2008 – Issue 1 (January)
John McCain to Appalachian Voices: “Stop the Removal of Mountains”
/images/AppalachianVoice/Jan_2008/obama_circ.gif Southern Appalachia has never been closer to New Hampshire than it was at this year’s New Hampshire primaries. As thousands of New Hampshire voters gathered in the chilly, slushy streets of Manchester and Concord to support their favorite candidates, many of them learned about their personal connection to mountaintop removal (MTR). Even two of…
Read MoreReview: A Hard Journey: The Life of Don West
James J. Lorence, A Hard Journey: The Life of Don West (University of Illinois Press) Review by Kirk R. MacGregor appvoices.org/books In this comprehensive and insightful biography of radical Appalachian poet, preacher, and social activist Don West (1906-92), James J. Lorence, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, Marathon County, carefully traces the…
Read MoreWhen the Buffalo Roamed
A curious characteristic of Appalachian geography is the number of features- creeks, knobs, hollows, etc. – with “buffalo” in their name. This beast from the western plains seems as out-of-place in the forests of Appalachia as a saguaro cactus on the Blue Ridge. In colonial times though, buffalo were found throughout much of eastern North…
Read MoreReview: Strange as This Weather Has Been
/images/AppalachianVoice/Jan_2008/strange_circle.gif Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake Shoemaker and Hoard Some novels are so good you can’t put them down, but Ann Pancake’s book is not one of those. Strange as This Weather Has Been is the better sort of book, the kind you have to put aside every few pages just…
Read MoreSaving Place: Art in Nature
Theresa L. Burriss is an assistant professor at Radford University. She is currently working on a book entitled Women of Change, Women of Courage: Appalachian Activists, to be published by the University of Tennessee Press. Natural beauty abounds in Appalachia, and it inspires artists and scientists equally. In a discussion at Radford University entitled “Saving…
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