Summary

How does a state, tarnished with a racist, violent history, emerge from the modern civil rights movement with a reputation for tolerance and progression? Old South, New South, or Down South?: Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement exposes the image, illusion, and reality behind Florida’s hidden story of racial discrimination and violence. By exploring multiple perspectives on racially motivated events, such as black agency, political stonewalling, and racist assaults, this collection of nine essays reconceptualizes the civil rights legacy of the Sunshine State. Its dissection of local, isolated acts of rebellion reveals a strategic, political concealment of the once dominant, often overlooked, old south attitude towards race in Florida.

2010 Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award Recipient

Contents

• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Image, Illusion, and Reality: Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement in Historical Perspective
    Irvin D. S. Winsboro
• The Illusion of Moderation: A Recounting and Reassessing of Florida’s Racial Past
    Marvin Dunn
• From Old South to New South, or Was It?: Jacksonville and the Modern Civil Rights Movement in Florida
    Abel A. Bartley
• Brotherhood of Defiance: The State-Local Relationship in the Desegregation of Lee Country Public Schools, 1954–1969
    Irvin D. S. Winsboro
• Toms and Bombs: The Civil Rights Struggle in Daytona Beach   
•   Leonard R. Lempel
• Planting the Seeds of Racial Equality: Florida’s Independent Black Farmers and the Modern Civil Rights Era
    Connie L. Lester
• Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied: Florida’s “Public Mischief” Defense and Virgil Hawkins’s Protracted Legal Struggle for Racial Equality
    Amy Sasscer
• “Wait” Has Almost Always Meant “Never”: The Long Road to School Desegregation in Palm Beach County
    Lise M. Steinhauer
• The Triumph of Tradition: Haydon Burns’s 1964 Gubernatorial Race and the Myth of Florida’s Moderation
    Abel A. Bartley
• From Old South Experiences to New South Memories: Virginia Key Beach and the Evolution of Civil Rights to Public Space in Miami
    Gregory W. Bush
• Afterword: Old South, New South, or Down South?: Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement: Towards a New Civil Rights History in Florida
    Paul Ortiz
• Contributors
• Index

Author

Irvin D.S. Winsboro is professor of history, African American studies, and Florida studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is the author of Feminism and Black Activism in Contemporary America: An Ideological Assessment, and numerous other works and articles.

Contributors Include: Abel A. Bartley, Gregory Bush, Marvin Dunn, Leonard R. Lempel, Connie L. Lester, Paul Ortiz, Amy Sasscer, Lise M. Steinhauer.

Reviews

“Local histories, based on research in grass-roots communities, often challenge the stereotypes we have been taught. These superb essays explode the myth of Florida as an ‘exceptional’ state noted for its ‘moderation’ in race relations. Instead, they show vividly the degree to which racism—and black resistance—were as endemic to Florida as they were to Mississippi. Winsboro’s book is a powerful tribute to the long history of black struggle in Florida, the entrenched barriers that had to be overcome, and the effectiveness of historians of Florida in revealing the truth of the state’s past.”
William H. Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History, Duke University

“This is revisionism as it’s meant to be: careful research that examines a major issue and as a result fundamentally changes how we think about something we thought we knew. It will be an important, much cited, and respected book.”
John B. Boles, Professor of History, Rice University and Editor, Journal of Southern History

“This study stikes a serious blow at the misperception of Florida’s progressive past by examining its civil rights history. In this vein, it provides enriching essays that shed more light on the Jim Crow era and civil rights movement in Florida and places the Sunshine State in its proper historical place alongside other deep South states like Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama.”
David H. Jackson, Professor of History & Chairman of Department of History, Political Science, Public Administration, Geography and African American Studies, Florida A&M University

“These thoroughly researched and well-written essays directly challenge the conventional wisdom that Florida followed a more moderate form of Jim Crow than its southern peers. This collection chronicles the agonizing history of segregation and repression in the state, and demonstrates conclusively that only after long and persistent struggles by African Americans at the community level and intervention by the federal government was Florida finally forced to modify its resistance to civil rights reform. By reconceptualizing the struggle for civil rights in Florida, this book also advances the national project of rewriting America’s racial history.”
Ronald L. Lewis, Stuart and Joyce Robbins Chair and Professor Emeritus of History, West Virginia University

“This collection of authors—all either Florida natives or professors in the state—outlines the contours of an interplay of repression and liberation that enriches the understanding of past battles (in curriculum, work, law, and public space) and provides context for those battles in the nation that are yet to be waged.”
Stephanie Y. Evans, The Journal of American History

Summary

In this third edition of East Africa: An Introductory History, Robert M. Maxon revisits the diverse eastern region of Africa, including the modern nations of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. With revised sections and a new preface, this comprehensive text surveys East Africa’s political, economic, and social history from pre-colonial to modern times. Maxon reveals the physical movement and societal development of and between ethnic groups before the 1890s; the capitalistic impact of European colonialism in the early nineteenth century; and the achievement and aftermath of independence in East Africa during the later part of this century.

East Africa: An Introductory History, 3rd and Revised Edition offers the student and scholar:

• the only revision of this title in over a decade
• a complete index and glossary of African terms that promote an effortless navigation of the complex history of this region
• over twenty maps and diagrams that provide visual depictions of the development of eastern Africa
• detailed geographical and topographical analysis that supplement the historical scope and investigation of this region
East Africa: An Introductory History documents the transformation of East Africa from the Stone Age to the first decade of the twenty-first century. The book is ideal for any reader interested in unraveling the intricate history of this East Africa, and especially for students coming to the study of this region for the first time.

Contents

• 1. East African Geography
  • Topography
  • Climate
  • Vegetation and Soil
• 2. The Peopling of East Africa to C. 1000 A.D.
  • Early Stone Age
  • Middle Stone Age
  • Late Stone Age
  • Populations and Languages of East Africa
  • Food Production and Iron Working
  • The Early Iron Age and Bantu Migrations
  • Early Nilotic Migrations
  • Population Interaction and Absorption
• 3. The East African Coast to 1800
  • The Coastal Plain
  • Azania: The Coast to 1000 A.D.
  • The Swahili Period: 1000–1500
  • The Coming of Portuguese Dominance: 1500–1600
  • The Decline of Portuguese Control: 1600–1700
  • The Omani Period at the Coast: 1700–1800
• 4. The East African Interioe: C. 1000 TO 1650
  • Uganda
  • The Rise of the Interlacustrine Kingdoms: Bunyoro-Kitara
  • Origin of the Kingdom of Nkore
  • Buganda Origins
  • Lwoo Migration into Uganda
  • Lwoo Migrations within East Africa
  • Kenya
  • Highlands Nilotes
  • Plains Nilotes
  • Bantu and River-Lake Nilotes of Western Kenya: the Luhya and the Luo
  • The Thagicu Peoples
  • Mainland Tanzania
  • West Lake Region: the Haya States
  • West Central Tanzania: the Ntemi Chieftaincies
  • Eastern Tanzania
• 5. The East African Interior From the Mid-Seventeenth to Mid-Nineteenth Century
  • Uganda
  • Bunyoro-Kitara
  • Kabarega and the Rejuvenation of Bunyoro
  • Buganda: Territorial Expansion
  • Centralization and Strengthening of the Monarchy in Buganda
  • The Kingdom of Nkore
  • The Kingdom of Toro
  • Lwoo-Speaking Communities
  • Karamojong-Teso Movements
  • Kenya
  • Highlands Nilotes
  • Plains Nilotes
  • Western Kenya: the Luhya, Luo, and Gusii
  • The Thagicu Peoples: Kikuyu and Kamba
  • Mainland Tanzania
  • Northwestern Tanzania
  • Northeastern Tanzania
  • Southern and Western Tanzania; the Coming of the Ngoni
  • Long Distance Trade in Tanzania
  • West-Central Tanzania: Trade and Political Centralization
• 6. East Africa and the Wider World in the Nineteenth Century
  • Oman and the East African Coast
  • Seyyid Said and Zanzibar
  • Economic Impact of Nineteenth Century Trade
  • Growth of External Commerce
  • Anti-Slave Trade Impetus to European Involvement in East Africa
  • Missionary Impetus to European Involvement in East Africa
  • Christian Missions and Buganda
  • European Adventurers as Precursors of European Involvement in East Africa
• 7. The Scramble for East Africa
  • Britain and Zanzibar: “Informal Empire”
  • Egypt and the Scramble for East Africa
  • Germany Enters East Africa
  • Chartered Companies and the Scramble for Uganda
  • From Chartered Companies to Protectorates
• 8. The Establishment of European Rule: 1890S TO 1914
  • Conquest and Resistance
  • The Ecological Catastrophe
  • Beginning Administration
  • Economic and Social Considerations
  • Uganda
  • Britain and Buganda
  • Buganda Sub-imperialism
  • The Buganda Agreement of 1900
  • Further Resistance to British Rule
  • Further Expansion of Colonial Rule
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Missions and Western Education
  • Kenya
  • The Uganda Railway
  • The Conquest of Kenya
  • European Settlement and Land
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Missions and Western Education
  • Social and Political Dominance of the Europan Settlers
  • German East Africa
  • The Conquest of German East Africa
  • The Colonial Economy
  • The Maji Maji Rebellion
  • Reform and Development Under Rechenberg
  • Zanzibar
• 9. East Africa From the First World War to the Second: 1914–1939
  • Tanganyika
  • The War and German East Africa
  • The Start of British Rule in Tanganyika
  • Sir Donald Cameron and Indirect Rule
  • The Depression and After
  • Improvement and African Politics
  • Uganda
  • Peasant or Plantation Agriculture for Uganda
  • African Discontent and Politics
  • Education
  • Uganda’s Asians
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Kenya
  • Kenya Africans and the War
  • Toward European Domination
  • The Asian Question
  • African Political Activism after the War
  • Settler Politics, Closer Union, and the Colonial Office
  • The Colonial Economy
  • African Protest in the 1930s
  • Zanzibar
• 10. The Rise of Nationalism and Achievement of Independence in East Africa: 1939–1963
  • World War II and East Africa
  • Tanganyika
  • Development and the Post-war Economy
  • Colonial Policy and African Politics after the War
  • TANU and the Triumph of Mass Nationalism
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Uganda
  • Popular Discontent in Buganda
  • Sir Andrew Cohen and the “Kabaka Crisis”
  • National Politics and Buganda Separatism
  • Toward Independence
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Kenya
  • The War and the Mitchell Era
  • The Coming of Mau Mau
  • The Emergency
  • Toward African Self-Government
  • The Colonial Economy
  • Zanzibar
  • Evolution of Political Parties
  • Toward Independence
• 11. Independant East Afirica 1960S TO 1990S
  • Independence and Dependency
  • Attempts to Achieve Closer Cooperation in East Africa
  • Tanzania
  • Establishment of a Republic
  • Tanganyika to Tanzania
  • The One-Part State
  • Socialism and Self-reliance: the Arusha Declaration
  • Building a Socialist Tanzania
  • Retreat from Ujamaa
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Uganda
  • Cooperation and Conflict with Buganda
  • Political Turmoil and the Kabaka’s Downfall
  • Uganda’s New Republic
  • Obote’s Fall and the Amin Dictatorship
  • Post-Amin Uganda
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Kenya
  • KANU and the Unitary State
  • Two-Party Politics: the KPU
  • Kenya in the 1970s
  • The Moi Presidency
  • End of the Moi Era
  • Foreign Affairs
• Selected Bibliography
• Glossary of African Terms
• Index
• Maps
  •  1. Main Physical Features of East Africa
  •  2. Simplified Vegetation Patterns of East Africa
  •  3. Modern Distribution of Languages in East Africa
  •  4. Bantu Languages of East Africa
  •  5. Distribution of Early Iron Age
  •  6. Dating the Early Iron Age
  •  7. Bantu Migrations
  •  8. East African Coast
  •  9. West-Central Uganda
  • 10. Lwoo Migrations to East Africa
  • 11. Lwoo Migrations within East Africa
  • 12. Highlands and Plains Nilotes Before 1800
  • 13. Western Kenya
  • 14. Modern Distribution of Thagicu-Speaking Peoples
  • 15. Mainland Tanzania
  • 16. Buganda Expansion, Sixteenth Through Nineteenth Centuries
  • 17. Teso Movements
  • 18. Western Kenya in the Nineteenth Century
  • 19. Ngoni in Tanzania
  • 20. Nineteenth Century Trade Routes
  • 21. Partition of East Africa to 1895
  • 22. Colonial Uganda
  • 23. Colonial Kenya
  • 24. German East Africa

Author

Robert M. Maxon is a Professor of History at West Virginia University. He served as an Education Officer in Kenya from 1961-64 and has served as a Visiting Professor of History at Moi University in Kenya on four separate occasions. Maxon has carried out research in East Africa on numerous visits since 1968.
 

Summary

Real people don’t run away from. . .But real people can run away to. . .

In 1936, a child is born in the mountains of West Virginia. In 2005, he scatters his past into a deep canyon of rock. The Pale Light of Sunset: Scattershots and Hallucinations in an Imagined Life illuminates the journey of this boy, a constant tourist and visitor, who travels everywhere, yet belongs nowhere. Through tales of swarming hornets and swinging bullies, love affairs with the land and its people, and near death by frostbite and heat stroke, the absurd hilarity and clear, tender voice found within this story navigates a surreal road paved by the experiences of one man.

Author of nationally acclaimed and locally banned novels Crum and Screaming with the Cannibals, Lee Maynard details an imaginative account of his journey through seventy years of hard living—from West Virginia, to Mexico, the Arctic Circle, and beyond. Scattered and hallucinated, The Pale Light of Sunset grants a long-awaited glimpse into the bent condition of the Maynard brain.

2009 New Mexico Book Award Finalist

Contents

• Foreword
• 1936 The Parlor
• 1941 The Shotgun
• 1942 Hornets 1
• 1943 Thanksgiving
• 1944 Delivery Boy 1
• 1945 Delivery Boy 2
• 1946 Sometimes It Will Be Harder
• 1947 Hornets 2
• 1948 My Mother’s Coat
• 1949 Mean Rafe
• 1950 The Constable
• 1951 Tommy Hatfield 1
• 1952 Tiny Rooms
• 1953 The Train
• 1954 Saying Goodbye
• 1955 Booze Runner
• 1956 Dark Swimmer
• 1957 What Am I Doing Here? 1
• 1958 Accounting Class
• 1959 Final Exam
• 1960 Midnight Pub
• 1961 The Dude
• 1962 Whorehouse
• 1963 The Journal
• 1964 Portland in the Night
• 1965 Faggot
• 1966 Dying in San Francisco
• 1967 Helen 1
• 1968 Ruker and the Bikers
• 1969 Toy Beggar
• 1970 Reunion
• 1971 Horizon
• 1972 The Patience of Dead Men
• 1973 Low Rider
• 1974 The Buick
• 1975 The Typewriter
• 1976 Tommy Hatfield 2
• 1977 The Funeral of Cousin Elijah
• 1978 Ice
• 1979 When Will They Find Me Out?
• 1980 Hornets 3
• 1981 The Prayer Horse
• 1982 The Gift
• 1983 Lowenstein 1
• 1984 What Am I Doing Here? 2
• 1985 Scorpion
• 1986 Dream World
• 1987 Helen 2
• 1988 Morning Prayer
• 1989 A Mark on the Wind
• 1990 The Button
• 1991 Boy on a River
• 1992 Arrow in the Light
• 1993 Lowenstein 2
• 1994 Peyote
• 1995 Belonging
• 1996 Lujan’s Place
• 1997 Dinner with Carmen
• 1998 A Finding in the Sky
• 1999 Arctic Circle
• 2000 Fantasy World
• 2001 Friendship
• 2002 A Death in the Mountains
• 2003 Where I’m From
• 2004 The Mountain
• 2005 Journal’s End

Author

Lee Maynard was born and raised in the hardscrabble ridges and hard-packed mountains of West Virginia, an upbringing that darkens and shapes much of his writing. His work has appeared in such publications such as Columbia Review of Literature, Appalachian Heritage, Kestrel, Reader's Digest, The Saturday Review, Rider Magazine, Washington Post, Country America, and The Christian Science Monitor. Maynard gained public and literary attention for his depiction of adolescent life in a rural mining town in his first novel, Crum, and received a Literary Fellowship in Fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts to complete its sequel, Screaming with the Cannibals.

An avid outdoorsman and conservationist, Maynard is a mountaineer, sea kayaker, skier, and former professional river runner. Currently, Maynard serves as President and CEO of The Storehouse, an independently funded, nonprofit food pantry in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received the 2008 Turquoise Chalice Award to honor his dedication to this organization.

Read More about Lee Maynard.

Reviews

"The Pale Light of Sunset features Maynard’s most lyric and elegant prose and his most complex vision. Miniature masterpieces like “Arrow in the Light” and “A Death in the Mountains” chilled my skin in awe. Throughout the novel, Maynard’s trademark outrageousness is deepened by a tender vulnerability. I was moved by the poignancy and gentleness of the childhood chapters; I was breathless during the suspense and hard violence of those recounting the protagonist’s prime. But the novel is at its most rare and its most profound when it climaxes in the perspective of maturity and its celebration of the beauty and fragility of life."
Ann Pancake, author Strange as this Weather Has Been

"That old outlaw author Lee Maynard has really gone and done it this time. His new Tall Tale of a memoir/novel, The Pale Light of Sunset, is jam-packed with more action and adventure, more outlandish characters and bizarre events, more outrageous behavior, more laughs and tears, not to mention more pure poetry and heartfelt emotion than any book I have read in recent memory. And it is all rendered in language often so luminous that whole paragraphs seem to simply lift up off the page. Maynard says somewhere in here that we search all of our lives, some of us, for that one great thing that makes us who we are. Let me tell you folks, for Maynard that great thing is this deeply spiritual journey of a book, which is basically a roadmap of his never-ending quest for that elusive place in the heart we call home."
Chuck Kinder, author Honeymooners: A Cautionary Tale and Last Mountain Dancer: Hard-Earned Lessons in Love, Loss, and Honky-Tonk Outlaw Life

"If the slices of life Lee Maynard offers in this book have been lived by the writer, well bless his heart, as we West Virginians are wont to say. If they are a product of his extraordinary imagination and perspicacity, well bless his heart even more. In any event, you can't go wrong reading these servings of pure genius from a native writer who will remain a West Virginian no matter where he goes."
Dave Peyton, The Charleston Daily Mail

"Lee Maynard's vivid and heart-wrenching writing packs a wallop that left me reeling. In The Pale Light of Sunset, Maynard's stories take us on his sometimes harrowing journey from the hills of West Virginia to a mountaintop in Santa Fe, New Mexico where we learn along with him his life lessons. Seldom have I come across a book of short stories that read like such a compelling novel. I couldn’t put it down."
Sandy Johnson, author The Book of Elders, The Book of Tibetan Elders, The Brazilian Healer with the Kitchen Knife and most recently, The Thirteenth Moon

"A superb book. These stories of a lifetime are infused with a wanderer’s soul, a seeker no less spiritual than what we see in the accounts of itinerant Zen monks from medieval Japan. Indeed, The Pale Light of Sunset is just such a narrative of the mind and spirit for our own time. If rural West Virginia is the point of departure and emotional keystone throughout the book, Maynard's internal and external geography is the Great Wide Open of both the planet and the human heart. This book is filled with surprise, humor (sometimes riotous, at other times wry and sly), full-bore old fashioned adventure, violence, mystery, and, finally, tenderness. Lee Maynard is teaching us to pay attention, to live the moments when they come, and savor them forever as the reasons that we are here."
Richard Currey, author Fatal Light and Lost Highway

"Lee Maynard writes better than anyone else I know about how a boy is infused with the rules of American manhood. This new book The Pale Light of Sunset is a fictional memoir– a kind of heightened and imagined life that Maynard describes in the subtitle as Scattershots and Hallucinations in an Imagined Life."
Meredith Sue Willis, author Oradell at Sea

"This memoir is earthy in the best sense. It's haunting. It has miracles. It also has earnest and honest questions and moments of grace."
Marie Manilla, author of Shrapnel

"Lee Maynard's latest book is his best yet."
Dory Adams, author and blogger

"There's nothing pale about Pale Light. It is a powerful work from a mature writer with an uncanny talent. His full-throttle style an powers of description propel you into and along with the story. He raises the bar for future writers sure to be influenced and inspired by his body of work."
Phyllis Wilson Moore, Appalachian Heritage

"...just as scatological, just as punchy (literally), just as colorfully told as Crum."
Douglas Imbrogno, The Charleston Gazette

"...incisive vignettes of a life journey strung together in novel form."
Norman Julian, The Dominion Post

"..fast-paced, a combination of tall tale and action movie."
Edwina Pendarvis, Now & Then

"Maynard's short, descriptive sentences and his journalist's eye for details link readers closely to the experiences and the emotions of the Appalachian protagonist. . . . Not for the squeamish, this story of a boy's journey from birth to maturity is told by an eloquent writer steeped in place and in the mountain tradition of storytelling."
Phyllis Wilson Moore, Journal of Appalachian Studies

Vidcast

Links

Watch Lee Maynard reading from this novel: Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Listen to a WV Writers Podcast featuring Lee Maynard.

Summary

Terrorism and national security have been in the foreground of the nation’s political landscape since the uncertain times brought on by the attacks of September 11, 2001. This collection of scholarly essays provides a chance to learn from the past by offering an analytic—and sometimes provocative—look at the inseparability of security and history. This work is divided into separate elements depicting security on the national and international levels. "Part One–The US and National Security," focuses on topics such as “Rank-And-File Rednecks: Radicalism and Union Leadership in the West Virginia Mine Wars,” among others. "Part Two–International Terrorism," looks at violence overseas, such as “Beyond Victims and Perpetrators: Women Terrorists and Their Own Stories.”

2007 ForeWord Magazine Finalist, Political Science category

Contents

• Acknowledgements
     C. Belmont Keeney and Melinda M. Hicks
• Foreword
     Jeffery H. Norwitz
• Part I - The U.S. and National Security
  • National Security: A Pretext for Repression?
       Ellen Shrecker
  • Rank-and-File Rednecks: Radicalism and Union Leadership in the West Virginia Mine Wars
       C. Belmont Keeney
  • The Overlooked Success: A Reconsideratoin of the U.S. Interventions in Mexico During the Wilson Presidency
       Mark Mulcahey
  • No More Cubas! The Lessons of Counterinsurgency
       David Lauderback
  • The Rhetoric of National Security: The George H. W. Bush Administration and the New World Order
       James DePalma
• Part II - International Terrorism
  • Beyond Victims and Perpetrators: Women Terrorists Tell Their Own Stories
       Jamie H. Trnka
  • When Do Womem Kill? Life and Death in Tsarist Russia
       Jean K. Berger
  • A Troubled Past, an Uncertain Future: Radical Islam and the Prospects for Nigeria's Stability
       Josh Arinze
  • Is terrorism Unique? A Tactical and Ideological Appraisal
       Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon

Author

C. Belmont Keeney and Melinda M. Hicks obtained the idea for Defending the Homeland when they reviewed submitted papers for the 2005 Senator Rush D. Holt History Conference at West Virginia University. While the conference produced a variety of excellent presentations, some of the scholarship stood out so much that they felt it deserved a broader audience.  Kenney is an author, historian musician, professor, and mountaineer. Hicks is a Visiting Professor of History, Marietta College, Ohio.

Reviews

"Defending the Homeland—as a whole and through its individual chapters—will be of interest to general readers and to students and academics from a range of disciplines. This book is bound to be included on many syllabi and reading lists, as well as among the sources cited in scholars’ publications."
Dr. Pete Lentini, director, Global Terrorism Research Centre, Monash University, Australia

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.

Receive a 30% discount on orders of 10 or more copies by entering the code BULK30 at checkout.

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.