LOCAL PEOPLE & PLACES

Many of the highlanders in Virginia's western mountains live in small communities with names such as Stonebruise, Novelty, and Wangle Junction, and here their stories are chronicled by one of their own, Floyd County native and Pulitzer-nominated journalist Rex Bowman, roving reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Colorful characters abound, from folks in Independence who have a decades-old tradition of racing outhouses, to the brawlers in St. Paul who once gave the town a reputation for world-class wickedness, to the purveyors of Roanoke's Texas Tavern who have never in seventy years put ketchup on their hamburgers. Blue Ridge Chronicles is a delightful look at how the lively have lived in Southwest Virginia's backcountry.

Fabled in American history, the Scotch-Irish played a principal role in settling the Southern Appalachian Mountains. From the original settlers sprang a culture based on their Old World ways; along with their daily habits, they brought with them a reverence for the King James Bible and the land providing their sustenance. Isolated in mountain pockets, the culture existed on the periphery of mainstream America until the late 20th century. In Rediscovering the South¹s Celtic Heritage, author Barry Vann explores the roots and branches of America¹s pioneering Celts, following their influence through the ages to the present day, setting forth the bold theory that Celts in America form a distinct ethnic group separate from the dominant Anglo-Saxon culture.

Carol Morgan Hunt just completed her first book, a historical novel based on Conrad Amburger, a German immigrant who went west to start a new life in 1717. She has researched this book extensively, has attended Germanna Foundation workshops, and has followed in the footsteps of Conrad and other characters both to Bonnigheim, GrossGartach, Schwaigern, Heilbronn, Kircheim am Neckar to the Falls of the Rappahannock, Germanna, Mt. Pony, and Deep Run. She did not always find the answers to the questions, but she tried to absorb the environment of the characters.

Based on Linda Goodman's critically acclaimed one-woman show, this book presents the story to introduce six unique women, each of whom offers a glimpse of the Appalachian culture.

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.

Sarah Bishop Hart, a small, gentle woman from the hills of Southwest Virginia, was born into a world without hope. When she was five years old, her father hired her out to a family she had never met. From that day, Sarah never knew a real home or what it was like to have a true family. Keepsakes for the Heart sets the life of Sarah Bishop Hart against the mountains and the coal mines, The Great Depression and two World Wars, the women’s movement, and other upheavals of the 20th century. Sarah’s simple mountain philosophy offers a lesson to anyone who has ever thought about giving up.

Sarah Bishop Hart, a small, gentle woman from the hills of Southwest Virginia, was born into a world without hope. When she was five years old, her father hired her out to a family she had never met. From that day, Sarah never knew a real home or what it was like to have a true family. Keepsakes for the Heart sets the life of Sarah Bishop Hart against the mountains and the coal mines, The Great Depression and two World Wars, the women’s movement, and other upheavals of the 20th century. Sarah’s simple mountain philosophy offers a lesson to anyone who has ever thought about giving up.

The Joslins have brought together another outstanding collection of articles and photographs that capture the spirit of the Southern Appalachians. This volume draws its material from the same wealth of mountain culture as the first, with stories and photographs of the mountains of today and yesterday creating a vivid picture of a vital way of life. Long-time mountain dwellers will find that the Joslins “ain’t put nothing in and ain’t taken nothing away,” as one satisfied reader of the first volume explains. Familiar friends and lifelong ways of getting along in the invigorating but sometimes harsh climate will be recognized and appreciated. And more of Michael Joslin’s outstanding photographs are included in this volume. Those who love the mountains and cherish their people, places, and ways will find this book a joy to read now and one to be treasured for years to come.

Samuel Doak was originally published by the Pioneer Printers of Washington College Academy as one of the school’s bicentennial projects. This book follows the previously printed Doak series which included Samuel Doak, 1749-1830 by William Gunn Calhoun and Samuel Doak: A Tennessee Pioneer by Marion Horton. This book adds fresh details about education in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as young men prepared to preach or teach. The frontier life was rigorous, the people strong in their faith and hungry for education. The stalwart, forceful Doak seemed to be an answer to their prayers.

Written by his personal friend, this biography engagingly tells of the amazing hunter and woodsman, Wilburn Waters, who still evokes awe among hunters in Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia. Chronicling his life from childhood and beyond, the book describes his settling on White Top Mountain, where he hunted bears, deer, and wolves. Of the latter he sometimes pursued entire packs, once returning from his winter's hunt with 42 wolves killed. Included in this work is the article "Wilburn Waters: The Hermit-Hunter of White Top Mountain," written by Douglas Summers Brown.