The Right Wing Radical Repugnican State Legislature Just Reduced Medicaid Reimbursements By 4% More

The political cartoon above is from a time when the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was still being debated in congress and largely ignored by the general population of our country. TRAITOR Trump, the Criminal Syndicate which supports him by posing as "cabinet", and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party lied unceasingly to the American public in order to get the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill passed. There was total disregard on the part of millions of Americans to the obvious widespread damage the bill was intended to do to the entire country and to the overall American economy. The Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was passed by the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in congress and signed by TRAITOR Trump on July 4, 2025. I am proud to say that on July 4, 2025, I was present at Rosenberg Square in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, that day as Ned Pillersdorf officially announced his candidacy for the US House in Kentucky District 5. Where were you? A key provision, literally a legislative time bomb, of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill was that most of the damage it was planned to do was delayed until 2026 after the midterm elections. It was literally a legislative wolf in sheep's clothing and that was very intentional because the Right Wing Radical Repugnicans and TRAITOR Trump knew if they made it effective immediately upon ratification and signature it would guarantee the electoral defeat of most of its supporters. Now, the cat is out of the bag, the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill is rapidly becoming effective and the horrible damage it was intended to do to most of America and Americans has begun. But to make matters worse in Kentucky, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in the state legislature has just passed, over Governor Beshear's veto, another 4% cut in Medicaid reimbursements which will make the effects of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill far worse on Kentucky hospitals, clinics, and medical providers. Below is a map of hospitals in Kentucky which were initially placed in danger of permanent closure by the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill. What is interesting is that if we look at the point where the borders of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana meet on the Ohio River just west of Cincinatti and draw a line straight south from that point to the Tennessee border we find that 23 o the 35 endangered hospitals are east of that line. The effects of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill were always intended to do more damage in Kentucky east of that line than to west of the line. Congressman Hal Rogers and every other Right Wing Radical Repugnican member of the Kentucky legislative office holders at the federal level voted in support of that bill. Now every member of the Right Wing Radical Repugnican state legislature has voted to remove another 4% from Kentucky Medicaid reimbursements to medicaid providers. They did that over the veto of Governor Andy Beshear. That extra 4% of income to hospitals and providers will increase the damage of the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill to a point where the number of hospitals in Kentucky which will be in even more grave danger of closure will be greater. Will it rise from 35 hospitals to 40, to 45, or even 50? We won't know until the closures start happening and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican legislators nationwide start denying their support for the Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill, and those elected at the state level start denying their support of the additional 4% cut in Kentucky Medicaid reimbursements. Very few businesses, where they are country stores, beauty shops, and family restaurants can survive a loss of 4% of their income for an extended period. It is the dream of TRAITOR Trump and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party that those effects will be permanent. It is the dream of the Kentucky legislature in Frankfort that those horrible effects of both the Big,Vicious, Ugly Bill and their own 4% cut in Medicaid reimbursements will be permanent. None of them give a tinker's damn what you think or how their actions might affect you, your family, your family business, your aged parents and grandparents, your child with multiple medical issues,or your neighbor next door who is battling cancer or heart disease. They are happy now! They were happy the day they passed each of these highly damaging pieces of legislation! They will still be happy when your local hospital closes, or your local general practitioner decides to move to a state with a state legislauture and federal elected representatives who give a damn about their constituents, hospitals, medical providers, and citizens! Get used to it! Or get up off your ass and fight to remove every one of those Right Wing Radical Repugnicans from office for life! You have to learn to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out! You have to learn to defend yourself, your family, your neighbors, your state, and your nation. No matter how much you are hurt they will not come to your aid. The sources of their incomes and their happiness are not the same as yours. They have protected themselves and abandoned you! What are you going to do about it? Your only option is to vote, not just to vote, you have to vote the way you should have been voting all along, STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, Every Election, Every Race!

Ned Pillersdorf Appearance At The Mountain Arts Center, July 4, 2026

Yesterday, July 4t, 2026, my wife Candice and I attended a meeting at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the campaign of Ned Pillersdorf for the US House in Kentucky's 5th district. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but it was attended by somewhere between 75 and 100 people on a very hot day which I am sure kept others away due to the extreme heat even though the event was held indoors. Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in Bluegrass, was also featured at this event, sang a few songs, and delivered somoe of his political wisdom. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but still fairly well attended on a day hot enough to keep many from traveling. I would say that most of the attendees at the event are politically involved people who attend at least a few such events each year. However, this is no ordinary year! We are facing a concerted effort by TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which supports his TREASON while posing as a "cabinet" to destroy America and American Democracy. There were close to dozen there whom I have known, at least superficially, for anywhere from a year or so to fifty or more years. Three members of my extended family were there, Jack Terry, and Ed and Judy McGuire who live only a mile or two away from the MAC as the Mountain Arts Center is known. I was particularly pleased to see famed AppalShop filmmaker Herbie Smith and his son Attorney Evan Smith who works for AppalRed Legal Defense and Research Fund in Prestonsburg. I had known or known of Herbie Smith and his work literally since the days of the inception of AppalShop in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I had met Evan at the Memorial Day event at the home of Ned Pillersdorf and his wife, Retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo. Retired Big Sandy Community and Technical College History Professor Tom Matajasic was also there and spoke to Candice and I briefly. I had also initially met Tom at that same Memorial Day event. Famed barbecue cook James Butler served the food as he does at many events in which Ned is involved. His food was excellent as always. But James is much more than a barbecue cook. He is also a local minister and serves on the board of the Floyd County Animal Shelter. Ned's daugher, Sarah Pillersdorf, was there as she is at most of her father's campaign events, and also works as a child support enforcement worker in Louisville. Naturally, her mother Janet Stumbo was there and we spoke briefly about a few issues. Tommy Webb and I were able to have two conversations during the afternoon, one just as he arrived in which we laughed about a lunch we had almost two years ago in which I had attempted to induce him to begin supporting some Democratic candidates publicly since he has often quietly expressed some liberal views. But like most Bluegrass musicians, he has rarely appeared publicly at such events, if ever, since many fans of Bluegrass have historically been to one degree or another conservative. But I firmly believe that is changing rapidly as it is with most previously conservative people in America. Due to the actions of TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet", America and Americans have suffered in a multitude of ways over the last 11 or so years since the tragic day TRAITOR Trump rode down that gold escalator and began to promote the farce that he was fit to be the leader of the free world. The time is long past for all Americans to do our duty and put an end to his TREASON. We must elect a Democratic president in 2028, and we must elect Democratic majorities in both houses of congress. This nation and our Democracy cannot survive if that does not happen.

July 4th 2026, After 250 Years America And American Democracy Are Under Attack From Within!

Today, July 4th, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of American Democracy and America and American Democracy are more endangered today than we have ever been. That danger is centered in the White House, being directed by Fascists inside the White House. Let's just look at a few recent headline stories from across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union has worked to defend and protect American Democracy every day since its founding in 1920, 106 years. Almost ten months ago,that organization posted this story on their website. While a headline which screams "How Trump's Attacks On Our Democracy Put America At Risk" should be shocking, rare, and terrifying, headlines and stories about the danger which TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet" pose for us and our Democracy, they are so commonplace since June 16, 2015, that millions of Americans ignore them totally. This so-called "second administration" of TRAITOR Trump is doing a great deal of things which previous FASCISTS and would be dictators have been doing since atleast 250 years ago, and millions of Americans insist on claiming that all they do is in the best interest of the country. The ACLU story in particular is and should be chilling to any lover of this country and our Democracy. Early in the story it states "There is now a coordinated assault on the constitutional architecture that has sustained American democracy. This assault should alarm anyone who values constitutional governance and the personal freedoms we so often take for granted." That should terrify every citizen in this country and it does not. The formerly sacred institutions of American government are now being utilized to install FASCISM in the country and most people do not understand that fact. The article moves on to state that Federal agents have repeatedly detained or arrested public officials conducting legitimate oversight, including Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, and Senator Alex Padilla, who was tackled and detained for asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions. Students, including green card holders, have been detained and threatened with deportation for writing op-eds or expressing views that deviate from what the administration deems acceptable.

In some ways, the facts in this previous quotation from the ACLU article are now old hat since the article is more than 8 months old. We have seen ICE agents murder two people who were peaceful protestors in Minnesota and little or no outrage has been seen in the general populace. We are now seeing several Americans charged with vandalism and other crimes for touching a $16million dollar disaster at the Reflecting Pool literally in sight of one of our nation's most hallowed shrines to Democracy, the Lincoln Memorial. An Olympian who once epitomized American values to the watching world has been charged in an overt act of domestic terrorism in order to silence opposition to TRAITOR Trump and his TREASONOUS enforcers who, after giving a multi-million dollar secret and unvetted contract to one of his supporters, to repair the reflecting pool did a damn fine job of gravely damaging that symbol of American Democracy. And nobody seems to care.

An active duty American Air Force Major was arrested on July 2, 2026, in his full uniform for using his constitutional right to free speech to openly criticize TRAITOR Trump's actions in Venezuela. That was a direct violation of the US Constitution for anyone, whether in uniform or not, to be arrested for utilizing free speech to question what are clearly two totally unjustified wars against two countries with the basic intent to steal their assets such as oil, gas, rare earth minerals, and other valuable possessions of two sovereign nations. Major Jason Watson knew full well that he had chosen to end his military career before he opened his mouth that day. It should be a shock to every living American of sound mind when such a career military officer finds it necessary to willingly give up a career in which he has volunteered to literally place his life on the line to defend this nation. But it has not been seen as a shock to most people in this country. Most people are either to uneducated, uncaring, or ignorant to understand that such a person would find it necessary to place his life on the line, as he swore to do when he was inducted into the US Air Force, in such a manner contrary to the publicly stated intent of the people who have disastrously found themselves in charge of this country's military. Major Jason Watson is much more an American Hero today than he has ever been before when he willing complying with orders to participate in war crimes and international terrorism against Venezuela and Iran. The former Olympian David Hearn is now much more an American Hero than he ever was as an Olympic canoeist. Both these men, both those murdered citizens in Minnesota, and every other American who has simpley stood up in a No Kings Day Protest is much more a loyal American patriot than any of the hired thugs who arrested or murdered them.

Today, July 4th, 2026, America and American Democracy are far more endangered than they ever were in any of our previous wars. Democracy is being attacked in ways it never was by Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot, or Emperor Hirohito of Japan. We are under attack from those who are allowed to walk freely every day into the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the US Supreme Court and all of our government departments to pretend they are "making America great again". Those people, TRAITOR Trump and his many minions, are the most dangerous enemies America has ever faced. It is long past time for every American citizen to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out in defense of our Democracy or it will be lost forever long before November 2028.

Two Separate, But Connected Visits To Two State Capitols, West Virginia And Alabama

On two separate, but politically interconnected visits to the capitols of West Virginia and Alabama, I saw two things, one in each capitol, which showed me a great deal about the thought processes and actions of the political leaders in both states. What I saw in each capitol was connected to the sight I saw in the other in a way which was very educational for me and should have been so for anyone else who saw what I saw. The headline in this story from the Los Angeles Times tells succinctly what had happened in West Virginia. Former three term governor Arch Moore had been found guilty and sentenced of mail fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice and filing false income taxes during his 1984 and 1988 campaigns and during his third term, from 1985-89. On July 11, 1990, he was sentenced to a term of five years and ten months in prison and fined $170,000. He was ordered to serve his time in the Federal Correctional Instution in Petersburg, Virginia. I don't remember the exact date on which I subsequently made a visit to Charleston, West Virginia, and visited the West Virginia Cultural Center near the Capitol building which I have done nearly ever time I take a trip to Charleston. But I believe that visit was probably sometime late in 1990 not long after his sentencing. Arch Moore was depicted for several years in alarger than life marble bust which had sat since its original installation in the mezzanine level of the grand entrance to the Cultural Center. The bust sat against the rear wall of the mezzanine until some time after this visit, and I had seen it many times on other visits to the Capitol. As I climbed the stairs to the mezzanine and turned the corner to face the site of the bust, I saw a three sided box made of sheets of white painted plywood surrounding the area at the center of the rear wall where the bust had always been displayed. I thought "well, they removed his bust..but what have they put in its place". I walked over to the plywood box and saw that a thin crack had been left where two sheets of the plywood joined. I put my face close to that crack, and lo and behold there in the space which the plywood box surrounded was the bust still on scene after his incarceration. I laughed and walked away to finish my tour of the facility. Some months later, I returned to the Cultural Center and found that the bust was no longer there and neither was the plywood box. I have alway assumed that considering the size and weight of the huge bust, the management of the Cultural Center must have had the bust hidden until they could acquire a fork lift to lower it to the ground level of the grand entrance. The entire rear wall of the mezzanine has been used as a small art gallery ever since the removal. Google AI claims that the bust is still in the Cultural Center but I know better. I have never seen it since that sight of it hidden behind the plywood box.

In the late summer or early fall of 1993, my wife and I took a vacation to Montgomery, Alabama, where we toured three major historic sites: the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Alabama State Capitol, and the graves of Hank and Audrey Williams. Inside the Capitol, along a couple of walls was a portrait gallery of the governors of the state. This visit was shortly after former Governor Guy Hunt had been found guilty in April 1993 of misusing inaugural funds in a criminal case which bore some similarity to the Arch Moore case. Guy Hunt was sentenced by a Montgomery judge to five years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a $211,000 fine. Naturally, he appealed his sentence. The eventual outcome of that appeals process will be discussed shortly. Hunt had been indicted on December 28, 1992, Hunt on 13 felony charges, and wound up having most of them eventually dropped. He was eventually convicted on one charge in which the prosecution claimed he had taken $200,000 out of his 1987 inaugural fund which all consisted of private or corporate political donations intended to be spent on the inaugural festivities. The charge claimed that he had stolen the money for his own personal use. When we visited the Capitol and walked along viewing the portraits of all the governors of Alabama, we came upon an empty spot on the wall between the portraits of his immediate predecessor and successor. The wall around this space was still visibly more stained by time than the rectangular area which had previously held Hunt's portrait. I have no idea where the portrait had been taken, and I have never been back in the Alabama Capitol since that single visit. The following section of Guy Hunt's biography on the internet based "Encyclopedia of Alabama" describes the ultimate actions which followed his initial conviction and sentencing:

In June 1997, Hunt won his first victory in the matter when the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles approved a pardon for him on grounds of innocence. For the pardon to be valid, however, it needed to be signed by a judge or district attorney, but no one willing could be found. Even the recently elected Republican attorney general, Bill Pryor, refused to sign the pardon, arguing that he did not believe his office held that right or power. Then in a stunning defeat, when Hunt requested that probation be terminated shortly before it was due to expire in 1998, circuit judge Sally Greenhaw extended it for five more years because Hunt had been able to pay only $4,200 of the fine and court costs assessed against him. On March 30, 1998, however, Hunt's probation was lifted when his attorney presented a check to the court for the entire balance. Sympathetic Alabamians, both Democrats and Republicans, had helped Hunt raise the needed funds. The next day, the Board of Pardons and Paroles again pardoned Hunt on grounds of innocence, and because probation had been terminated, no affirming signature was needed. The following day, Hunt qualified to run for the Republican nomination for governor.

I cannot fully decide just how similar and how different these two cases and their ultimate handling by the powers that be in West Virginia and Alabma are, but both have been forever imprinted in my memory, and both are forever connected in my mind. Two state governors from two politically (now) similar states were charged and convicted of political corruption in their states during their terms of office. The outcomes were somewhat different despite the convictions. You can make up your own minds whether either or both of these cases was/were handled appropriately. If there are political lessons to be learned from these two men and their criminal convictions, I sincerely hope all of us can figure out what those lessons are.

Closure of The Federal Medical Center Prison In Lexington--How Many Jobs Will Be Lost

On July 1, 2026, WKYT-27 announced that the Federal Bureau of Prisons had announced in a press release that they were planning to close the Federal Medical Center or at least a portion of it called the Satelitte Camp on Leestown Road in Lexington. The press release from the Bureau of Prisons refers to the facility as a satellite camp which is a minimization of the history and the ongoing importance of this prison. It was one of six facilities on a list of six proposed closures. This facility has been in Lexington and Fayette County since 1935 and is one of the most well known prisons in the nation. It began as a federal drug treatment facility and was also a leading research facility in the effort to successfullly treat alcohol and drug addictions for most of its long and productive life. During the 1940's to 1980's, the facility was frequently the point of incarceration and treatment for many famous people. During the period when heroine was widely connected to the jazz music scene, numerous famous musicians who had become addicted,eventually arrested on federal drug charges, and convicted.

In the 1970's, I used to be a regular visitor to the facility along with other members of the substance abuse treatment community in Lexington and as part of my commitment to the treatment of addictive behaviors. I met several interesting people during those visits although I have to admit that I never met any of the more famous people who were incarcerated there over the years. But I did meet a man who claimed to have been the prisoner at Walpole, Massachusetts, who picked up and carried the firearms to their eventual user which were key to the Walpole prison riot,one of the worst prison riots in the history of the country. I also met one of the early American airline hijackers who told a fascinating story about his crime and incarceration. He was a traveling salesman at the time he committed the hijacking and also a chronic alcoholic. He said that he took a flight for business reasons at a time when he was drunk and in a blackout. Shortly after the plane gained cruising altitude, he said the stewardess came down the aisle taking drink orders, and he told her "This is a hijacking. I want to go to Cuba." He said shortly afterward, one of the crew told him the pilots said they were not carrying enough fuel to make the trip to Cuba and would need to stop somewhere and refuel. He said "OK!" since he was a well mannered alcoholic. The plane landed in Atlanta and a crew member told him "These other passengers don't want to go to Cuba. Would you be willing to let them get off here?" Being a well mannered alcoholic, he said, "Sure, they can get off." When the steps were lowered and the passengers left the plane, a team of FBI agents boarded, arrested him, and took him to the local federal prison to be held for the police and court processes. He said that he came to full consciousness at about 6pm that evening, realized he was in jail, and that the place didn't seem like any ordinary jail he had ever seen before. He always swore that the first thing he could consciously remember about the events was that when he came out of his blackout there was a televison on the wall at the end of the cell block and the 6pm news was on. He said he saw himself being led off the plane between two FBI agents. His family had some money and got him a good defense attorney and a psychiatrist who hypnotized him to probe his memory of knowledge of the events. He and the psychiatrist both testified that he had no organic memory of the hijacking. He eventuall was able to either get a plea deal or was simply convicted and given a fairly light sentence.

These two men were not typical of all the prisoners at FMC and they stood out in a place where it was hard to stand out. The Lexington Herald Leader published a story on February 16, 2024, which contained a lenghty list of former famous musicians who had been incarcerated and treated at the facility when it was called The Narco Farm. That list included the names of Jazz musicians including Chet Baker, Howard McGhee, Benny Green, Red Rodney, Sonny Rollins, Tadd Dameron and Jackie McLean. It also mentioned William S. Burroughs, Sr., a member of the Beat Writers whose book "Junkie" mentioned what might have been a slightly sanitized version of his time there. His son, William S. Burroughs, Jr. also spent time at the facility and wrote his own book primarily about his incarceration and treatment. But for my money, which was simply $1.59 spent at a Goodwill store, the best book about FMC is "The Narcotic Farm" by Nancy D. Campbell, JP Olsen, and Luke Walden which was published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 2008. It was a fantastic reasearch job and contains hundreds of historical photographs from the facility along with an excellent historical account of the life of the prison since 1935. In addition to the William S. Burroughs, Sr. book which was originally published in an Ace Double, it also mentions William S. Burroughs, Jr's book "Kentucky Ham" which contains a more lengthy story of his time at FMC. Two other books about life at FMC when it was known as The Narco Farm, are also discussed in "The Narcotic Farm". Those two books are "The Fantastic Lodge: The Autobiography Of A Girl Drug Addict" edited by Helen McGill Hughes and "The Farm" by Clarence L. Cooper, Jr. who was also incarcerated and treated in Lexington before being released and dying as a homeless addict.

Research done at FMC Lexington on consenting prisoners has been instrumental for many years in affecting how substance abuse treatment has been done and the production and approval of several drug therapies both moderately successful and unsuccessful. The long, productive, and incredibly interesting life of FMC Lexington deserves to be told and the facility deserves to be preserved. At a time when the current treaonous administration is destroying much of what is productive in America, and simultaneously creating and wasting billions of dollars on asinine failures such as Alligator Alcatraz, and two totally unjustified wars of aggression, FMC Lexington needs to be preserved and maintained as an active institution in the Bureau of Prisons. Why in the face of potentially several hundred good jobs being lost aren't the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in the Kentucky state legislature fighting this proposed closure?

Tommy Webb Plays Bluegrass For Free On July 4th 2026, at Mountain Arts Center In Prestonsburg, KY, Free Barbecue by James Butler

On July 4th, 2026, Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in all of Bluegrass music will be playing a free concert at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the congressional campaign of Ned Pillersdorf in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. James Butler, one of the best barbecue cooks in Kentucky will also be providing free barbecue. I'm sure Ned Pillersdorf will say a few words at some point and try to keep it short in light of the quality of the entertainment and food. Come on out! Bring a friend! Enjoy the music and food! Leave the show with a firm commitment to vote for Ned Pillersdorf in November in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District! We'll see you there!

And be sure not to forget to eat some of James Butler's famous barbecue while you can get a full stomach for free!

"Welcome The Traveler Home" by Jim Garland, Edited by Julia S. Ardery

Jim Garland (1905-1978), the author of this book, was born in Bell County Kentucky and grew up, like several others of his family, to become an underground coal miner. He was also a well known labor leader, union organizer, and folk singer who also happened to be the brother of Aunt Molly Jackson and Sarah Ogan Gunning both of whom were also folk singers and active in support of trade unionism and worker's rights. He organized and was a member of both the United Mine Workers of America and the National Miners Union. His organizing work was primarily in Harlan and Bell counties in Kentucky where he had worked at various times in several mines. He wrote this book, or at least, wrote most of the manuscript well before his death in 1978 but never published the book himself. At some point, his wife Hazel seems to have passed the manuscript on to the Kentucky writer Julia S. Ardery (1889-1977) who edite the work but also failed to get it published in her lifetime. Ardery wrote one other major book, " The Temptation: Edgar Tolson and the Genesis of Twentieth-Century Folk Art", which is a masterful biography and work of art criticism which was also not published in her lifetme. I have written about the Tolson biography at this link.When we consider that "Welcome The Traveler Home" was not published in the lifetimes of either the author or editor, it is a miracle that the book was ever published at all. However, Ardery was from a prominent Bourbon County Kentucky political family and the mother of a US Army Major General; a second son who worked for a time in Washington, DC, as a journalist before joining the University of Kentucky which published this book; and a third son who was an accountant who died by suicide four years before his mother's death. It seems likely that one of her sons was instrumental in the effort to have this book by Jim Garland published as well as Julia Ardery's book about Edgar Tolson. Rarely in the world of book publishing do manuscripts survive long enough to published after the death of the author. Yes, I acknowledge that it does sometimes happen, but it is as rare as hen's teeth. Garland's style of writing was exemplary of his lack of education but still strong writing. Ardery said in her Introduction that she had done as little as possible to alter Garland's original work with only minor edits for clarity of meaning, some organizational work since his manuscripts appears to have been less than well organized. But the content of the book is what makes it more than well worth reading. While I do believe it has some significant historical inaccuracies in it, it is still a fine first person discussion of the effort to unionize the Kentucky coalfields in the 1920's and 1930's. It also provides some interesting glimpses into the lived of he two famous folk singing sisters of Garland. But, sadly, it is devoted almost entirely to the time he spent in Eastern Kentucky as a coal miner and union organizer with minimal discussion of his life as a folk singer afer he was forced to leave the coal fields because he believed he had been targeted for death by coal operators. Two absolutely minimal references are made to two other very important figures in the effort to unionize the coalfields, Don West and Sam Reece. in the case of Don West whom Garaland says replaced him in the organizing effort when he was forced to leave Eastern Kentucky, the reference is only one sentence long. In the case of Sam Reece who was the husband of Florence Reece who wrote the classic labor ballad "Which Side Are You On?", Garland uses about three sentences to say that at some point in the union effort, he had borrowed Sam Reece's car to make a trip out of town. Both Don West and Sam Reece were major figures in the effort to organize the coalfields. I knew Don West quite well from about 1974 until his death in 1992 but never heard him mention Jim Garland in any of the many discussions I heard him give of his life as an organizer, miner,labor activist, and educator. I was also able to spend two days in the company of Florence and Sam Reece at Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee, which Don West and Myles Horton founded. I spent roughly a year living at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, West Virginia, which was founded by Don and Connie West. It would have been very educational if I had been able to hear and cross reference all those people's memories of the organizing efforts Harland and Bell counties including their discussions about each other. Such complete knowledge from all of them would have vastly improved my knowledge about Jim Garland and his work. The book is full of references to Appalachian social customs, mores, and history as Jim Garland chose to describe it all. It is a fairly well written book, extremely well edited by Julia S. Ardery, and well worth the time to read by any student of American Labor History, Appalachian Studies, or Kentucky History. It is very minimal in its discussion of folk songs despite the addition of the lyrics of several songs across the length of the text. My particular copy which I bought at a Goodwill Store for $1.59 plus tax is also inscribed by Suzy Roy and Betty Garland Roy, the daughter of Jim and Hazel Garland. A third signature is signed simply "Mrs. Jim Garland". It appears that all three signatures were made with the same red fine point marker. Due to the length of Betty's inscription which refers to Jim Garland as "Daddy" and to Sarah Ogan Gunning as "Aunt Sarah", I believe the signatures are authentic. I have added a scan of the inscription page below. I hope you can find and read your own copy of the book if you are a student of Appalachian Studies, Union Organizing and History, or Kentucky History. It is a fascinating read!