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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 -
Greenup County, bordering the Ohio River in northeastern Kentucky, is rich in history and culture. Settlers first arrived in the mid-1700s and carved farms from hardwood forests. Lucy Virgin Downs, the first white child born west of the Alleghenies, lived in Greenup County, as did Jesse Boone, brother of Kentucky icon Daniel Boone. The 20th century brought industrialization and economic diversification to the historically agricultural area. Ashland Oil, a Fortune 500 company, maintained corporate headquarters in Greenup County. Two steel mills, a large rail yard, an excellent hospital, and a number of surface mines also provided employment to many people who continued to work their family farms, too. This economic progress was mirrored in every aspect of country life as education, health care, and recreation all improved dramatically. Today Greenup County’s history is appreciated by both longtime residence and cultural tourists. James M. Gifford serves as chief executive and senior editor of the Jesse Stuart Foundation, a regional publishing house. Dr. Gifford’s coauthors, Anthony and Suzanna Stephens, are eastern Kentuckians. The authors gathered photographs from dozens of personal and library collections.SOFTBACK By James M. Gifford, Anthony and Suzanna Stephens -
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville’s debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army’s rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. SOFTBACK VERSION By Katherine Sharp Landeck -
“Wit, Wisdom and Other Stuff” is a compilation of 125 commentaries. He is a former reporter for The Associated Press and for newspapers in Ironton, Ohio, Ashland, Ky. and Huntington, W.Va. Keith Kappes is a retired university vice president who returned to community journalism to be publisher of the Morehead News Group for six years. Two years before this book project, he wrote and published “The View from my Keyboard." SOFTBACK VERSION By Keith Kappes -
The Scotia Widows: Inside Their Lawsuit Against Big Daddy Coal On March 9, 1976, a violent explosion, fueled by high concentrations of methane gas and coal dust, ripped through the Scotia mine in the heart of Eastern Kentucky coal country. The blast killed fifteen miners who were working nearly three and a half miles underground; two days later, a second explosion took the lives of eleven rescue workers. For the miners’ surviving family members, the loss of their husbands, fathers, and sons was only the beginning of their nightmare. By Gerald M. Stern -
Everything from gritty reality to the supernatural rears its head in Clement County: Tales of Mystery & Intrigue from Kentucky. The authors write of the fictional southeastern Kentucky county through an anthology drawn from their over 40 years of writing together. SOFTBACK VERSION By Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet -
Doc, My Tiger's Got An Itch: The True Story of a Kentucky Hill Country Veterinarian Who Occasionally Runs Away With The Circus HARDBACK VERSION By John G. Martin -
Following World War I, our nation entered a decade of national prosperity. Businesses flourished, and the standard of living rose. Jobs were plentiful and Americans were better fed, clothed, and housed than they had ever been before. However, the prosperity of the roaring twenties did not filter down to the rural poor of Appalachia. When Jack Ellis was born to Lon and Dot Ellis in 1927, the family lived near Morehead, Kentucky in a dilapidated, leaky, rat-infested house with no screens on the windows and one room that had a dirt floor. By the time Jack entered grade school, America was mired in the Great Depression. During the 30s, his father was employed by the Civilian Conservation Corp. for several years, but his mother became discouraged and depressed after losing her teaching position in the Rowan County schools. By Jack D. Ellis -
Goodbye Kate, Billy C. Clark’s sixth novel, is based in part on a mule he once owned. In the novel, Kate is found far back in the hills by a lonely country boy named Isaac Warfield. He lives close enough to Tatesburg, the nearest town, to walk to school there, but it’s a small town, and his home is isolated. Isaac has graduated from the little country school he has attended and the other members of his class will be moving on to another school, or to no school at all. He won’t have much contact with his friends anymore, and the nearest neighbor, a money-hungry man named Simm Johns, has no children and is “mean as a striped snake.” Isaac finds Kate when he goes back into the hills to pick some blackberries for his mother. The little mule is apparently as lonely as Isaac is, and she adopts him and follows him home – as far as the pine grove above the house, that is. By Billy C. Clark -
SOFTBACK By Mark Maynard -
Mark My Words: Tales of Brandon Webb, O.J. Mayo, and Other Sports Legends of Northeastern Kentucky SOFTBACK By Mark Maynard -
He had reached an age well past the three-score and ten that the Scriptures referred to as the allotted span of man’s life on earth. So it was understandable that he spent more time these days looking back than he did in looking to the future. He wondered if others were affected by nostalgia as strongly as he was of late. For the third time in a week, he had come awake in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling, tears flowing down the sides of his face and onto the sheet. Oh how he longed to see again the people and the places in that little Ohio River village where he spent his boyhood days. SOFTBACK By Sam Piatt -
The protagonist of this novel is heroic, majestic, a born leader, a devoted husband and proud father. He is destined to be long remembered by whoever reads about his life. He is a great auk. By Allan Eckert -
Looking through the pages of this amazing book is like traveling back in time. The brilliant black and white photography of Joe Clark and a forward and descriptive text by Jesse Stuart, makes these rural Tennessee images come more alive than a Norman Rockwell painting. There is something so refreshing in this age of digital photographic trickery and enhancements to see the purity of these incredible images. Do yourself a favor and check out this book. Whether your interest is photography, nostalgia, or history, you will not be disappointed. By Joe Clark Foreword by Jesse Stuart -
Throughout these stories the Kentucky hill country is a persuasive evocative background. It is in this land of sharp contrasts and powerful traditions, between barren, razorbacked hills of rock and yellow clay and lush green valleys, that a proud people act out the daily drama of their lives, here recorded by Jesse Stuart's sensitive pen. By Jesse Stuart -
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 -
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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 -
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 -
The Ohio River, a principal route for pioneers pushing westward along its 981-mile course from Pennsylvania through Kentucky and Indiana to Illinois, was the scene of fierce battles among warring Indian tribes, Shawnee, Miami, Cherokee, Iroquois, etc., and between Native Americans and white settlers. Tapping journals, letters, diaries and government memoranda from 1768 to 1799, and fleshing out his panoramic chronicle with reconstructed dialogue adapted from primary sources, historian-novelist Eckert has fashioned an epic narrative history of the struggle for dominance of the Ohio River Valley that makes compelling reading. The lives of notable pioneer families (Zanes, Bradys, Wetzels), incursions of traders, explorers, colonists, adventurers and the historic exploits of George Washington, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark and others intersect. SOFTBACK By Allan Eckert -
The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame (2013-2017). HARDBACK By James B. Goode -
Oliver Elliott “Zeke” Stayner grew up during the Great Depression and returned to Peebles, Ohio, after serving in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Zeke wed his hometown sweetheart, became a small-business owner, and began a family, settling into the post-war American milieu, well on his way to a happily-ever-after life. That changed in a flash on the night of the Monday after Thanksgiving, 1949, when Zeke, characteristically on a mission of mercy, was brutally slain. It’s from this event that the book draws its title, with the poignant image of a wife looking for her husband, not yet knowing what she would find, on a dark, frigid, rainy night that served as both reality and metaphor. SOFTBACK By Robert E. Hawkins -
Jesse Stuart Junior Book Sarah Powell had worked a day for her neighbor. For her pay, she was given the choice of a quarter or a little pig who was the runt of the litter. By Jesse Stuart Edited by Cathy R. Roberts -
A retired publisher shares the wit, wisdom and real-life observations of his most popular newspaper commentaries in East Kentucky. SOFTBACK VERSION By Keith Kappes -
The mountain is a lonely place. Welcome to Sourwood, a small Kentucky town inhabited by men and women unique and yet eerily familiar. Among its joyful and tragic citizens we meet the crafty, spirited Caleb and his curious younger brother; Pearl, a suspected witch, and her sheltered daughter, Thanie; superstitious Eli; and the doomed orphan Girty. In Sourwood, the mountain is both a keeper of secrets and an imposing, isolating presence, shaping the lives of all who live in its shadow. Strong in both the voice and sensibilities of Appalachia, the stories in Miss America Kissed Caleb are at turns heartbreaking and hilarious. In the title story, young Caleb turns over his hard-earned dime to the war effort when he receives a coaxing kiss from Miss America, who sweeps into Sourwood by train, "pretty as a night moth." Caleb and his brother share in the thrills and uncertainties of growing up, making an accidental visit to a brothel in "Fourth of July" and taming a "high society" pooch in "The Jimson Dog." These stories invoke a place and a time that have long passed―a way of living nearly extinct―yet the beauty of the language and the truth revealed in the characters' everyday lives continue to resonate with modern readers. By Billy C. Clark
