My reading group just finished an enjoyable discussion of James Still’s novel, "Sporty Creek," and I want to recommend this book as an enjoyable summertime read for an adult on vacation or an out-of-school teenager.

"Sporty Creek" was originally subtitled "A novel about an Appalachian boyhood." The ten chapters—or separate stories—tell of life in the Kentucky hills during the Great Depression. The narrator is a nine-year-old boy whose family, with work almost nonexistent in the mines, moves from place to place, eking out a living as best they can. The novel is not, however, a saga of downtrodden vagrants but of a robust people with courage, a sense of humor, and a zest for life. Like Still’s other novels, this one tells a compelling story about people who as they struggle to survive also love, get angry, laugh, and are aware of themselves and of the beauty and the ugliness alike of the world they live in.

James Still was a literary giant. His carefully crafted prose and poetry and stunningly accurate and sensitive portrayals of mountain life during the 1930s and 1940s prompted many of Appalachia’s best writers and scholars to regard him as the region’s greatest literary artist.

Gurney Norman, who directs the creative writing program at the University of Kentucky, praised Mr. Still, as he was affectionately called by a younger generation of writers, as "the most influential Kentucky writer of the last fifty years."

Silas House, author of "Clay’s Quilt" respectfully observed that Mr. Still’s advice to him changed his life forever, "as a writer and as a person."

James Still’s life paralleled Jesse Stuart’s in many ways. They were both born in 1906. They attended Lincoln Memorial University and Vanderbilt University at the same time. Each served as Poet Laureate of Kentucky. Both were veterans of the armed services. Stuart served in the Navy during World War II and Still’s Army service included almost two years in Africa.

However, Still and Stuart were very different men. Stuart was an extrovert who enjoyed people and loved conversation. Still was quieter, more introverted, and more reflective. Still was a careful writer. He wrote and rewrote, and produced masterful prose that was pared to its essence. Stuart wrote like a man whose hair was on fire. He couldn’t wait to finish one manuscript, so he could start another. He often left proofreading to his wife, Naomi Deane, and editing to professional editors at E.P. Dutton and McGraw Hill.

Both men respected one another’s accomplishments, but they were determined individualists. Mr. Still once told me that he "did not read what Jesse had published," because he did not want it to influence his own writing style.

In one of his last letters to me, Mr. Still, commenting on the Jesse Stuart Foundation’s growth into a regional press and bookseller, observed: "I believe the generous spirit of Jesse Stuart would agree with the widening of the horizons of the Foundation."

Still lived seventeen years after Stuart’s death. When he died in 2001, he left a great personal and literary legacy. If you have not read a book by James Still, you have missed something special.

Eight books by James Still are included in our Kentucky and Appalachian bookstore located at 1645 Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland. For more information, call (606)326-1667 or visit our website: JSFBOOKS.COM.