Author Penny Loeb in front of the model of the Space Shuttle in Coalwood, WV. Homer Hickam, author of "Rocket Boys" and Coalwood native, donated the model. Photo was taken after the May 2002 floods that nearly destroyed Coalwood.
Dogs are Zeke (right) and Jesse, both strays rescued from the coalfields: Zeke from Mingo County, Jesse from Boone.

Sept. 15 KING COAL FESTIVAL IN WILLIAMSON SEE TENNIS HATFIELD, THE FORMER MINGO COUNTY SHERIFF. MEET ATTORNEY KEVIN THOMPSON AND THREE ASSISTANTS. FIELD QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER THE BOOK IS FOR OR AGAINST MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL. ANSWER: NEITHER!
Gorgeous sunny day, a bit crisp. Trish and I set up our table and five poster-size photos from the book nearly across from the new bookstore. A young man comes walking up with a collie-mix dog on a leash. This is Nick, a recent graduate from Appalachian State University, who has come to help out on Kevin Thompson's "A Civil Action" case on illnesses caused by water polluted by underground coal slurry in Rawl and surrounding areas. I had gone to that area in May 1997 and we had filmed the orange water from the community water faucet the next summer.
Next came Tennis Hatfield, who is praised in the book for his radio campaign during the May 2000 primary, calling for citizens not to sell their votes. Tennis was one of the few people I couldn't reach while fact-checking the book (I had tried valiantly to let everyone mentioned see and correct their section before publication). He read the page and loved it!
A little while later, Kevin Thompson came by--he was a little worried about my safety among a lot of coal folks. Though I'd interviewed him for the book, we had never met. He's a wild and crazy guy, and I was amazed to discover he's had an office in rooms at the Mountaineer Hotel for five years.
Some friends from Trish's water case came, including Judy Justice, with her tall daughter,who's now married with a toddler. I also met a young Vista volunteer who had just come to work with Sister Gretchen's environmental center near Lenore.
I had a long chat with a young miner from Magnum Coal, one of the mines in Joe Lovett's latest series of lawsuits over valley fills. Unfortunately, he didn't buy the book. When I talked about Trish's water loss, he said, "The mines brought them water, didn't they." Yes, they did. But who wants to get water forever from those three-foot high "water buffalos."
The owner of the new bookstore in Williamson bought three books, we discussed doing a book signing in a couple of months. She asked me if the book was For or Against mountaintop removal. As always, I said neither.

Sept. 29, 2007 SEE CALVIN GIBSON'S WIFE, TALK WITH DICKIE JUDY AND SEE JOHNNY BAILEY AT PICINIC AT LAUREL LAKE.
I wasn't going to go down this weekend, but Patricia Feeney called and asked me come to a picnic for the new citizens' group in Mingo County. Would have been better for Trish or Elaine Purkey to go, but they were both out of town.
On the way, I went by Buffalo Creek so I dropped a book off at Calvin Gibson's house. I was surprised that his wife, Midge, said she'd heard abou the signing at Southern Community College on the radio but couldn't make it. She said she'd read it to Calvin.
I had wanted to see Dickie Judy on the way home from the picnic. But he was going out of town. I did learn, to my amazement, that after nearly a dozen years struggling with blasting problems, two law students from WVU had taken his case--that no other lawyers had wanted to touch--and won a moderate settlement from Massey Energy. Though Elk Run is still mining near his house--the few times he's had blasting problems, he's called and they'be stopped. Halleluhah!!