The Appalachian Voice
The virtues of the hickory tree
images/voice_uploads/nn.p23.hickory.gif When European settlers arrived in America, they found an abundant nut tree unknown in the Old World. Native Americans had a curious practice of pounding the nuts and tossing them into boiling water. The heat separated a cream-colored oily substance from the nuts, which was skimmed off and stored as a pasty material the…
Read MoreAcross Appalachia: Acting Locally on Global Problems
Appalachia is waking up to the political impact of local action. For example, Blacksburg VA and Morgantown WV joined over 350 cities and towns nationwide in recent weeks, pledging to reduce their global warming pollution. Other cities in the region are working towards similar goals. Black Mountain, NC, for example, has a Green Buildling Council…
Read MoreCaring for Creation: Seeing God’s fingerprints in nature.
We love wilderness. We love it for its beauty, power and majesty. Others can stand at the foot of a great sculpture, near a painting or hear a sonata and find the results of God at work through the efforts of humans. We rest between the gunwales of our canoe at a quiet bay on…
Read MoreDonetta’s Christmas cheer
From there, Donetta Blankenship kicks back at life. At 39, her failing liver struggles to eliminate the toxic levels of heavy metals in her system. Courage, John Wayne said, is being scared to death – and saddling up anyway. This Christmas, that’s exactly what Blankenship is doing. “With my liver problem, I just wonder if…
Read MoreFrom Appalachia to Asia, ginseng is deeply rooted in the culture
ftp://avweb:U9e3KxY@www.appvoices.org:21//appvoices.org/images/voice_uploads/gensing.gif Ginseng Dreams: The Secret World of America’s Most Valuable Plant. By Kristin Johannsen. 2006. University Press of Kentucky. 224 pages. $ 24.95 The rich, humus-laden hardwood forests of southern Appalachia are home to American ginseng, a bright-leaved, red-berried plant that grows wild throughout the mountains. Valued in Asia for the various health-promoting qualities of…
Read MoreIn Memoriam, Charles Kennedy — Defender of Brumley Mountain
I only met Charles Kennedy a grand total of three times, but his recent death has shaken me as deeply as if I had known him all of my life. The first time I met him, ironically enough, was on assignment from this very newspaper. I was writing an article about Charles’ work to help…
Read MoreDoes the Bible justify mountaintop removal coal mining?
ftp://avweb:U9e3KxY@www.appvoices.org:21//appvoices.org/images/voice_uploads/church.girl.gif Does this mean that the Bible justifies mountaintop removal mining? Not at all. Most translations of the Bible, including the the New American Standard and the King James Version, say “Every valley shall be exalted…” or “raised” — and not “filled in.” This is because the NAS and KJV Bibles are translated from the…
Read MoreCoal country needs santa more than ever
The Santa Train rolls through three of Virginia’s “coal counties”: Dickenson, Russell and Wise. Along with neighboring Buchanan, Tazewell and Lee counties, the coal counties of southwest. Appalachian Virginia, are among the most distinctive in the Commonwealth. They often feature the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the state, and are the target of government…
Read MoreSanta train rides again through Appalachia
ftp://avweb:U9e3KxY@www.appvoices.org:21//appvoices.org/images/voice_uploads/krause.santa.gif The crowd started to trickle in by nine, watching the volunteers of “Dante Lives On” set up their bake sale on the concrete slab that marks the site of the former theatre. By ten, children were playing on the grassy lot that once housed the company store. The Santa Train used to stop at…
Read MoreIt takes a universe: An interview with Thomas Berry
Last year, Southern nature writers John Lane and Thomas Rain Crowe traveled together to the home of ecologian Thomas Berry, in Greensboro, North Carolina. At 91 years of age, Father Thomas Berry is one of the most profound, if not most celebrated, spokespersons for the preservation of the environment in the English-speaking world. His books…
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