Summary

When Sandy Holston is on dry land, she’s nothing special: a nurse who wears her hair in a ponytail and prefers a fishing lure as an earring. But once she dons waders, picks up a fly rod, and steps into a river, she becomes a remarkable, elegant fisherwoman who’s at peace with the world. After surviving her marriage to Vernon—her violent, incarcerated ex-husband—peace is just what Sandy needs. So she moves to Damascus, a small town on the Ripshin River, where she plans to enjoy the fishing and the solitude. Finally she is on the brink of a life she desires in a place she loves. But as the Ripshin’s trout mysteriously die off, and as Sandy grows closer to a reclusive neighbor who has a propensity for fishing naked, her plans are put in jeopardy. Will Sandy be able to find peace—in the river or out—once Vernon is released from prison and fulfills his promise to hunt her down?

Contents

0. Prologue: A Fish Like That
1. The Watershed
2. Where a Woman Just Goddamned Wasn't Supposed to Be
3. Penance
4. As Long as the River's Here
5. Epilogue: And Become Undisguised and Naked
6. About Tim Poland

Author

Tim Poland grew up in Ohio and now lives and works in the New River Valley near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia. He is the author of Escapee, a collection of short fiction, and Other Stories, a chapbook of poems. His fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared widely in various literary journals. He is the recipient of a Plattner/Appalachian Heritage Award. His work has been included in the Best of the Net anthology and has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is a professor of English at Radford University in Radford, Virginia.

Read More about Tim Poland.

Reviews

"This quietly briliant novel by Tim Poland balances plot and lyricism, mystery and romance, while evoking characters that find they belong beside-and especially in-the rare wilderness of an Appalachian river. . . .Like the river, this novel does not flash its poetic qualities, but almost hides them, carrying the reader with strong, smooth, invisible currents."
Laura Longsong, Appalachian Heritage

"The genius of The Safety of Deeper Water is its ability to make fishing appealing, even irresistible, to non-anglers. . . .Poland's tale is unusual and unique, especially in its cast of characters and use of metaphor and language"
Rege Behe, The Pittsburgh Tribune

"Tim Poland's The Safety of Deeper Water is more of a novel with suspense than a suspense novel. In fact, it's a fishing novel with suspense—and a first-rate writing job."
Dick Cady, ForeWord Magazine

"From the social consciousness of Wendell Berry, the cosmic awareness of Walt Whitman, and the psychology of grotesqueness of Sherwood Anderson, The Safety of Deeper Water distills a wonderfully integrated spirit of belonging. Very few regional novels have so clearly shown how to shed the burden of a destructive egotism and achieve a transcendence that partakes of a particular terrain's personality."
Don Secreast, author The Rat Becomes Light and White Trash, Red Velvet

"Poland has executed a glimpse into the world just under the rushing waters, the quieter deeper waters where the larger, wiser fish lurk. The Safety of Deeper Water is a well written short novel that tells the tale of the deep change people are capable of and the beauty found in the sport of fly fishing."
Heather Froeschl, The Back Cover

"Tim Poland weaves many characters, recurrent troubles, aspiring hopes, and community life into an organic and ecological whole..."
Thomas F. Fehr, Nantahala: A Review of Writing and Photography in Appalachia

Links

Watch Tim Poland reading this novel: Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Read some of Tim Poland's poetry here.
Tim Poland recently interviewed with Studio Virginia at WVTF. Listen to the full interview here.

Summary

Coal is West Virginia’s bread and butter. For more than a century, West Virginia has answered the energy call of the nation—and the world—by mining and exporting its coal. In 2004, West Virginia’s coal industry provided almost forty thousand jobs directly related to coal, and it contributed $3.5 billion to the state’s gross annual product. And in the same year, West Virginia led the nation in coal exports, shipping over 50 million tons of coal to twenty-three countries. Coal has made millionaires of some and paupers of many. For generations of honest, hard-working West Virginians, coal has put food on tables, built homes, and sent students to college. But coal has also maimed, debilitated, and killed.

Bringing Down the Mountains provides insight into how mountaintop removal has affected the people and the land of southern West Virginia. It examines the mechanization of the mining industry and the power relationships between coal interests, politicians, and the average citizen.

2007 ForeWord Magazine Finalist in Environment

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
     Open for Business: The Shameful Legacy of Natural Resource Extraction
• Chapter 1
     Making Molehills out of Mountains: Power Relationships and the Rise of Strip Mining in Southern West Virginia
• Chapter 2
     Solidarity Forever? The UMWA and Southern West Virginia
• Chapter 3
     To Dance with the Devil: The Social Impact of MTR
• Chapter 4
     “You Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours”: The Political Economy of Coal
• Photographs following page 98
• Chapter 5
     Showdown in Charleston: The Judicial System and MTR
• Chapter 6
     “Show Me Where to Put My Fishing Pole”: The Environmental Impact of MTR
• Epilogue
     Requiem for the Mountains? Central Appalachian Coalfields at a Crossroad
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1
     An excerpt from John D. Rockefeller’s “Citizens to Abolish Surface Mining” Speech
• Appendix 2
     Coal Impoundments Found in the Nine Southern Coalfield Counties of West Virginia
• Appendix 3
     Coal-slurry Spill Information for the Nine Southern Coalfield Counties of West Virginia
• Index

Author

Shirley Stewart Burns holds a BS in news-editorial journalism, a master’s degree in social work, and a PhD in history with an Appalachian focus.  A native of Wyoming County in the southern West Virginia coalfields and the daughter of an underground coal miner, she has a passionate interest in the communities, environment, and histories of the southern West Virginia coalfields. She lives in Charleston, WV. She co-edited Coal Country: Rise Up Against Mountaintop Removal Mining with Mary-Lynn Evans and Silas House.

Reviews

“Bringing Down the Mountains is a clear and impassioned account of the devastation being visited upon the mountains of southern West Virginia by the coal industry. Read it and weep.”
Denise Giardina, author of Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth

“Shirley Stewart Burns . . . reminds us that the effects of certain economic practices might still be described in such old-fashioned terms as ‘devastation’ and ‘destruction.’”
Tycho de Boer, Journal of Southern History

“[Burns] exercises considerable skill in detailing the expansion of mountaintop removal (MTR) and its growing opposition.”
Chad Montrie, author of Making a Living: Work and Environment in the United States

“Burns offers a cautionary tale of the future . . . The crisis Burns defines has implications for all of us and for our children. This book deserves a wide audience.”
John H. Barnhill,Technology and Culture

“Bringing Down the Mountains is one of the finest books yet regarding mountaintop removal mining and the destruction of the Appalachian culture and environment. Shirley Stewart Burns has written the most comprehensive account of the struggle that has been taking place in the coalfields of southern West Virginia and the long-term ecological and social consequences of mountaintop removal mining. It is a thoroughly researched and eloquent book that brings alive the true voices and great dignity of a courageous people.”
Jack Spadaro, former superintendent of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy

“Everyone in America should read this important book. Shirley Stewart Burns understands this complex issue intimately, and she eloquently explains it from all the various angles, exposing the horrors of mountaintop removal and the way it is not only destroying the heart of a place and its people, but also affecting everyone. This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to educate themselves on this disturbing, irresponsible, and disrespectful form of Big Business gone awry.”
Silas House, author of Clay's Quilt and The Coal Tattoo

“Written with passion and a sense of urgency, Bringing Down the Mountains is one of the most important resources available on the causes and consequences of mountaintop removal. It is historically grounded and well-documented but also remarkably current and accessible. It is always informative and alternately infuriating and inspiring as the author recounts the incestuous power relationships between the coal industry and local and national politicians, and the courage and determination of local people fighting to save their land and heritage. This should be required reading in every high school civics classroom in West Virginia and for all who care about the future of the Appalachian coalfields.”
Stephen Fisher, editor of Fighting Back in Appalachia: Traditions of Resistance and Change

“Bringing Down the Mountains provides a powerful, fact-filled analysis of controversial mountaintop removal coal mining in the context of more than a century of social, economic, and environmental injustice experience by coalfield communities. Shirley Burns shines a bright light on King Coal and its handmaidens who have exploited the vast mineral wealth of the region, reaping huge profits while coal mining communities continue to experience poverty, high unemployment, and economic distress.”
Patrick McGinley, West Virginia University College of Law

“The common ground on mountaintop removal is as narrow as the Appalachian hollows being filled in by MTR. Those on both sides of this deep divide, however, will learn something from this highly readable study which analyzes the issue within its political, economic, environmental, and human context. Written from the community perspective, it gives voice to the powerless who are most dramatically affected by this destructive practice.”
Ronald L. Lewis, West Virginia University

“Bringing Down the Mountains not only tells the story of coalfield residents’ fight against mountaintop removal, but it puts this tale into the important historical context of the continuing fight between West Virginians and outside coal interests over the use—and sometimes abuse—of the state’s natural resources. Shirley Stewart Burns reminds readers that West Virginia’s history is a long series of fights over who benefits and who is damaged by coal extraction, how the riches created by the coal-based economy are divided, and over who decides the outcome of these vial issues.”
Ken Wards Jr., Charleston Gazette

“Bringing Down the Mountains examines one of the most significant challenges facing the Appalachian region: mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Shirley Burns’s timely and comprehensive study provides the important analyses of the impact of MTR on the environment, people, and communities of southern West Virginia, including economic costs and benefits. While the analyses of community and environmental impacts represent the core of the book, chapters on the United Mine Worker’s role in promoting MTR; the history of legal challenges by citizens; and the relationship between the coal lobby, West Virginia’s political leaders, and campaign finances are also indispensable sources of insight and information for scholars, activists, and students. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves the Appalachian Mountains or is concerned about the American environment.”
Dwight B. Billings, University of Kentucky

“Too often, critics of mountaintop removal mining in southern West Virginia are thought of as outsiders. Shirley Stewart Burns is a native of the West Virginia coalfields, from a mining family, and in Bringing Down the Mountains she speaks with passion and detailed knowledge. She knows these hills; she knows these people. To this she adds a depth of historical research and the persistence of a journalist. She tells stories that should indeed make us weep, for our mountains and for our own appetites that drive this quest for cheap energy, at any cost. This is truly a case in which history can and should change the future we are currently making.”
Gregory A. Good, West Virginia University

“This book is a wake-up call not only for southern West Virginians, but for anyone who uses electricity generated from coal. Bringing Down the Mountains is a must-have for students and scholars of energy policy, the environment, economics, politics, organized labor, and Appalachian studies.”
Katie Fallon, Virginia Tech

“Bringing Down the Mountains is an invaluable study of mountaintop removal, the most devastating coal mining practice in the United States. Burns brings together history, politics, economics, sociology, ecology, biology, and interviews with coalfield residents with an efficacy and efficiency I’ve seen in no other book about the subject. Comprehensive and thoroughly documented, Bringing Down the Mountains is a work we’ve needed for a decade and a must-have for anyone concerned about the future of the Appalachian region.”
Ann Pancake, author of Strange as This Weather Has Been

“Bringing Down the Mountains joins a growing list of books that bring new approaches in environmental and socioeconomic analysis to Appalachia's history and struggles.”
Aviva Chomsky, LABOR

“Bringing Down the Mountains is without a doubt the first book you should read if you want to learn more about Mountaintop Removal, how it came to be, what it does to the earth, and what is being done to try and stop, or at least slow down, this very destructive process.”
Merrill E. Pratt, Life in Small Bites

Summary

In 1998, the W.W. Kellogg Foundation provided funding for four universities to collaborate with surrounding communities on mutually beneficial projects, through the Expanding Community Partnerships Program. In a series of innovative learning collaborations, East Tennessee University, the University of Texas at El Paso, West Virginia University, and Northeastern University established strong, sustainable partnerships with organizations in their local communities. Although each university approached its partnering differently, they all shared the goal of benefiting the underserved communities where they are located and transforming their institutions by enhancing students’ educational experiences and strengthening faculty, student, administration, and staff relationships with local residents. This book shares those relationship-building experiences of the four universities and communities. Highly recommended for all public and higher education administrators; for students and teachers of education, business, and sociology; and for those interested in innovative business and social-service models.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION
  Gail D. McClure, Ph.D., Vice President for Programs, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• PREFACE
  Ronald W Richards, Ph.D., Professor, University of Illinois-Chicago; Former Program Director, W.K. Kellogg Faundation
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  Robert M. Freeland, President, Northeastern University; David C. Hardesty, President, West Virginia University; Diana Natalicio, President, University of Texas at El Paso; Paul E. Stanton, Jr., President, East Tennessee State University
• PART ONE About the Program
  • BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW TO THE EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
    Bruce Behringer, M.P.H., Assistant Vice President and Executive Director, East Tennessee State University; Gerald E. Lang, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research, West Virginia University; Jill Kriesky, Ph.D., Former Director of the Office of Service Learning Programs, West Virginia University
    • Introduction
    • Variability in Models
    • Organizational Framework
    • Implementation Strategies
    • Mix of Academic Disciplines
    • Annual Consortium Conference Themes
    • Summary and References
• PART TWO East Tennessee State University
  • HEARING THAT WHISTLE: ONE DEAN'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
    Donald R. Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of English and Former Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
  • THE WINDING ROAD TO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN APPALACHIA: A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE
    Lari J. Marks, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Human Development and Learning; Ardis Nelson, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Foreign Languages; J.P. Burnham, M.S.W., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Social Work; Thomas Coates, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair, Dept. of Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Sciences; Joyce Duncan, MA., Instructor, Office of Student Life and Leadership, Elizabeth Lawe, MS., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, Dept. of Applied Human Sciences; Amy Lawery, M.A., Program Coordinator, Center for Early Childhood Learning and Development; Edith Seier, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Mathematics
    • Strategies for Curricula Change
    • Faculty Perceptions
    • Conclusion and Notes
  • COMMUNITY-BASED GRADUATE ASSISTANTS: INTEGRAL PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY-UNIVERSITY SETIINGS
    Kris Bowers, Student, City Management Program; Kami Fecho, Student, Storytelling Program; Holly Melendez, Student, Foreign Languages; and Deborah Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of SOcialogy and Anthropology
    • Statement of the Program
    • Methodology
    • Table 1: Graduate Assistant Telephone Survey Items Findings
    • Table 2: Community Based Graduate Assistants' (CBGA) Perceptions Regarding Their Roles
    • Conclusion
    • Student Voices
    • References
  • CREATING THE BRIDGE: THE COMMUNITY'S VIEW OF EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
    Barbara King, Chair, Unicoi County New Century Council; Wilhelmina Williams, Chair, Office of Rural and Community Health and Community Partnerships Governing Board; Sue Howard, Chair, Johnson County New Century Council; Frank Proffitt, Chair, Hawkins County New Century Council; Kimberly Belcher, Chair, Hancock County/Sneedville Community Partners; James E. McLean, Ph. D., Professor and Chairholder, James H. Quillen Chair of Excellence, College of Education
    • How We Began
    • How to Help Partnerships Survive and Grow
    • In a True Partnership, Both Partners Give and Get
    • Ten Common Principles and Themes
    • Summary and References
  • FROM IDIOSYNCRASY TO ILLUSTRATION: TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
    Bert C. Bach, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• PART THREE West Virginia University
  • STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF THE EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM AT WVU
    Jill Kriesky, Ph. D., Former Director of the Office of Seroice Learning Programs
    • Service Learning Partnership Goals, Development, & Design
    • Issues Addressed
    • Community and University Partners
    • Program Outcomes, Challenges, and Sustainability
    • Conclusion and References
  • INCREASING FACULTY ENGAGEMENT USING COMMUNITY-BASED PEDAGOGY
    Mary Furbee, M.A., M.S.J., Former Lecturer, School of Joumalism; Ric MacDowell, M.A., Youth Developrrumt Agent, Extension Service
    • Community-Based Journalism Project
    • Lincoln County Watershed Partnership
    • Other Partnership Experiences
    • Lessons Learned and Recommendations
    • References and Notes
  • SERVICE LEARNING MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF STUDENTS
    Brandi Goss, B.S., and Shane Pettyman, B.S., Undergraduate Students
    • Honors Service-Learning Course
    • Special Olympics Coaching Education
    • Decker's Creek Stream Monitoring Program
    • Community-Based Journalism
    • Success Factors for Students in Service-Learning Courses
    • Benefits to Involved Students
    • Benefits to the Community
    • Conclusion and Notes
  • EXPANDING COMMUNITY CAPACITY WITH ACADEMIC PARTNERS
    Sally L.Johnson, M.S.W, L.G.S.W, Director of Community Based Services, the Children's Home Society of West Virginia; Denise L. Neighbors, M.S.W., L.G.S.W, Director of Community Based Services with the Children's Home Society of West Virginia, 2001- 2003; Bob Gribben, M.S.W, Executive Director of the Fairmont Community Development Partnership.
    • Children's Home Society-Honors Program Partnership
    • Fairmont Community Development Partnership-WVU Extension Partnership
    • Overall Outcomes for Community OrganizatiOns
    • Conclusions and Recommendations
    • Notes
  • ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
    Gerald E. Lang, Ph. D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research
    • Extension Service Effectiveness In Serving the Community
    • Office of Service Learning Programs Effectiveness in Serving the Academic Faculty and Students
    • Extension-Service Learning Model Serving as a Paradigm for Other Land-Grant Institutions
    • Community Design Team as Model for Successful Community Partnerships
    • Cumcular Change And The Community Partnership Approach to Learning
    • Faculty Reward System Supporting Partnership Activities
    • Students Become More SOcially Conscious By Participating in Service-Learning Erpenence
    • Measurable Impact as Noted within the Community
    • Sustainability in the Post-Kellogg Environment
    • Lasting Impact
    • References and Notes
• PART FOUR Northeastern University
  • PARTNERSHIPNN EDUCATION: BRIDGING THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY
    Susan Hicks Spurlock, J.D., School of Education, Associate Director for School and Community Relations
    • Introduction
    • Introduction to Education Course
    • Partnerships
    • Challenges
    • Program in Action: NU Students
    • NU School of Education
    • University
    • Community
    • Conclusion
  • THE FACULTY EXPERIENCE IN NORTHEASTERN'S PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION
    Jean H. Krasnow, Ed.D., M.N.B.A, School of Education, Acting Associate Director for Academic Affairs; Terry L. Haywoode, Ph.D., School of Education, Coordinator of Community Partnerships
    • Introduction
    • Background
    • The Planning Conversations and the Initial Design of the Syllabus
    • The Student Erpenence
    • Student Reflections
    • The Erpen ence of the University and Faculty
    • Concluding Thoughts
  • "CHARLES STREET. HOW YOU FEELIN'?": STUDENTS RESPOND TO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP EXPERIENCES
    Ilsa Bruer, Julia Buonopane, Mauricia Luma, Joanna Principe, Student Authors; Claudia Crose, M.Ed., M.L.S., School of Education, Associate Professor; Erica Lindamood, Ph.D., School of Education, Community Program Consultant, School of Education Faculty/Staff Authors
    • Context
    • Students
    • Conclusion
  • THE VIEW FROM THE COMMUNITY
    Sandras Barnes, Ph.D., Community Partner
    • Introduction: The Victory Generation After-School Program
    • Working With Northeastern
    • NU Students Become Part of the Community
    • Students Must Have Erp1icit Training
    • Addressing the Relationship of Race and Education
    • Conclusion
  • RE-IMAGINING THE CALLING OF THE ACADEMY
    David Hall, J.D., L.L.M., SID., Professor of Law and Former Provost, Northeastern University
• PART FIVE University of Texas at El Paso
• BORDER STORIE S: UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN EL PASO AND CIUDAD JUAREZ
  Kathleen Staudt, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Director; Center for Civic Engagement; Carla Cardoza, M.A., Director of the Institute for Community-Based Teaching and Learning
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats
  • Conclusions
• BINATIONAL EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UTEP TEACHER EDUCATION AND LA ESCUELA PRIMARIA JAIME TORRES BODET
  Elaine Hampton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Teacher Education; Olga Liguori, PhD., Lecturer, Department of Teacher Education
  • College of Education Undergraduates and the Even Start Literacy Project
  • Notes
• COLLEGE OF EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATES AND THE EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PROJECT
  Judith Munter, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Associate Dean of the College of Education
  • Notes
• STUDENT PERSPECTIVES: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON THE BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS
  Teresa Heimer and Azuri L. Gonzalez, Undergraduate Students
• GROWING ON THE BORDER
  Vicki Roberts, Director; Growing on the Border (A Non-Profit Organization)
  • Conclusion
• AN ADMINISTRATOR:S REFLECTIONS ON THE PARTNERSHIP EXPERIENCE
  Howard C. Daudistel, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Dean, College of Liberal Arts
  • Introduction
  • The Vision
  • Links to Institutional History
  • Breaking Down Barriers to Collaboration
  • Keys to Success
• PART SIX Lessons Learned
• LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE KElLOGG EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
  Bruce Behringer, Assistant Vice President and Executive Director, East Tennessee State University; Bert C. Bach, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, East Tennessee State University; Howard C. Daudistel, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, The University of Texas at EI Paso; James Fraser, Dean, School of Education, Northeastern University; Gerald E. Lang, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research, West Virginia University; Jill Kriesky, Director, Office of Service Learning Programs, West Virginia University
  • University-Community Context
  • Tenure and Pronwtion
  • Pronwting Effective Partnerships with Communities
  • Sustainability of Institutional Change through the Curriculum
  • Student Education
  • Sustainability

Author

Summary

Leading the Public University provides an account of the challenges faced by public higher education through the eyes of a man who spent over a decade as the head of a major public university. This compilation of essays, speeches, and articles written during the administration of David C. Hardesty, Jr., depicts the history of West Virginia University during the twelve-year period that he led from 1995–2007 while representing the communication tools he used to achieve cultural change and to advance the university’s official agenda.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction · Follow Your Instincts
• Part One · Lessons Learned: Leadership Principles and Practices
  
  1. Recognizing Lessons Learned at the Turn of the Century: The Final State of the University Address
  2. Ten Characteristics of a Highly Effective Organization
  3. Lifelong Learning for Leaders and Organizations
  4. Building Leadership Capacity
  5. Leader Overlord: The Opperational Risks of a Robust Organizational Agenda
  6. Can Education Be Run Like a Business?
  7. Leading Change: Remarks to the Nataional Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
• Part Two · Mission, Vision, and Values: The President as University Advocate
  
  8. Getting Started: The Inaugural Address
  9. Marking Progress in the State University Addresses
  10. A Plea for Public Support of Higher Education
  11. The Joy of Teaching, Inside and Outside of the Classroom
  12. Involving Parents in Support of the Mission: The West Virginia University Moutaineer Parents Club
      By Susan B. Hardesty
  13. The Vital Role of the Private Donor: West Virginia University's Randolph Cancer Center Gala
  14. The Role of Women at West Virginia University
      By Susan B. Hardesty
  15. The Value and Perils of Intercollegiate Athletics
  16. The Meaning of Social Justice
  17. Priests of the Temple
• Part Three · Teaching Momenst: A President's Call to Action
  
  18. Remarks after September 11
  19. Remarks to New Citizens of the United States at a Naturalization Ceremony
  20. Finding Wisdom in the Information Age
  21. Champion for Youth Development Programs
  22. Celebrating Volunteers: First Annual Conference on Volunteerism
  23. Encouraging Student Success
  24. Supporting Productive Communities
• Part Four · Education and Experience: Preparing for Leadership
  
  25. Reflections on Our Journey to Service
  26. Reflections on Undergraduate Growth: For the 125th Anniversary of Woodburn Hall
  27. Reflections on the Oxford Experience: Residential Education as Preparation for Leadership
  28. Leading Lawyers: Why Lawyers Lead in America
  29. The Education of a Volunteer: Report of the Chairman to the University System Board of Trustees
  30. Afterword · Brining Closure, Time to Say Goodbye: A Letter of Farewell to the University Community
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1 · Timeline of Speeches
• Appendix 2 · The Numbers at WVU
• Biographical Information
• References and Cited Works

Author

David C. Hardesty, Jr., served as president of his undergraduate alma mater, West Virginia University, from 1995–2007. He also holds degrees from Oxford University and Harvard Law School. His presidency has been recognized for its student-centered initiatives and its commitment to West Virginia’s economic development. Enrollment, research activity, and endowments also grew rapidly under his leadership.

Summary

Back in print—a classic work from a West Virginia Poet Laureate!

With a new introduction by A.E. Stringer, this reprint of Louise McNeill's classic work remains as vivid as when it was first published. Containing poems from several decades of her career, Paradox Hill: From Appalachia to Lunar Shore is a must-have collection of a beloved poet's heartfelt exploration of her physical and cultural surroundings.

Contents

• Foreword to the First Edition
• Introduction, Arthur E. Stringer
• Appalachia
  • Stories at Evening
  • The Roads
  • Ballad of Pete Ellers
  • Ballad of the Rest Home
  • Ballad of New River
  • Ballad of Miss Sally
  • Scotch Irish
  • Memoria
  • Hill Daughter
  • First Flight
  • Limestone Cavern
  • Sea and Fire
  • Walk in Autumn
  • The Roads
  • The Sailor
  • Garden Moment
  • Arrow Grasses by Greenbrier River
  • Involved
  • Blizzard
  • Snow Angels
  • Threnody for Old Orchards
  • Fox and Geese
  • Overheard on a Bus (Miner’s Wife)
  • Overheard on a Bus (Woman with a cleft palate)
  • Mayapple Hill
  • Heart-Wood
  • Blue and Brown
  • Gravity
  • Pasture Line Fence
  • The Old Woman
  • Over the Mountain
• Scattered Leaves
  • To the Boys in Freshman History
  • The Dream
  • Poet
  • The Cave
  • The Golden Garden of Cuzco
  • Eden Tree
  • Warning
  • Time—The Passage of Time
  • Confession
  • Boating Song
  • The Invisible Line
  • Aubade to Fear
  • Reflection Without Color
  • Minutiae
  • Under Sea—The Unicorn
• To Lunar Shore
  • Of Soothsayers
  • Fireseed
  • After the Blast
  • Life-Force
  • Potherbs
  • The New Corbies
  • Prophecy for the Atomic Age
  • After Hearing a Lecture on Modern Physics
  • The Martian Box
  • The Lovers—Space Age
  • Earth Day—1970
  • White Dwarf Stars
  • Space Ship
  • Projection to a Space of Lower Order
  • Lost in Orbit
  • Chain Reaction
  • “Light”
  • Quadrille of the Naked Contours
  • Earth Day 1971
  • Letter Written at Twilight
• About the Authors

Author

Louise McNeill was born in 1911 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. She was West Virginia Poet Laureate from 1979 until her death in 1993.

A. E. Stringer is Professor of Creative Writing at Marshall University.

Read More about Louise McNeill.

Reviews

"Louise McNeill had a voice, both in person and in the poems, that was direct and forceful. Her toughness came from her resistance to the merely decorative or folksy. We still need such a voice. Her poems project a powerful presence: it is resonant with character. It is the sound of the griefs and meanings and dignities of the land and the people. It strikes me as absolutely authentic."
Irene McKinney, Poet Laureate of West Virginia and author Vivid Companion and Unthinkable

"[McNeill’s] poems have the virtue of freshness, a spontaneity that is equally evident in the lyrics and the narratives. I particularly like the ballad-like music that ranges from the matter-of-fact to the macabre. There is warmth as well as wit in the lines.”
Louis Untermeyer, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1961-1963

“I don’t know anybody in Appalachia, writing poetry, who equals [McNeill’s] brilliant work. Buy this book. Read it and love it. I cannot praise this excellent poet too highly.”
Jesse Hilton Stuart, Poet Laureate of Kentucky, 1954-1984

Links

Listen to Kate Long, Colleen Anderson, and Debbie Haught read McNeil's poetry on Charleston Gazette's MountainWord blog.

Summary

This fifth collection of poetry from West Virginia's poet laureate and author of Six O'Clock Mine Report is an extraordinary set of poems which reflects the complexity, the magnanimity, and the resilience of the human spirit. McKinney writes with candor, precision, and compassion; most importantly, though, her poems are accessible to all types of readers.

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Contents

•  
  • Our Lady of the Iguanas
  • Gray’s Anatomy
  • The Surgery
  • The Stutter
  • Clitoral
  • Fodder
  • Ravi Sings
  • Fame
  • Ironweed
  • Personal
  • Constant Companion
•  
  • Mary Cragin: The Honeymoon, 1834
  • Catherine Baker: Arrival at Oneida Creek, 1848
  • The Testimony of Harriet Worden, 1850
  • Sarah Burt: The Doll Burning, 1851
  • Solitude in the Oneida Community: Victor Cragin Noyes, 1866
  • Professor Mears of Hamilton College Speaks to the Court
  • The Tree of Life Tapestry: Jessie Kinsley, 1927
•  
  • Hiding
  • Filthy Weather
  • Three Three Three
  • Immanent
  • Covering Up
  • Low Red Moon
  • Full Moon: Sitting Up Late At My Father’s Bedside
•  
  • Monkey Heart
  • Home
  • Stained
  • Atavistic
  • Woods Burning
  • Redemption
  • Dark Rain
  • Homage to Roy Orbison
•  
  • Homage to Baroness Elsa Von Freytag Loringhoven
  • The Dream Feast
  • Adobe
  • Handholds
  • Face
  • Illuminated Manuscript
  • At 24
  • The Walk
  • Viridian Days
  • Ready
• Notes

Author

Irene McKinney grew up in the small town of Bellington, WV and received her BA at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She received her PhD from the University of Utah . Currently she is the Director of Creative Writing and an associate professor of English at West Virginia Wesleyan College. McKinney was appointed Poet Laureate of West Virginia in 1993. McKinney's real gift is her ability to use her poetry to reflect the beauty of the state and its residents, and her works are a tribute to the spirit of West Virginia.

Reviews

"McKinney's poetry reflects the beauty of the state and its residents, and her works are a tribute to the spirit of West Virginia."
Bookshelf Reviews, West Virginia University Alumni Magazine

"Vivid Companion's 44 poems defy the tendency toward female self-deprecation, and McKinney forcefully embraces her body and history as relevant, positive, and spiritual. The poet's intention centers less on confession than understanding as she walks through scenes of her aging body, her father's death, rural surroundings, and a historical interlude on new York's historical Oneida Community . . . While her position as the lifetime poet laureate of West Virginia centers her work on the Appalachians, her scope supercedes territory to encompass the overarching soul of the natural world and femininity in conflict."
Casie Fedukovich, American Book Review

Links

Listen to Garrion Keillor's interpretation of "A Homage to Roy Orbison" on the April 25th broadcast of The Writer's Almanac.
Listen to McKinney's "Ready," which aired on The Writer's Almanac on May 15. 2009.
These poems are part of McKinney's collection of poems found within Vivid Companion.

Summary

Finding a Clear Path intertwines literature, agriculture, and ecology as author Jim Minick takes the reader on many journeys, allowing you to float on a pond, fly with a titmouse, gather ginseng, and grow the lowly potato. The reader visits monarch butterflies and morel mushrooms, encountering beavers, black snakes, and bloodroot along the way. Using his background as a blueberry farmer, gardener and naturalist, Minick explores the Appalachian region and also introduces information that can be appreciated from a scientific point of view, explaining, for example, the ears of an owl, or the problems with the typical Christmas tree. Reading this collection of essays invites you to search for ways to better understand and appreciate this marvelous world, opening paths for journeys of your own.

Contents

• Walking
  • Finding a Clear Path
  • Creases
  • Walking in the World of Language
• Naming it All
  • Naming What You Love
  • Seasons' Dance
  • The River of Spring
  • Small, Bright Glows of Spring
  • Drive
  • Cruel April
  • Longevity
  • Snake Stories
• Floating
  • Springs, Strong and Sweet
  • To Pond
  • The Return of the Beaver
  • Sea Turtles
• Flying
  • Nests
  • Birding by Car
  • Vanishing Birds
  • Monarchs: Flying Poetry
  • Mirrored Intruder
  • Terrifying Beauty
  • Counting Birds at Christmas
  • Homes for the Holidays
• Gathering
  • Miacle Morels
  • Have Fungi, But Ne Careful
  • The Bridge of Antlers
  • Growing Ginseng
  • A "Woods Garden" Full of Cohosh
  • Wineberries—Wild, Red Jewels
  • In Praise of Pawpaws
• Growing
  • Food Security, or Do You Know Where That Egg Came From?
  • Grow a Patch of Your Own
  • Some Kind of Habit
  • How to Get the Good Bugs In
  • Summertime, Winter Work
  • Gray Buffalo
  • Beans, Bovines, and Beetles
  • Groundhogs
  • Health, Hunger, and Hunting
  • Footprints, or We All Have Big Feet
  • For the Love of Chicken
  • The Holy, Lowly Spud
  • Claiming Ground
  • Corn Mazes
  • Cussed Yellow Jackets
  • Shocked
  • We Create the World We Eat: The Benefits of Organic Food
  • Beyond Organic
  • Star Linked
  • Not Ready for Roundup's Results
  • Zone
  • The Trouble With "Waste"
• Working Among Trees
  • Sunlight on Willow
  • Hitting the Mark
  • Masonry Stoves
  • Praise for One Tough Tree
  • The Slow Work of Healing
  • Green Lumber, Green Profits: Sustainable Forestry in Appalachia
  • A Rision Tide Floats All Logs
  • A Different Fire: The Southern Pine Beetle
  • Bullish Invasives
  • Eastern Hemlocks Fade from our Forests
  • Beyond Bare-Ground: Organic Christmas Trees in the South
  • Bowls for Christmas
  • Handmade
• Following Myself Home
  • Night Walking
  • Following Myself Home
• Appendix

Author

Jim Minick lives, writes, and farms in southwest Virginia, while teaching writing and literature at Radford University. His poems and essays have appeared in many books and periodicals including Orion, Shenandoah, YES!, Natural Home, Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Heritage, and Wind. Since 1996, Minick has written a regular column for The Roanoke Times New River Current as well as other articles that have appeared in major newspapers throughout the south.

Reviews

"In Finding a Clear Path, Jim Minick maps the trails, real and metaphorical, that twine through the ancient Appalachian hills and through the hearts of those who love them, gracefully uniting the land, the wildlife, and its people."
Scott Weidensaul, author Mountains of the Heart

"In Finding a Clear Path, Jim Minick walks woods, gardens, and fields with a poet's eye; his seeing is sharp, his knowledge deep, his sentences tough and lean. And he is as practical as a farmer's almanac, too, offering not only observations and reflections, but advice on country matters of all kinds. Minick knows that on this lovely, flawed planet of ours, much is well."
Richard Hague, author Ripenings and Milltown Natural

"Jim Minick is blessed with brevity. Each of his one to three page essays meditates on one small thing, yet manages to enhance our understanding of the whole wide world. Readers be warned: seeing the macrocosm in a microcosm is a dangerous subversion of the normal egocentric human perspective, and may cause changes in attitude."
Chris Bolgiano, author The Appalachian Forest and Living in the Appalachian Forest

"...Finding a Clear Path is a beautifully wrought example of nature writing and environmental advocacy at its most appealing."
John C. Inscoe, Journal of Appalachian Studies

Summary

In this revised and expanded edition of Hollows, Peepers, and Highlanders, author George Constantz, a biologist and naturalist, writes about the beauty and nature of the Appalachian landscape. While the information is scientific in nature, Constantz’s accessible descriptions of the adaptation of various organisms to their environment enable the reader to enjoy learning about the Appalachian ecosystem. The book is divided into three sections: “Stage and Theater,” “The Players,” and “Seasonal Act.” Each section sets the scene and describes the events occurring in nature. “Stage and Theatre” is comprised of chapters that describe the origins of the Appalachia region. “The Players” is an interesting and in-depth look into the ecology of animals, such as the mating rituals of different species, and the evolutionary explanation for the adaptation of Appalachian wildlife. The last section, “Seasonal Act,” makes note of the changes in Appalachian weather each season and its effect on the inhabitants.

Contents

• Thanks
•   1. Prologue
• Stage and Theater
•   2. Origins
•   3. Forest Design
•   4. Creating Diversity
•   5. Catastrophe and the Appalachian Quilt
•   6. Balds
•   7. The Asian Connection
• The Players
•   8. The Improbable Lady’s-slipper
•   9. Sexual Decisions of Jack-in-the-Pulpit
•   10. Nuptial Gift of the Hangingfly
•   11. Femmes Fatales of Twilight
•   12. Small Fishes in Shallow Headwaters
•   13. Darter Daddies
•   14. To the Brook Trout, with Esteem
•   15. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Primer
•   16. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Coexistence
•   17. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Mimicry
•   18. Love Among the Frogs
•   19. Box Turtle’s Independence
•   20. Copperhead’s Year
•   21. Oaks and Squirrels
•   22. Highlanders
• Seasonal Acts
•   23. Autumn Leaves
•   24. Window on Bird Politics
•   25. Thwarting Swords of Ice
•   26. Spring Tensions
•   27. Dawn Chorus
•   28. Trees and Caterpillars
• Epilogue
•   29. The Remnant Archipelago
•   30. Abuse, Resurrection, Hope
• Actors
• Jargon
• Sources
• Index
• Author

Author

Born in Washington, DC, in 1947, George Constantz spent six years of his childhood in Barranquilla, Colombia, among the iguanas of the Magdalena River’s floodplain, and in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he chased roadrunners through the desert. Since receiving a BA in biology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a PhD in zoology from Arizona State University, Constantz has worked as a park naturalist, a teacher of biology and environmental science, a fish ecologist, researcher, and writer. He founded Cacapon Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving Appalachian rivers. Currently, he manages the Education Program at the Canaan Valley Institute. He lives with his wife, Nancy Ailes, in the Cacapon River watershed of West Virginia.

Reviews

“Creative and interesting histories, facts, and personal reflections flesh out the well-researched information insuring that this colorful exploration of the mountains will delight, rather than bore, the reader.”
Appalachian Heritage

Summary

A manual to identify trees and shrubs in winter when the lack of leaves, fruits, and flowers makes them least identifiable, Woody Plants in Winter has become a classic for naturalists, botanists, gardeners, and hobbyists. Earl L. Core and Nell P. Ammons, both West Virginia University professors of distinction, originally published this book with the Boxwood Press in 1958.

Contents

• Woody Plants in Winter
• Key to the Genera
• Descriptions of Genera and Species
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index

Summary

Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America, which was written as a companion to Field Guide to Oak Species of Eastern North America, represents the first major publication devoted exclusively to the macrofungi that occur in association with oak trees in the forests of eastern North America. The macrofungi covered in this volume include many of the more common examples of the three groups—mycorrhizal fungi, decomposers, and pathogens—that are ecologically important to the forest ecosystems in which oaks occur. More than 200 species of macrofungi are described and illustrated via vibrantly colored photographs. Information is given on edibility, medicinal properties, and other novel uses as well. This publication reflects the combined expertise of six mycologists on the macrofungi anyone would be likely to encounter in an oak forest.

2008 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Oak Forests in Eastern North America
• Taxonomic Groups
•   Basidiomycota
•   Ascomycota
•   Myxomycota
• Mycorrhizal Species
• Pathogens
• Decomposers
• Glossary
• References
• Muchroom Poisoning
• General Index

Author

Dr. Steve Stephenson, who has also published Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World and Myxomycetes of New Zealand, is a former Professor of Biology at Fairmont State University, West Virginia. 

Introduced to fungi in 1995 by Stephenson, fellow author and information technology specialist, Denise Binion is the co-author of Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America.

William Roody is currently documenting the distribution of macrofungi throughout West Virginia and works with the state’s rare plants and animals.

Dr. Larissa Vasilyeva, a research scientist, has described 100 new species of the pyrenomycetous fungi, along with twenty new genera in this group.

Dr. Harold Burdsall Jr., a mycologist and former project leader, has been studying wood-inhabiting fungi for more than forty years and is currently a volunteer mycologist.

Dr. Orson K. Miller Jr., a former professor of botany at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has published more than 160 scientific manuscripts and eight books.

Reviews

"All mycologists and mycophiles east of the Rocky Mountains will find this book a tremendous asset when hitting the woods!"
John Plischke, Fungi Magazine