Description:
Something's Rising collects oral histories from a diverse group of individuals from Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Virginia who are fighting mountaintop removal, an ecologically devastating form of coal mining. Taken together, these voices stand as a testament of what it means to be an Appalachian and demonstrate the value of preserving a culture's history and spirit through the stories of its people. The authors have chosen twelve unique voices including Jean Ritchie, the "mother of folk," who doesn't let her eighty-six years slow down her fighting spirit; Judy Bonds, a tough-talking coal miner's daughter; Kathy Mattea, the beloved country singer who believes that cooperation is the key to the battle; Larry Bush, who doesn't back down even when speeding coal trucks are used to intimidate him; and Denise Giardina, the West Virginia writer who ran for governor to bring attention to the mountaintop removal issue. Written and edited by native sons of the mountains, these riveting, personal stories are captured in an original and highly readable book.
Brief description: Silas House is a bestselling novelist of Clay's Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, and The Coal Tattoo, whose nonfiction has been published in Newsday, Sierra, The Oxford American, No Depression, and elsewhere. In 2008 he won the Helen Lewis Award for Community Service for his efforts in the fight against mountaintop removal. He teaches at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.
Review Quotes:
Something's Rising is the testimony of two sons of the Kentucky coal country, novelist Silas House and activist Jason Howard, who have placed themselves at the center of a grassroots movement to fight mountaintop removal and the hegemony of the coal barons. Their own stories, their eloquent argument and the formidable array of witnesses they assemble---writers, musicians, community organizers and backroads sages with long memories---will kindle hope in the breast of the most exhausted cynic.
--Hal Crowther, author of Gather at the River and Cathedrals of Kudzu