"Twigs XI/I Kentucky Bicentennial Issue" Fall 1974--What An Issue!

I have mentioned in a few blog posts lately that I have recently bought a sizeable number of books from a friend in the antique business which had come from the estate of a local newspaper writer who knew many of the regional writers in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia and literally kept everything that fell into her hands.  One of the books in that pile I bought is an issue of the magazine "Twigs" which was originally published by the University of Pikeville.  The magazine, at that time, benefited from the fact that Lillie D. Chaffin and Leonard Roberts both worked at the university and served as the editorial staff of "Twigs".  There is an Appalachian literary award named for Chaffin and her husband Thomas at Morehead State University.  

"Twigs" also deserves a great deal of credit in the history of Appalachian Literature for having been the first place in which Loyal Jones' seminal work, "Appalachian Values", was published.  But my first pleasant surprise in this issue of "Twigs" came when I saw that it contained a poem by Loyal Jones about the death of his brother as a child.  Loyal Jones is one of the most famous names in Appalachian Literature and the entire field of Appalachian Studies and I had never known that he ever wrote poetry.  And it is actually a pretty darn good poem.  The poem is called "To Elmer" and contains these powerful lines from an adult brother who never saw his sibling grow to adulthood:

"But how does one fashion a brother?

So I wonder still what you were, 

What you held in your heart

That quit so soon.

I can only wish for more

To go with the half-etched face

Which is all I have of you, my brother."  From "To Elmer" by Loyal Jones

That poem reminds me of one I also published more than forty years ago, at roughly the same period as Loyal Jones published his.  Mine was published in "What's A Nice Hillbilly Like You..." and was about the coal mining death of my brother Hewie Hicks which was called "Huey, My Brother" and is printed here in its entirety.  

"I don't remember much about him

Except the flowers he grew were beautiful.

(He talked to flowers you know.)

And how one side of his face in the casket

Was lower than the other

Because the rock fall that killed him

On his retirement day almost missed.

(He listened to the mine you know.)"  From "Huey, My Brother" by Roger D. Hicks

I find it fascinating that many miles apart, at nearly the same time without having ever met at that time, that Loyal Jones and I were both writing and publishing poetry about the deaths of our brothers and both of us were using references to the faces of the dead brothers to build our poems.  Robert "Bob" Snyder, the wonderful Appalachian poet and founder of the Southern Appalachian Circuit of Antioch College in Beckley, West Virginia, used my poem as an illustration of a quality he referred to as "enmaskedness".  He described "enmaskedness" as "...the ability to rest calmly in one's self, one's role, without anxiously reaching for irony or escape, within a larger situation that is stormily comical or tragic or otherwise energized"  (Robert F. Snyder, "Colonial Memesis and the Appalachian Renascence" in "Appalachian Journal, Vol. 3, No. 5, 1978).  Snyder also used a poem by Lillie D. Chaffin about the Buffalo Creek Flood to illustrate the same quality of enmaskedness: 

"Deadlines! Deadlines of the feeble, the small

and the laggards. Damnation to dams, and to, 

rubber dolls bobbing on indigo waves

with no one to press their "Mama" cry buttons

or scold at how soggy diapers can get."  From "After The Buffalo Creek Dam Break" by Lillie D. Chaffin.

I had never intended to use this blog post to discuss Bob Snyder's exposition of what he called "enmaskedness".  But, since I referred back to that article of his, I realized that the three of us, Jones, Chaffin, and me, had all provided evidence of what my mentor, Bob Snyder, was talking about, in our poems about death of various kinds.  And, of course, Chaffin and I were both discussing death due to the shortcomings of the Appalachian mining industry and Loyal Jones and I were both discussing the deaths of beloved brothers.  I seem to come up short in drawing a terminal conclusion about this whole quality of enmaskedness and the poetry of the three of us, but I am fascinated by how well it all seems to tie up in a neat little ball.  I am really glad I found this copy of "Twigs"; and, I will be forever grateful that I was blessed to know and be mentored by both Snyder and Jones.

To return to my discussion of the issue of "Twigs", it also contains work from several more significant writers including a short story, "Sail On And On", by Leonard Roberts who was just as generally unknown for his short stories as Jones was for his poetry.  The list of authors on the cover of the book mentions Joy Bale, a former Kentucky Poet Laureate; Wendell Berry, who generally needs no introduction; Jack Cady, a former Kentuckian who was successful as a mainstream fiction writer; Jim Wayne Miller, who is actually listed as "James Wayne Miller" a name which I had never seen used to refer to him before; James Still, who also needs no introduction; and my other friend and mentor, Albert Stewart.  Interestingly, the book also contains poetry from William Howard Cohen, another of my early mentors; and Jane Stuart, the daughter of Jesse Stuart.  The cover does not even list these two.  To say the least, this particular volume of "Twigs" contains a great deal of writing from nearly a dozen well known Appalachian writers.  Naturally, since it is 45 years old, it will be very difficult to find on Internet used book sites and likely impossible to locate except in estate sales such as where I found it.  But if you stray into a copy, buy it, read it, enjoy it.  It is well worth whatever it will cost if you are an actual aficionado of Appalachian Literature.   

"Mantrip" Magazine, Wheelwright High School, 1986 to 1996

"Mantrip" vol. 1 no. 1

From 1986 to 1996, staff and students at Wheelwright High School in Wheelwright Kentucky published a wonderful little magazine called "Mantrip" which published primarily oral history interviews but also included some fiction and poetry along with wonderful photographs and some local art work. At times, the magazine would include interviews with Kentucky and/or Appalachian writers of some significance. I only own five editions of "Mantrip" which includes Volume 1, Numbers 1 & 2; Volume 2, Number 1; Volume 3, Numbers 1 & 2.  I would love to be able to add all the missing volumes to my collection and I am willing to pay reasonable prices if you have them and are willing to sell.  They are generally very difficult to locate on used book sites on the Internet. This, I suspect, is primarily due to the fact that they were printed in small editions of only a thousand or two.  The few copies I own were generously given to me by one of my best friends, a relatively uneducated man who loved books, writing, and history and decided to pass them on before he died.  Interestingly, the first edition, Volume 1, Number 1, has the header "a ride on the Mantrip" printed on the cover instead of simply "Mantrip" as all the others do.  But on the contents page and in the opening essay, "About Mantrip", it is labeled only "Mantrip".  All the subsequent editions which I own are always simply labeled "Mantrip".  The contents page always states that the magazine is produced by The Oral History Project, Wheelwright High School, and Volume 1, Number 1, also states that the magazine, or at least that initial volume, was funded by a grant from The Kentucky Educational Foundation.  All the volumes I own list Carol Stumbo and Delores Woody as the faculty sponsors.  They also list Knott County Kentucky poet, professor, and lifelong literary mentor Albert Stewart as an editorial advisor. Stewart was also the founder of Appalachian Heritage Magazine during his time at Alice Lloyd College and acted as a mentor to dozens of aspiring writers in Appalachia including this writer. But Robert "Bob" Hall, who was a guidance counselor and former alumnus of Wheelwright High School, was also apparently involved in the work of the project since it contains his poetry from time to time along with interviews with his parents who owned a grocery store in Hall Hollow which they eventually passed on to Bob and his wife Shirley. The importance of the Hall family and Hall Hollow in the life of Wheelwright are chronicled quite well in George D. Torok's wonderful book, "A Guide To Historic Coal Towns Of The Big Sandy River Valley". In the early days of Wheelwright, the Hall family store was one of the few privately owned stores located within the incorporated environs of a coal company owned town.

So far as I know, everyone who was involved as an advisor or faculty member to the project is now deceased.  I personally knew Carol Stumbo, Robert "Bob" Hall, and Albert Stewart.  They had all met at Alice Lloyd College where they all worked as faculty or staff in the late 1960's and beyond.  Stewart and Stumbo were both professors there and Bob Hall was the guidance counselor.  There is no doubt that the three knew and worked with each other at Alice Lloyd College.  But it is also possible that Hall and Stumbo had known each other even before their employment at the college since they grew up in Wheelwright and McDowell located only 13 miles apart on Left Beaver Creek in Floyd County. However, Bob Hall was about 6 years older than Carol Stumbo so it is not likely they knew each other through school activities.  But since Bob's parents operated a well known grocery store in the area and both would have been outstanding students, they could well have known each other even before their tenure at Alice Lloyd College. In time, Albert Stewart retired from Alice Lloyd College and Hall and Stumbo both moved on to Wheelwright High School. Carol Stumbo also served several  years as a member of the Floyd County Kentucky School Board. I did not know or know of Delores Woody although I believe the link I am providing here is her memorial on Find A Grave.

It is somewhat unusual that a small high school in the heart of Appalachia could have produced such a high quality magazine over a period as long as ten years and that fact is a monument to the four individuals who supervised the students who performed most of the work.  Apparently, the Kentucky Historical Society (Volume 35, Number 3, Summer 2007) has managed to preserve a significant collection of the audiotapes from those oral history interviews.   Carol Stumbo also published at least one article in Appalachian Heritage magazine about the involvement of Albert Stewart in the project.  She also published one other article in that magazine on the subject of Appalachian agriculture Volume 14, Number 1, Winter 1986 which may well have arisen from the work on "Mantrip".  In some ways, this entire project might have been modeled after the famous and infamous work of Elliott Wigginton on "Foxfire" at his north Georgia high school.  But over the course of several decades "Foxfire" has survived with the work of other leaders than Wigginton and Wheelwright High School was consolidated out of existence and "Mantrip" died out as well after ten years of important work.

In just the handful of issues of "Mantrip" which I own, the magazine published written or artistic works by Appalachian authors and artists Gurney Norman, Russell May, Tom Whitaker, Albert Stewart, and interviews with Tom Whitaker, Albert Stewart, Billy C. Clark, Gurney Norman, Russell May, and famous newspaperman and genealogist Henry P. Scalf.  That is a phenomenal amount of historical, literary, and artistic preservation for a small magazine being produced by a tiny high school in a coal camp in Eastern Kentucky.  Every issue, every single copy of this little magazine is worthy of being preserved.  If you own copies either keep them, sell them to me and I assure I will keep them to be passed on along with my entire collection to a worthy university for permanent preservation, or pass them on to another person you are absolutely convinced will arrange for their preservation in an appropriate institution.  If you have never read a copy of "Mantrip" and can find one anywhere buy it and read it.  If you cannot find one for sale, search the online collections of college and university libraries in Appalachia and make a trip to read their collection.  If you are a native Appalachian and a student of Appalachian history, culture, literature, art, and oral history, you will love this little magazine and gain valuable information.  Some of the oral history interviews with lesser known residents of the Wheelwright area can also be highly useful to those in search of genealogical information about ancestors who might have lived in Floyd County, Left Beaver, and Wheelwright. 

The Mixed Blessings Of Having Writers As Friends

As I have said on several occasions in this blog, I have known and been mentored by several of the most important writers in Appalachia.  I have had published writers as friends, mentors, professors, and colleagues since I was in my early teens.  I have written about several of those relationships and people on this blog over the last seven years.  I have benefited greatly, in a variety of ways, by having known these people.  I do not say that all of them have been glowing examples of the human race.  One or two I have known have been many of the things most people work diligently to try to never become. A few others have been nearly everything decent, honorable, and caring humans strive to become.  At least one of these relationships extends all the way back to the early 1970's.  Others have only been my friends for a few years.  Yet at least one of those brief friendships is one of my closest today.  For a time I was a member of a group of Appalachian writers, both professors and students, which is thought of by many in the fields of Appalachian Studies and Appalachian Literature as having been one of the more significant groups of writers in Appalachia.  

However, knowing numerous writers  is, in general, a bit like knowing all of the dogs in your neighborhood or the racehorses at your favorite track.  Some of them will bite without provocation.  Some will be your best friend so long as you have food to eat, a warm house, or something to drink or smoke.  Some of them will be winners.  Some will always finish well behind the pack.  Some will only be consistent consumers of favors and influence while others will be consistent producers of both great literature and fond memories.  Over the last few weeks I have had occasion to be reminded of this for several reasons.  I recently acquired a few books from the estate of a lesser known poet and newspaper writer in my area and most of those books had been autographed by their authors and given to the writer  of whose estate I had managed to buy part.  During her lifetime, she had known many of the most influential writers in the state of Kentucky.  During my lifetime, I have done the same with a similar group of writers from both Kentucky and West Virginia.  I also have a similar collection of books written, autographed, and presented to me by writers I have known.  I even bought a wood stove once from one of the most famous Kentucky writers without anything other than home heating having ever been discussed between us.  

Also during this recent period, I acquired four or five books written by two or three of my friends.  One of those friends I have known since about 1995.  The other I met just this past summer.  One is an excellent writer.  The other is not.  I have been in fairly regular contact with both over the time I have known the later.  The recent friend has provided me with warmth, friendship, and respect.  The other, whom I have known much longer has been in contact on superficial levels and been less than forthcoming in many ways.  The new friend, during the course of writing their third published book, sought my input and even included a piece of a great writer's production in that book to make a point.  It was not the point I would have made with the same excerpt but I do know that my friend had never before seen that writer's work until they knew me and chose to use the work mentioned when I made them aware of it. They also listed me in the "Acknowledgements" page of the next book for having critiqued the previous book and for "providing a bottomless well of research material."  The second writer, whom I have known considerably longer also published a couple of books recently which would have been better left in a manila envelope under a bed for some auctioneer, yet unborn, to include in a box lot at an estate sale.  At some point, I offered this second mistakenly ambitious writer some constructive criticism pending their willingness to hear it.  I never even got a response which in some ways did not surprise me.  I refer you once again to my earlier metaphor about dogs and racehorses.  The new friend has produced a well written, respectable book which will not likely ever be famous due primarily to that person's total aversion to seeking or achieving advantages by virtue of doing anything that is not modest and humble. But  their work is likely to be kept in some bookshelves for the foreseeable future.  The other produced a book which would, as I said earlier, have been better placed elsewhere other than in the public market.  At about the same time this series of exchanges was transpiring, a third writer friend who works in several areas has been well reviewed by random strangers over the last several decades asked me to consider providing input on an upcoming book which leads me to believe that my input is not totally worthless.  

To put all this in a neat little package, or at least as neat a package as possible, I will say that despite having been bitten and ravaged by fleas on a few occasions in addition to having been kicked, pawed, and dragged by several horses, I still pet strange dogs, admire and sometimes even bet on new horses, waste my time picking up strays, and have even paid to neuter two stray kittens lately.  I will probably not stop expressing my opinions to writers whom I know and some I have still not met. 

Some Random Thoughts On Heroes In Appalachia

Quite a while ago, I wrote the post "A Gallery Of Appalachian Heroes" with every intention of putting together a series of posts about people I consider to be heroes within the Appalachian Studies field or who should be considered heroes by most Appalachian people.  I wrote one of those posts about Jim Ferrell, a personal hero of mine but generally unknown outside Logan County West Virginia and Cleveland, Ohio.  I have also written a few posts about single or limited aspects of a few other people I put on my list of Appalachian Heroes such as Loyal Jones, Albert Stewart, and Cratis Williams.  I have mentioned the names of a few others in passing.  But, the bottom line is I have spent too much time writing posts, when I had the time, about other aspects of Appalachia and Appalachian Studies which also matter to me.  I need to get back to that series of posts and I consider this piece to be a warm up before I begin to actually do the posts about that series of individuals. 

I would like to delineate a list of characteristics of heroes, both Appalachian and non-Appalachian, which may not be universal but any list of heroes would be comprised of individuals who possess most of those key characteristics.  I have no intentions of researching these qualities not because I think I know all the qualities of a hero.  But, rather, I think I know enough about the list of people I intend to write about that I am capable of considering the qualities each exhibited in their lives, both personal and professional, to enable me to comprise a collective list of heroic characteristics.  By doing this, I hope to be able to define, both for myself and my readers, exactly what I believe constitutes heroism and a heroic personality. 

• Heroes nearly always do the right thing even if it may not be in their own personal interests.  I have known several heroes who placed their own lives and well being in jeopardy in order to act in ways which were in the common interests of the groups to which they belonged.
• Most heroes are not perfect and many of them exhibit clearly delineated flaws.  I do not wish to espouse or defend the theory of the "fatal flaw" of classic tragedy.  But I have known several heroes whose personalities often clashed with those of many of the people around them.  I have known a few genuine heroes who were simultaneously heroic and egocentric.
• Many heroes are single minded, especially in support of a cause, to a degree that is sometimes detrimental to either themselves or the people around them.
• At times, I have seen a few genuine heroes become petty and a bit vindictive.  Heroes sometimes see too far into the future to the degree that their vision of a perfect world does not coincide with the visions of the general public they represent. Two people I have known well and will not name, both of whom I consider to have been Appalachian Heroes, had a common dislike for each other.  Two of the greatest activists in Appalachian history, one of whom I knew well and one I only met once, began a career together and soon parted ways because of this flaw.
• At least one of the people on my list of heroes greatly limited their potential and achievements through the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs.  Yet this person achieved a reasonable amount of well deserved fame and a devoted following of equally committed and intelligent people in their field.  But the body of life's work this person achieved was seriously abbreviated by the time spent under the influence. 
• Some heroes are just not very likable.  I have known more than one person who achieved heroic results yet had a small and restricted number of friends and admirers.  Whether we tend to believe in the concept of "the burden of greatness" or not, the presence of a commitment, a dream, or a vision can often make a person less than desirable as company.  When we become driven, we also often drive away those around us.  One of my personal heroes had a very talented wife who was often ignored in the home.  Yet, in her own right, she was popular, talented, and successful in her field. 
• Many heroes have a tendency to overlook their own shortcomings in the mistaken belief that the rest of the world around them must know how important the hero and his/her work is. 

At this point, it might seem that I have a strange and unpopular list of heroes.  But most of my heroes have all the standard qualities that one tends to find in books about greatness and those who exhibit it.  They are intelligent, committed, driven, honest, ethical, visionary, altruistic, zealous, and tireless.  But, the bottom line, for most of my heroes, is that they are also human. Over the next few weeks, I will introduce my readers to a group of people I consider to be among the most important to have lived in Appalachia.  I have known some of them.  Many of them I only wish I had known.  But in each case, their lives and their work influenced me and helped me to become the person I am today. And, in each case, they also performed some important work in Appalachia or Appalachian Studies which also has affected the lives of numerous others. 

Observations On Reading The Poetry Of Albert Stewart Once Again

This past week I reread Albert Stewart's "A Man Of Circumstance & Selected Yellow Mountain Poems 1946-1996" and reaffirmed many realizations about Al Stewart as a man and a poet.  I might have also come to one or two new, or at least revised, conclusions.  The long poem "A Man Of Circumstance" is most probably about Albert Stewart's father.  But it is also somewhat a compilation of qualities and observations about many of the positive male role models to whom Al was exposed during his early life.  It is also a compelling representation of Al Stewart's broad based knowledge of the area, the land, and the people around him.  His use of Appalachian metaphors and aphorisms in the poem show him to have been as much a common man in the mountains as he was a poet and educator.  Albert Stewart never forgot that he was a member of the community and culture which had produced him. 

The poem "The New Mule" is a wonderful story about how a man and a mule could change each other and form a relationship over the course of several years making lateral trips along the furrows of a hillside farm.  It is truly a work of art.  The mule progresses, over the course of 23 linguistically spare lines, from an uncontrollable, wild beast to moving "a careful inch in the furrow to my asking".  The man progresses from "goddamning voice" to being able to will "myself to patience".  It is a wonderful poem by a man who understood animals, land, and people and was able to express that knowledge in a minimal expenditure of words.  It is a wonderful poem about slow, positive change in a place where change was generally unwelcome.

Albert Stewart's poetry is a the poetry of an educator, environmentalist, farmer, neighbor, and friend.  It is a rare, wonderful kind of work which has received far too little recognition on the greater world wide stage.  Just like Al, it has had a tendency to stay on Yellow Mountain.  But those of us who knew Al as a friend and mentor keep taking it with us into the wider world and showing it to people who never had the good fortune to know him or his poetry.

Albert Stewart

Gallery of Appalachian Heroes

As I find more time to work on this blog, I intend to post a collection of articles about several, perhaps a few dozen, heroes from Appalachia.  Some of them will be people I have known. Some will only be people I wish I had known.  They will include union organizers, artists, musicians, college professors, writers, poets, coal miners, one or two preachers, at least one Supreme Court Justice, and one Indian Chief.  The people in this gallery will be a group of individuals who have accomplished things which have made the world a  better place.  Some will have written books.  Some will have produced works of art.  Some will have put their lives on the line in support of their beliefs.  One part of me wants to list some of the group in this article today.  Another part of me wants to keep you in suspense.  I have decided to post the list, or at least the beginnings of the list.  This group will include several writers and poets: Don West, Albert Stewart, Verna Mae Slone, Loyal Jones, Cratis Williams, Bill Blizzard, Bob Snyder.  One other poet who was not Appalachian but lived and worked in Appalachia for many years will probably also be discussed at length but not included in the gallery of heroes due to his having been born outside the region: William Howard Cohen.  I will also include some articles about those miners and textile workers who gave their lives  in the union struggle in Appalachia. I have already written a small piece about the Battle of Blair Mountain.  But I would like to do something larger for all those people who died in order to gain union representation, fair wages, holidays, and vacations for the workers who live today and benefit from their blood, sweat, and tears without ever knowing, acknowledging, or appreciating the tremendous sacrifices these men and women made.  I cannot say that I really knew Florence and Sam Reese but I did have the pleasure of meeting them and attending a seminar they were involved in once.  For the uninitiated, Florence Reese wrote "Which Side Are You On?", one of the greatest union songs ever written.  I will also write about Cherokee Chief Charles Renatus Hicks, one of the most literate men in America in the 18th century.  Many of my relatives believe we are decended from Chief Charles.  I have never been able to find sufficient proof to make that statement.  But I do know that I would love to be able to prove it.  Chief Charles read and wrote  both Cherokee and English and served as an interpreter for the tribe at many of the most famous treaty conferences.  He also owned one of the largest private libraries in America at a time when most Native Americans were illiterate.  I am on the fence about writing about Sgt. Alvin York, WW I solider and hero.  His military record is generally what brings him mention.  I am more interested in his work to improve education in East Tennessee after he returned from the war.  I have already mentioned at least a dozen men and women who worked to make America a better place. I can't wait to find out who the next dozen will be who pop into my head.  Aha, Jock Yablonski, what gallery of Appalachian heroes could be complete without mention of his name and how he paid the ultimate sacrifice in the UMWA.  There are also all the men and women, boys and girls who died in disasters in Appalachia.  I have always been interested in the way Appalachian people work within our cultural value system to rebound from death, destruction, and disaster.  I would like to write some posts about the events leading up to, during, and after disasters such as the coal mine explosions, the Buffalo Creek Flood, the Floyd County School Bus Wreck, the Silver Bridge Collapse, the Marshall University Airplane Crash, and several more catastrophic events in our history as a region. 

Don West, Poet, Preacher, Teacher, Social Activist

Sgt. Alvin C. York, War Hero

Verna Mae Slone, Writer

William Blizzard, Sr., Union Activist, Blattle of Blair Mountain

Historic Marker For William Blizzard, Sr.

Major General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, Pilot & Military Leader



Albert Stewart, Poet