NEW BOOK BY CLYDE PACK

More than sixty years ago, the song "Which Side Are You On?" emerged from a National Miners Union meeting as a symbol of the conflict between coal miners and coal operators throughout Appalachia. That same conflict is also found in accounts of coal mining. Many people who have written about coal mining are telling you which side they are on, so politics dominate these studies.

In recent years, a more comprehensive-and less political-picture of life in the coal towns of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia has emerged thanks to books by Linda Scott DeRosier, George D. Torok, James B. Goode, Clyde Roy Pack, and many others. While coal camp life was dangerous, violent, and exploitive for some, it was a happy home to others, including Johnson County educator and journalist, Clyde Roy Pack.

Four years ago, the Jesse Stuart Foundation published "Muddy Branch:

Memories of an Eastern Kentucky Coal Camp." "Muddy Branch" was an honest, evocative, interesting, funny, reflective view of Pack's 1940s and 1950s growing up years in Muddy Branch, also known as Thealka.

"Muddy Branch" was a genuine success. It was listed as one of the Best Regional Books of 2002 by the "Lexington Herald-Leader," and it has been reprinted several times. "Muddy Branch" is still in print and selling steadily.

Because "Muddy Branch" enjoyed a wide readership, Pack has published a companion book, "Coal Camp Chronicles," which continues his delightful, anecdotal narrative, however, his second book goes beyond personalities and focuses more on the community.

"Coal Camp Chronicles" is enhanced by more than fifty newspaper articles from the "Paintsville Herald." These articles begin in 1907 and conclude in the in the early 1950s. These newspaper accounts cover items of everyday life like social activities and school news, and they also report dramatic events, like a spectacular murder trail or a mining disaster.

Clyde Pack's two books about Muddy Branch are available in the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore, located at 1645 Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland.

For more information, call (606)326-1667 or visit our website: JSFBOOKS.COM.

OLD AND RARE BOOKS

The Jesse Stuart Foundation contains two bookstores. The new store contains books about Kentucky and Appalachia. The used book store or bargain book store contains a wide variety of pre-owned books that are modestly priced; most are one to three dollars.

Caroline Wilson, our staff member in charge of used books, has also put together a collection of 150 old and rare books that range in price from $3 to $50. This collection includes 29 of the old Nancy Drew Mysteries for $3 each and a First Edition of Jean Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear." Stop by and examine our old and rare books or give us a call and we'll mail the list to you.