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This selection of stories span Stuart's entire career as a writer of short stories. None of the stories have been previously published in any of the collections of his short stories. The book includes Stuart's thoughts on the literary form of the short story, first published in 1975, and never reprinted. David R. Palmore searched through many magazines and journals, some quite obscure, to bring together the collection. By Jesse Stuart -
In The Good Spirit of Laurel Ridge, Jesse Stuart provides a tale of the Kentucky hill country which constantly excites, amuses, and amazes. The central character of this book is Theopolis Akers, "Old Opp" to his friends, the hermit of Laurel Ridge who is recognized as one of Stuart's most colorful character creations. Hermit, squatter, steadfast believer in the world of the spirits (sperets, he calls them), "Old Opp" lives a simple life atop deserted Laurel Ridge. He spends his days tilling his small patch of corn, gathering roots and nuts, or fishing with his bow and arrow. By night he sits on his porch, chews calmus weed, and listens to the wind blowing through the horse-hair harp strung up on the cabin wall. If he wants company, there is always his hound dog to talk to or various spirits to commune with including his dead wife, Beadie. By Jesse Stuart -
The thirty-four stories in this collection, selected from Stuart’s 460 published stories, reveal the variety and range of his fictional world. Some reflect the excitement of growing up in Appalachia. Others portray the comedy and tragedy in the lives of the strong, rough-hewn characters of his world. Running through all of them, like a golden thread, is Stuart’s celebration of the land and its rhythms of life. SOFTBACK By Jesse Stuart -
First published in 1949, Jesse Stuart's now classic personal account of his twenty years of teaching in the mountain region of Kentucky has enchanted and inspired generations of students and teachers. With eloquence and wit, Stuart traces his twenty-year career in education, which began, when he was only seventeen years old, with teaching grades one through eight in a one-room schoolhouse. Before long Stuart was on a path that made him principal and finally superintendent of city and county schools. The road was not smooth, however, and Stuart faced many challenges, from students who were considerably older — and bigger — than he to well-meaning but distrustful parents, uncooperative administrators and, most daunting, his own fear of failure. Through it all, Stuart never lost his abiding faith in the power of education. A graceful ode to what he considered the greatest profession there is, Jesse Stuart's The Thread That Runs So True is timeless proof that "good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal." By Jesse Stuart -
Come Gentle Spring, a collection of twenty short stories, was first published in 1969. The title clearly reflects Jesse Stuart's philosophy of life, the joy and hopefulness he feels for humanity, symbolized by the coming to Spring. Jesse Stuart's works always seem to focus on the essential goodness of humanity. He depicts a simple world where people exist the best they can. He focuses on the positive and life-enriching qualities of laughter, joy, respect, kindness, and love. By Jesse Stuart -
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Seven By Jesse is a collection of stories originally published by the Indiana Council of Teachers of English in 1970. These stories share a common theme, as they deal with survival of old ways of life in Appalachia and with a culture in transition. By Jesse Stuart -
By Jesse Stuart -
Betty Pace walks readers through a tumultuous year in the life of Fern, an adventurous, trailblazing first-year teacher, who has traveled deep into the hills of Eastern Kentucky in August 1961 to teach twenty-one students in a one room schoolhouse. Before the sun rises, Fern begins her day trudging through the thick terrain and hollers of Twisting Sourwood where she happens upon wild animals, small town secrets and a murder of a young boy and his mother. Fern and two other teachers leave their homes across Kentucky and West Virginia to board with the Sizemore family who teach the young educators how to cook, pack in coal, play Rook and steer clear of feuding families and flooded waters as they navigate their way through reading, arithmetic and writing lessons with their students. While nestled in a schoolhouse deep in the Appalachian mountains, Fern aspires to raise enough money to travel to exciting places that she has read about where she will eat in fancy restaurants that are surrounded by tall building stocked full of sharp dressed businessmen who work in high paying jobs. SOFTBACK VERSION By Betty Pace -
The Big Sandy Valley — sometimes called Kentucky's last frontier — has been shaped by a series of extraordinary individuals and families over the course of the past 200 years. Hidden Heroes of the Big Sandy Valley profiles and celebrates an exclusive group of these people. The book contains 22 biographical essays and one cultural essay by 17 authors. The people who are profiled in this book are true representatives of millions of people who have populated the Big Sandy Valley for more than two hundred years. HARDBACK Compiled and edited by James M. Gifford -
Jesse Stuart labored eleven years over Album of Destiny. The idea for this work came to him in 1932 as he idly turned through the pages of an old family album which contained pictures of his youthful mother and father, posing before apple trees in bloom. Later pictures showed them worn and aged, and Stuart thought how he who was now young and in the vigor of his life must complete the same cycle that his parents had gone through. He began to write poetry for this volume in the 1930s. Before he was through he had written two thousand poems. HARDBACK, LIMITED EDITION By Jesse Stuart -
Jesse Stuart began this book in 1932 at Vanderbilt University as a paper for an English professor who asked his seminar students to turn in a maximum of 18 typewritten ages. In the 11 days allotted for the assignment, Stuart crammed 322 pages with the story of his young life. These ageless, universal experiences were told by a vibrant, precocious young man who became one of the most widely read American authors of the 20th century. For the young reader who has yet to experience the transition from childhood to adulthood, this book can be an inspiring guide. For older readers, it may be a beautiful trip down memory lane. HARDBACK By Jesse Stuart -
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
