History of a Southeastern Kentucky Coal Miner
A short while ago, Karlin Ann Eversole-DiMarcello paid a visit to the Miner's Advice site and signed our guestbook. She said she had written a book about her father, who worked in the mines of Kentucky, and wanted us to mention it on our site. I asked her to send me a copy, which she did, by e-mail. You see, her book is not a particularly large book, at just over 4,500 words, but within her short narrative she tells a story of her father's struggle to raise his family amid the poverty and hardship endured in the American south.
I passed her story on to Dave, and this is what he thought of it:
"Fascinating. Truly it is fascinating, I can hear those mountain
accents, I can smell the wood smoke, you can feel the stubborn will just
to keep living and keep on. This is a short review, it is a very short
book, which ends too abruptly. But the sound of the book fills your head
for hours after you have finished reading its short passages.
I would like to hear it as a short story, told in the dialect of the coal
mining mountain folk, I think voices would convey this story far stronger
than simple words on a page, because if you don't know how it should sound
you'll miss more than half of its strength. A tale for radio perhaps,
or to be part of a collection of similar length stories ?
Even on its own, brief though it is, it has a wonderful resonance".
Dave Douglass
Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of this story should contact Karlin at: [email protected]
"Though the struggles and hardships seem at times insurmountable
we must endure them for they add strength and character to our lives,
and we cannot forget where it is we came from, but we must somehow embrace
it for it is who we are and what we're made of. It ebbs and flows through
our veins and a richness is planted in our hearts that will be retold
and carried through the ages by those who come after us. Keep the faith."
Karlin Ann Eversole-DiMarcello