We’re All a Bunch of Logophiles

Proud daughter here.

Mom just had her second book published– My Endearing Appalachia–Memoirs of Southern West Virginia Coalfield Life.  Even though I am quite familiar with Appalachia & West Virginia coalfields, and know most of the stories shared in her book, I felt I was learning it all for the first time when I read it.  The way she weaves the stories puts you right there with her…in those mountains…hearing those trains in the distance…

Perhaps some Appalachian stereotypes will be erased after reading Phylenia French’s memoirs.  Perhaps some confirmed.  Regardless, stepping into that culture and those times through her words on the pages creates a nostalgia.  It’s strange to comprehend that an era could simultaneously be difficult and simple, lean and rich.

Mom’s first book–Homespun Yarns; Tales to be Told from the Front Porch Swing–is a sequel of sorts.  She shares embarrassing funny anecdotes from adulthood, from learning how to cook to navigating rearing teenagers.  It’s not currently in print, but her latest book has resurrected the demand for the first.  Hopefully, she can get a second printing!

In Her Own Voice

Radio, too!  Ten years ago, Mom was also on West Virginia Public Radio with her Fond Memories of a Mountain Childhood in Appalachia.  (I can’t tell you how many friends who aren’t from Appalachia/the south say they love her accent–I don’t hear it, of course.)  The next medium for her is television.  I’ll talk to her about that.

Even Dad

Yes, my Dad also writes. His story My First Night in the Mines was published in Goldenseal in 1999.  You can read a snippet here (just renewed my subscription to the magazine!). He, his dad, and his dad’s dad all worked in the mines in Gary, West Virginia, with the latter having been killed in the mines in the 1930s.  In addition to numerous short, historically based stories, Dad wrote So Long, Charlie, about his dad as a young man, and his horse.  It hasn’t been mass printed, but it should be!

Passed it Down

Times are changing and time is passing so quickly–I’m so blessed that I have much of their histories written for posterity.   Not only did they pass down to me the love of words and writing and storytelling, they passed down to me our history, shared our roots, and have given me a great appreciation of who they are and from where we came.  I’m a proud daughter of Appalachia, and a proud daughter of the Frenches.

Thanks, Mom & Dad.