Appalachian Seed Savers Swap, Pikeville, KY, April 4, 2026

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"Atlanta Review: Poland Spring/Summer 2023"

There is never a bad time to read good to great literature, and I often read literature much older than this poetry journal from 2023. Every year, the "Atlanta Review" publishes two issues. One of those issues will have about half of the writing from a selected foreign country. In this volume, the "Spring/Summer 2023" volume, the selected country was Poland. I am somewhat fascinated by Poland for a variety of reasons. I know oone or two Polish immigrants in the US. I have also read and written a small amount about the Polish Resistance during World War II. Poland suffered greatly during the war and resisted nobly throughout the war. This volume of the "Atlanta Review" is well worth reading whether or not you have an extensive interest in Poland or not. Of the 128 pages in the book, a little more than half are dedicated to the work of a large group of Polish poets, both historical and current. While I was not greatly impressed by a few of the poems, much of the writing is well above average. The book also has brief biographies of all the poets in the book, and those of the Polish poets are well worth reading to maximize the readers understanding of these people and their work. There are roughly 20 Polish poets who have work in the book. A few have only one poem while several of these writers have multiple poems in the book. Read them all when you locate a copy of the book. They are well worth the time to read them. All have been translated into English. Maria Konopnicka and Boleslaw Lesmian are two of the more notable historical Polish poets whose work appears here. The book is well worth investing the time and effort to locate a copy, and since it is only three years old, it won't require much of a search of used book websites to locate a used copy. Or, if you are not the type of reader who still prefers to hold a paper book in your hand, you can download the entire volume at this link on the journal's website. Enjoy!

"On The Road: The Original Scroll" by Jack Kerouac, and Howard Cunnell, Editor

Although I have been an avid reader of the works of Jack Kerouac for many years, I had not been aware of the republication of his classic novel, "On The Road", in its original form as it was written on a long, continuous scroll of paper until I strayed into it in a Goodwill store recently. It had actually been published in this form in 2007 by Penguin Classics. Howard Cunnell served as the editor and wrote a rather pedantic introduction of 52 pages which begins the book. Howard Cunnell is an English writer, novelist, and literary critic who can be said to be a leading expert on Jack Kerouac and his work. But it is my considered opinion that he could have done a far better job of making his introduction more cogent and readable. A better discussion of Cunnell's work on Kerouac can be found at this link on the "Green Lantern Blog". The book also has three other essays of varying lengths which were written by Penny Vlagopoulos, George Mouratidis, and Joshua Kupetz. I am particluarly impressed by Ms. Vlagopoulous's essay which is much better organized and readable than Cunnell's. It also uses more discussion of the works of other writers to elucidate her points about the work of Kerouac. The multiple introductions cover the first 86 pages of the book. Dr. Penny Vlagopoulos is an associate professor of English at SaintLawrence University who specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century literature. Dr. George Mouratidis is a professor at the University of Melbourne. Joshua Kupetz is a professor of English at the University of Michigan. All four of the academics involved in the preparation of this book can be said to be experts on the Beat writers. But I believe the effort would have been better served if one of them other than Howard Cunnell had served as the lead editor for the project. The original scroll version of "On The Road" had approximately 80,000 words deleted from it in the original published version from the original 1957 Viking edition. It would have been a cumbersome book to read, and even more difficult to turn into a best seller and eventual classic book in that original form. But for the devotee of Kerouac's work, it is a fascinating read. I was first exposed to the work of Jack Kerouac by my former professor, mentor, and friend, the late Robert "Bob" Snyder when he served as the creator and director of the Southern Appalachian Circuit of Antioch College in Beckley, West Virginia, when I was a student there. Jack Kerouac never crosses my mind without being accompanied by Bob Snyder who also introduced me to the works of Mildred Haun and Francois Villon. That was an incredible threesome of writers to have learned of from one ever questing and questioining mind such as Bob Snyder had. I truly wish that Bob could have lived to read the original scroll which is reproduced in this book in an allegedly verbatim form. He would have loved it. It is well worth reading even if you are not a particularly devote fan of Kerouac and his work. The book contains a sizeable amount of sexual writing which was just a bit too racy for the average reader in the late 1950's. None of that deleted sexual writing is too racy to be in virtually any living writer's work today. Some personal references and usages of the actual names of a few of Kerouac's friends were also deleted from the 1957 version of the book in order to protect both the publisher, Viking, and Kerouac from possible legal entanglements. The book is a good means for the experienced reader of Kerouac to flesh out their knowledge base about the numerous beatniks who were his friends in both fiction and real life. For the average reader who has no experience with Kerouac's works, I would venture to say that this book is not the place to start your journey with Jack. Instead, you might read books such as "Visions Of Gerard" or "The Subterraneans" before venturing into this lenghthy portrait of the beatniks before they were known by that name.

Requiem For A Friend: Frank Barnett, Appalachian Heritage Bean Expert

Frank Barnett and I met about the spring of 2019 after our mutual friend, Bill Best, and I both published memoir pieces in a book called "True Christmas Stories From The Heart Of Appalachia" from the Jesse Stuart Foundation. We became close friends almost immediately based on a common set of interests and having grown up about 25 miles apart in Eastern Kentucky. I had been born and raised in Knott County, and Frank had been born and raised in Floyd County. Below is the official obituary which appeared on the website of the Littleton-Rue Funeral Home in Springfield, Ohio. Frank as been buried in Yellow Springs, Ohio. A more complete personal remembrance of Frank will be added to this post in a day or so due to my complex schedule. Frank Barnett, 78, of Georgetown, Kentucky, passed away at the University of Kentucky Hospital, Lexington on Wednesday afternoon, March 18, 2026. He was born in Martin, Kentucky on August 4, 1947, the son of the late James and Virginia (Ousley) Barnett. Frank was a proud graduate of Morehead State University and retired as a computer systems analyst. His true passion was found, after retirement, in preserving Appalachian heirloom seeds and stories. He was a lifelong learner, who enjoyed history, science, mathematics, gardening, and writing. He is survived by his daughter, Melinda Barnett-Reardon; sister, Mary Marguerite (Michael) Price; former son-in-law, Daniel Reardon; grandchildren, Abigail, Ella and Oliver Reardon; niece and nephew, Angela Nicklaus and Fred Nicklaus; and great nieces and nephew, Chelsea Gilmore, Celena Gilmore and Liam Gilmore. Frank’s funeral service will be held at 12:00 p.m. Friday, March 27, 2026 in the LITTLETON & RUE FUNERAL HOME. The family will receive friends beginning at 11:00 a.m. until the time of service. Burial will be in Glen Forest Cemetery, Yellow Springs.

Observations On "The Professor's House" by Willa Cather

Before reading this book, I had read almost nothing by Cather. It seems to me that most people who read a great deal still don't seem to be able to read everything by every author they wish they could have. With Cather's work, I find myself in that position.

The Pioneer Cemetery In Franklin, Pennsylvania

When I was an employee of a private, for profit program for juvenile offenders called Vision Quest, I spent a little over a year living and working in the little court house Pennsylvania town of Franklin, which is the county seat of Venango County, located about an hour north of Pittsburgh and about halfway between that city and Erie, Pennsylvania, on the shores of Lake Erie. During most of that time, I frequently supervised groups of juvenile clients who were allowed to do community service work in the surrounding town and county. One of my favorite parts of that job was to take a crew of three or four boys into Franklin to mow the grass at the Pioneer Cemetery. According to the Daughters of The American Revolution:

The Pioneer Cemetery was established in 1795 when the Borough of Franklin was established. It became known as 'The Old Graveyard Where Many Franklin Pioneers Were Laid to Rest'. For many years, the Franklin Pioneer Cemetery was forgotten. The monuments were broken, brush grew throughout and no interest was taken in this historical site. Then in 1955, the Venango Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, took interest with the help of the Franklin City Council and many area citizens to make the site once again a beautiful Cemetery. The Pioneer Cemetery now is an asset to the City of Franklin and the County of Venango. Thousands of visitors from all parts of the country have taken time to visit and walk through this quiet spot to read and admire the beauty of the Cemetery. The first permanent settler of Franklin, George Power, is buried in Pioneer Cemetery. He was sent by George Washington to help build Fort Franklin. George Power returned in 1797 to make his home in Franklin. In addition there are three Revolutionary War veterans, nine War of 1812 veterans, and two Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery. Currently the Cemetery is maintained and funded primarily by the Venango County Chapter, DAR.

The Pioneer Cemetery is one of the most historic places I have ever been, and I am proud to say that I have particapted in the effort, for that one year, to keep it clean, neat, protected, and perpetual. I loved to walk around the cemetery and read the grave markers of all the historic and patriotic early Americans who are buried there. It was a beatutiful experience. The text below is a piece of writing I produced a few years ago about that experience but never submitted to the publication source I had in mind at the times. Over the rattle, roar, hum, of the lawnmowers and weedeaters, or was it beneath those sounds, I could have sworn I heard voices, maybe across the river, maybe down the street toward the courthouse, low, quiet, distant voices. As I moved across the fenced lot among the tombstones, occasional little American flags, local stones with engravings I had trouble reading now, the voices seemed to filter in, maybe being muffled by the surrounding trees, maybe across French Creek or somewhere along the Allegheny. Then, interspersed among the voices, I thought I heard the industrious strokes of a hammer, maybe John Broadfoot’s hammer building another house for a settler just arrived from farther east, Philadelphia, or even New York. That hammer kept working steadily but seemed to recede in the distance as another voice came through sounding a lot like I might have known John McLaurin’s voice would be, quietly insistent, encouraging us to keep working to “cherish their memories and keep their graves green”. The first time I stood in front of the gate to the Pioneer Cemetery and read the sign saying “First Burial in 1795” I knew I was in a special place, among historic people, people who would have remembered the stories of Fort Machault and how the French burned it to the ground in 1759 before retreating to Canada to leave America in the hands of the pioneers some of whom would be buried in that little plot on Otter Street. I walked inside and read the markers, slowly, one by one, moving from each to the next in awe of a group of people who had been brave and durable enough to come to the intersection of French Creek and the Allegheny to wrest the land from the French and nurture it until it became a quiet country town epitomizing the spirit of these people who had left England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales to come to a new, rough, rawboned land of mountains and rivers sitting in the way of the winds blowing off Lake Erie. These were people who included Lieutenant Francis Gordon, whose entire troop died in the loss of Fort Venango, and was burned at the stake after the fort was lost. This little town of little forts always outlasted the forts, the enemy forces who besieged them, the diseases which could not be cured, and the loneliness of living on what was in the late 18th century the western edge of civilization, the extreme limits of pioneer endurance until a few years later they sent their children farther west and often followed them taking that pioneer spirit to new places, new rivers, new forts, new adventures and dangers, moving, always moving, forever seeking more, more land, more freedom, more opportunities and always willing to engage in and win the fight necessary to seize the land and hold it against all comers.

This is the link which will lead you to the Pioneer Cemetery on Find A Grave. The photo below is of the grave marker of Revolutionary War soldier William Duffield (743-1827).

The photo below is of the grave marker of Revolutionary War Captain James Gordon Heron.

The Family Cemetery In Appalachia

The family cemetery in Appalachia has played an important role in social life, local history, and culture since Daniel Boone led the earliest settlers through the Cumberland Gap. The early settlers were coming into a country in which there were no roads, no white or European presence, and no prior history by their own kind of people. It was a rugged and dangerous environment. In a very short time, accidents, child birth, Indian warfare, and disease began to take their toll. Customs and sanitary norms of the time required that the dead be buried immediately. A certain percentage of those deaths took place even before the settlers were near an area where they intended to stay long term. In those cases, the dead were simply buried in the next available bit of ground where it was soft enough to dig. Many of those trail side graves have been lost for centuries. At times of Indian warfare, it was also not unknown for the settlers to make attempts to conceal the graves of their dead. They generally would have done this for two reasons: 1) to conceal losses of able bodied fighters from the enemy; and, 2) due to generally unfounded fears of desecration of the graves. But after settlers had found the piece of land they intended to call home, they buried their dead on their own land. A small piece of land would be chosen at the time the need first arose. The first grave would be dug and that spot would be designated the family cemetery for the Browns, or White's, or Hicks'. These first and most eventual graveyards in Appalachia were usually located on a piece of high ground, often with a good view of the surrounding area. It was often a favorite spot of the head of the household. There was also a common belief that on resurrection morning the dead in Christ would arise with the first rays of the morning sun. The higher elevations usually got morning sunshine earlier than low lying ground. It was also common for graves to be placed with the face of the dead toward the sunrise.