Dave Tabler, Author at Appalachian History

Author Gretchen Laskas discusses “The Miner’s Daughter”

Gretchen Laskas’ grandfather stopped mining in the 1950’s, but that didn’t keep black lung from killing him years later.

The miller would stand around there when he was grinding . . . he’d feel the texture with his hands . . . and then he would smell it.

For all his prowess, George O’Brien manages to project Daniel Boone as a shy, unassuming adventurer, which is presumably what the man was.

I played opposite Booker T. Washington who chewed real tobacco. He lubricated the grass in front of me with real tobacco juice.

In 1928 & 1929, Frank Buckley Walker, Columbia Records’ head of “hillbilly” recordings division, headed to Johnson City, TN.