. Never is it more vital than when juxtaposed with death, hence the contrasting motifs of life and death permeating his work. In this book, Stuart tells the stories of the hills and the men who live there. They “curse the mountains,” but love them too, he says. Existing in dimensions of real geography and elaborate imagination, Stuart moves easily between autobiography and fiction and often does not bother to distinguish one from the other. Greenup County, Kentucky blends into Greenwood County, and W-Hollow in both fiction and fact is subject to the proprietorship of the bard of Appalachia. By Jesse Stuart -
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Jesse Stuart's honest, earthy writing about the southern hill folk he knows so well has made him one of America's foremost authors of fiction. Here are twenty of his best stories that spring up from the pungent soil of Kentucky, told in his plain but highly colorful style. Stories about the Stuart family and neighbors from his beloved W-Hollow, all packed with Kentucky characters of all sorts and sizes. By Jesse Stuart -
Here are twenty-one tales from Kentucky’s inimitable and beloved storyteller, Jesse Stuart. Full of high, rambunctious humor, quick-paced as a maple tree against an October hill—these stories are Stuart in his best form—the form that has made him one of most widely read authors in America. Read here about the man who coveted a steam shovel and stole it piece by piece, or about the celebrated eating contest between Sam Whiteapple and the game rooster, or about the hill farmer who wanted to clear and farm one last spot of new ground before he died. Although he has a sharp eye for human foibles and infirmities, Stuart never fails to write of his people with affection or to see that justice is done them. By Jesse Stuart
