Dave Tabler, Author at Appalachian History

The Definitive ‘Appalachian Novel’ Celebrates Its Diamond Anniversary

75 years ago the definitive Appalachian novel was published—James Still’s River of Earth. ‘Appalachian’ literature did not exist then.

200 ft. below Lake Keowee sits Ft Prince George, an early British military outpost, & the Cherokee village Keowee–“land of mulberry groves.”

“The idea of Ole Cap just sort of grew on me after I met an old man who had gone to work in the mines when he was 7 years old,” says Swiesz.

This looks like a book my taste would agree with: its Appalachian characters, environmental themes, coming of age storyline. But I didn’t.

Mary Hylton, 6, learns about soda pop in town, then on the trip home gets the ride of her life with Grandpa Sledd in Copper Valley, VA.