Book Review: Lone Mountain

I seldom discuss my political views on this blog, but mountaintop removal is something that needs many voices raised in opposition, and I join mine with all those who oppose the destruction of our beautiful mountains for the short-term benefit of easy coal removal. Now I have come across a way to put my money where my mouth is: a fundraising project to publish a children's picture book in the topic.

Imagine that it is early morning. Sunlight streams across the mountains and settles into the hollows and valleys. Then you hear a distant rumbling, and the ground shakes.

Bulldozers are coming.

Lone Mountain is the story of one of those mountains. Simply told so that all ages can understand what happens and why, Lone Mountain takes us from the idyllic former life of the mountain and into the world of mountaintop removal. It is a story of destruction and loss, and yet one of hope and recovery.

Saro Lynch-Thomason recently produced Blair Pathways, a multimedia project about coal mining and its impact on these hills we call home, with a focus on the struggle over preservation of Blair Mountain, a site important historically to the labor and union movement. Artists such as Elizabeth LaPrelle, Elaine Purkey, Bare Bones and others are featured on the CD produced by the project and a 45-minute multimedia show tells the story of the history of the mine wars.

Now she has tackled a new project: a children's picture book that tells the story of one mountain facing the destruction of mountaintop removal. Beautifully illustrated pages include informational sidebars to define unfamiliar terms and offer activity suggestions. A section at the end of the book provides more educational information about the Appalachian mountains and the impact of mountaintop removal. A vital book for teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and those interested in learning the basics of the mountaintop removal issues.

This sobering yet hopeful book addresses an important topic without hyperbole or hysteria. Mountaintop removal is devastating to the environment and to the creatures that depend on the mountains for survival; Lynch-Thomason takes us along on a visit to one lone mountain so that we see for ourselves just what happens when people finally say enough, and take action to protect their homes and heritage.

A successful indiegogo campaign in the fall raised initial funds, and now a spring fundraiser is underway to provide the funds needed to publish. Various levels of contribution are available, and contributors can receive copies of the book on publication by selecting the appropriate donation level.

My book is on order. I hope yours will be too.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Review: Coalfield A Cappella

Close your eyes and imagine that you are in the mountains, deep in a hollow in a small community where everyone’s livelihood is controlled by one industry—coal. Imagine that each family has been impacted by that industry: the loss of loved ones in violent accidents or to the long slow suffocation of black lung, the loss of jobs, and the loss of what mountain people hold most dear—the mountains themselves.

Imagine again that you are seated on the porch of one of those homes, listening to someone telling the story of these people and their place in song. Simple, unaccompanied ballads that speak of life and death, passion, love, sadness, frustration, anger and defiance.

Open your eyes. You are listening to Coalfield A Cappella, a CD of original songs about the coalfields and their people, by Dr. Shirley Stewart Burns.

Burns knows all too well the struggles of the people about whom she sings. Raised in the coalfields of Wyoming County, West Virginia, Burns lost her grandfather and her father to the mines. She witnessed firsthand the painful death of black lung and she saw community after community die out as mines closed or new methods replaced manpower with big machinery. She saw water turn orange from mine drainage and communities drown in floods that made worse because denuded mountains and filled-in streams could not hold back rapid drainage from heavy rains.

An Appalachian scholar with a strong voice in the anti-mountaintop removal fight, Burns turned her pen from writing books about the tragic changes in the coalfields to composing songs in the way that mountain people know best—ballads. Her ballads tell stories: the story of a woman beaten down but not defeated by what mining has done to her family in “Ode to a Miner’s Wife;” of a man who turned to drink after witnessing the deaths of his sons in the mines in “Drunkard’s Lament.” Her sorrow at the loss of her father is laid bare in “Ode to a Miner,” and her sardonic look at mountaintop removal mining seems almost playful in the ominous “Pretty Mountains.” “There Goes Another Mountain” is an elegy to mountains stripped of their tops and their trees, their insides laid bare in the haste to dig coal out of their hearts. Still, Burns ends the recording with a song of faith and hope to complete this haunting collection.

The people of the coalfields are not unaware of what is happening to their land and their lives; many fight back with protests, appeals for legislation, and demands that lawmakers hold the coal companies to the standards and regulations that were created to govern the industry. It’s an uphill battle, and Burns stands at its forefront, unafraid. Some of her songs, like “Leave These Mountains Down” are songs of defiance and strength. She is not anti-mining; she is a daughter of coal. She stands for miners and their families, and for the conscientious removal of coal in a manner that will leave the land beautiful for generations to come.

Burns’ voice is simple and pure, the voice of a mountain woman singing about the land and people she loves. Her songs are songs from the heart, and her message is one that we all need to hear. Our mountains need us to listen and understand what happens to them and to their people when an industry looks only to profit and not to the future to mine the black gold hidden in West Virginia’s wild and wonderful hills.

For order information see: http://www.shirleystewartburns.com/home

Natural-Born Storytellers

A few weeks ago we had some special guests visit us at our farm. I've known Jason for some years now through the WV Storytelling Guild, and I had met his brother Matthew once, but only briefly. I had not had the chance to meet Shirley, Matt's wife.

Two liars, one young and one old, share a swing and a tale.

Jason emailed to say they were traveling in the area, visiting places of reported ghost sightings. Now you know when someone tells you that, you're just naturally intrigued! I invited them to make our place a stop on their journey.

Matt and Jason grew up in Pendleton County, West Virginia, in one of the state's most remote areas. Their lives are measured by the great flood of 1985 that decimated so many communities in eastern West Virginia. For Jason and Matt, all events are referenced as being "before the flood" or "after the flood."

Being raised in such a remote area, the brothers have a cast of colorful family members that star in the many stories they tell. These guys don't bill themselves as professional storytellers, but they certainly could rival the best with their tales of life in the back country. in the photo above, Matt is telling a story about "Uncle Fudgy." I can't retell it, you just had to be there.

Shirley's upbringing in southern West Virginia provided her with her own store of stories to tell. Passionate about mountaintop removal, Shirley's book, Bringing Down The Mountains, was published last fall by WVU Press. Just knowing that she wrote that book made me love her from the start. But her wit and sly humor completely endeared her to me. It was icing on the cake to learn that she also sings ballads. We didn't sing on this visit, but I'm looking forward to the next.

What impressed me so much with these young people is that all three came from a background with few resources. But their intelligence and determination propelled them through degree programs at West Virginia University.

Still country at heart, they bring the depth and breadth of education to understanding who they are and where they come from. They love their home, are committed to their state, and are eloquent and entertaining when they share their journey in fascinating, entertaining and thoughtful conversation and writing.

To see a little of Jason and Matt's homeplace, visit Jason's blog. And for information on West Virginia ghosts and paranormal occurrences, Jason's website, West Virginia Spectral Heritage, is outstanding.

I can't wait to have them visit again. And I owe them a jar of jam--I forgot to give it to them when they were here. Shame on me!