For Tess, who wanted to know what my next blog would be about

 I have recently started reading the wonderful comprehensive new anthology of Appalachian Literature edited by Katherine Ledford and our dear friend Dr. Theresa (Tess) Lloyd.  It is called Writing Appalachia.  Reading it has stimulated memories of my first years teaching at Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  As you can tell from the name, it is in the heart of Appalachia.

I showed up in Big Stone Gap (BSG) in the summer of 1982, recently divorced, just out of grad school at UK, after 13 months of travel in a motor home all over the western US. Prior to that, I had spent 10 years teaching 8th grade English in the Maryland suburbs of DC.  I had always lived in towns and cities, never in anywhere as isolated and rural as what I encountered in BSG.

My first inkling that things would be very different was when I came for the job interview.  The interview went well, and I felt confident of being offered a position.  I was staying at the only decent motel in BSG.   I wanted to celebrate, so I asked where the best restaurant in town was.  I was told it was across the street at The Coach House.  I went over, ordered a steak, and asked for a glass of red wine.  The waitress replied, "We've got it, but you cain't have it." Mystified, I asked why. She replied, "The waht's open." It took me a bit to realize what she said. Because they sold so little wine, they had to finish selling whatever bottle of wine was open before opening another.  The white (waht) wine was open.  So that's what I had.  Dorothy, you're not in DC anymore.

Everyone at the college was very kind and welcoming, but I was moving into a culture where family and religion were dominant.  I had neither, plus I had feminist bumper stickers on my car. (The man at the Virginia inspection station told me that he wouldn't have inspected my car if he had seen the stickers first.)  I was hired to teach Developmental Studies, which used to be called remedial education, so most of my students lacked a high school diploma and came from families that often viewed education with suspicion. Many of their grandparents were illiterate.  They were the first in their families to go to college and had to overcome a lot of issues to be able to attend classes. They were extremely polite and often very, very poor. Some came from homes with no indoor plumbing, so bathing didn't happen so often.  The middle class kids were in the regular and advanced classes at the college, so the situation wasn't college-wide, just focused on the lower level classes like the ones I taught.

As you can imagine, I felt like I had been dropped onto another planet, one that I did not understand.  I determined to learn as much as I could about this incredibly foreign culture to me. Of course, as an English teacher, I wanted to learn through the writings of local authors.  I was lucky to encounter Rita Quillen, who was working at the college at the time.  She had just finished her Master's at ETSU, with a focus on Appalachian Literature.  I asked her for a list of authors and titles that I should read in order to try to come to a better understanding of my new home.  She gave me a wonderful list that I wish I still had--James Still, Harriette Arnow,  Anne Armstrong, Jim Wayne Miller, Fred Chappell, etc. etc. The MECC library had an outstanding collection of Appalachian Literature, so I was able to obtain and read as many as I wanted.  What they didn't have, they got for me through inter-library loan--including printed copies of the microfilm of Cratis Williams's seminal dissertation on Appalachian Literature. (Thank you, John!) I spent the first five years at MECC living in a rental house on a gravel road on Purchase Ridge reading and reading and reading.

I found that my students had not been exposed to these wonderful authors, only the traditional fare of English classes throughout the country.  They had no idea of the rich tradition of writing in the mountains.  Once I realized that, I started incorporating Appalachian authors into my developmental reading classes.  I used Nellie McNeil's A Southern Appalachian Reader for many years until it went out of print.  Then, Wilma Dykeman's The Tall Woman, then Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys.  It seemed strange to me that I, as an outsider, had to introduce them to this incredible canon of local writing.

Mary Lee Settle signs a book for me

MECC, however, was doing a fantastic job of spotlighting Appalachian authors through its John Fox Jr. Literary Festival.  Each year, they brought in renowned writers from the Southern Appalachians.  Because of the festival, I was able to be introduced to the writings of many contemporary authors and hear them read from their works.  I have tried unsuccessfully to find a listing of the featured speakers through the years, which is a shame.  It is a legacy that shouldn't be lost.  I do remember, however, hearing Lee Smith, Jo Carson, Harry Caudill, Mary Lee Settle, and many others.  The festival continues to this day.  March 15, 2023, they had Silas House.  I wish I had made the trip to BSG to hear him.

When I took the job at MECC, I thought I would stay just long enough to get college teaching experience; then, I would move on.  That didn't happen because I came to love the mountains and the people who lived there. I was given the opportunity to get to know so many incredible individuals who lived their lives and contributed to the progress of the area, all while honoring the traditions of the mountain people. I stayed at MECC for 27 years until I retired in 2009.  

The story may be apocryphal, but it is said that when a famous Appalachian author (whose name I can't remember) died, his obituary said, "He was not one of us, but he was well loved, nonetheless." I may paraphrase that for me, "I was not one of them, but I loved them, nonetheless."