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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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Mark My Words: Tales of Brandon Webb, O.J. Mayo, and Other Sports Legends of Northeastern Kentucky SOFTBACK By Mark Maynard -
SOFTBACK By Mark Maynard -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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
