Archive for March 2008
Editorial – End Game for King Coal
/images/AppalachianVoice/Mar_2008/Edit.cartoon.jpg The American coal industry has never been more profitable, and yet paradoxically, has never been more vulnerable. With the rise of coal prices to unprecedented levels, new coal mines of marginal quality are being forced online. The owners are squeezing small profits from big risks. Experts who have observed mine safety budget cuts expect…
Read MoreBook review – Lockjaw by Holly Farris
Lockjaw by Holly Farris Gival Press, Arlington, VA The language is fresh, the stories stimulating. Holly Farris’s first short story collection, Lockjaw, offers poignant glimpses into the interior lives of an array of diverse characters that linger in the reader’s mind. Her Appalachian narrators, though deeply rooted in Southwest Virginia, exhibit characteristics universally human. As…
Read MoreHiking the Highlands – Beech Mountain falls
At nearly a mile high, the water on Beech Mountain doesn’t really have any place to go – but down. Here, Pond Creek tumbles, slipping over ancient rock formations beside thick nests of rhododendron and laurel. Talk about tranquil. Listen: That’s about all you could call the rippling waters of the Lower Pond Creek Trail.…
Read MoreHillbilly Stereotypes make me wanna holler
When I saw the clip of the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart aping a misinformed West Virginia voter in May, I had a flashback to a Saturday Night Live “Appalachian ER” skit, which featured rocker Neil Young embroiled in a mess of incest and depravity. How the media loves its hillbillies. Makes me wanna holler: The…
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