Lanterna Rally

Author: Jim Stovall

Publisher:

Published: 2019-04-25

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 9781799143161

The voices in this volume echo with a pitch, tone, and diversity that reflects the Appalachian region itself. They include *the sounds of thunderous singing of music sung just as it was two centuries ago; *the almost imperceptible scratching of a pen used by an octogenarian grandmother as she writes a journal for her grown children; *the soft sounds of books being shelved in a library where children are laughing in the background; *the tall but largely true tale of two moonshiners, one who comes off the mountain and another who doesn't.The chapters in this volume of Foothills Voices deal with aspects of Appalachian life from intimate family stories to global issues as they played out in these hills and valleys. There's life and death here. Sometimes the death is planned or much anticipated; sometimes it's a surprise.There is also work in these pages: the nurse who cares for the mentally ill, the member of the road-building crew, the grave-digger, and the dairy farmer. There's the artist turned teacher who gained prominence as a librarian. There's the farm boy turned soldier whose saw him through weeks of combat. There's the woman who tended her garden with such care, intelligence, and strength of will that it became a tourist attraction.All these stories are here.They reflect a region whose vibrancy and depth has sometimes been stereotyped inaccurately and unfairly. The people of southern Appalachia know who and what is here. We hope that this volume of Foothills Voices will help articulate the stories and lives of this region and will help others to share in the joy that life in this region offers.