Oct. 13 and 14 WEST VIRGINIA BOOK FESTIVAL -- SEE LOTS OF OLD FRIENDS AND MAKE SOME NEW
Getting into the Book Festival hadn't been easy. The publisher had applied around April, before the book was published, and I assumed it would be accepted. No books from the University Press of Kentucky were chosen--and worse I didn't find out until I asked in late July or early August. Pam of the Book Fair told me it was because the University Press hadn't rented a table. So I decided to rent my own--for $250. In the end, the Press did pay for the table--and I had it all to myself, so I invited Bob Gates to put out DVDs and VHS tapes of his documentaries. Bob nicely set up the booth Friday night because I couldn't get there in time.
Trish came early Saturday morning, and to my delight, brought Kayla, who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. She had grown into a beautiful girl, nearly 20, tall with long blond hair. The purple shirt she wore made her so striking. She hadn't been to sleep yet because she is working 12-hour overnight shifts at a nursing home while going to Southern Community College and studying to be a nurse. Since she has her own apartment, the job pays the bills. Plus, she said, she wants to know how her patients live because some doctors are so arrogant. She still hopes to go to four-year college at a Christian college in Tennessee, then work to save money for medical school. Someday she hopes to go to India and be a doctor--even though she says she might be old and gray. I remember when she testified before the legislature when she was 10. Trish had worried about dragging her to see legislators and to rallies, but it certainly instilled self-confidence.
The funniest moment of the day belonged to Kayla, too. I had gone to walk the dogs, and Kayla was alone minding the booth while Trish went off to see the Book Fest. A young man from Logan stopped, said he had studied environmental science, but then challenged Kayla about mining. She gave it right back, quoting the buffer zone rule and the laws requiring mines to replace water of the same quantity and quality. Then she sold him a book. "I've been out of it awhile," she said later. "But I guess I remember more than I thought!"
John Ailes, the former mining director of DEP, stopped by with Mike Castle, who had been DEP director at during the height of the Bragg case in the summer of 1999. Castle is now a lawyer for Alpha Resources, which had bought the White Flame mine above Kayla's elementary school in Varney, which is now closed. John, who's a consultant at Bailey & Glasser for cases against coal companies over water loss, dust and other nuisances, was very upbeat. Trish loved seeing him, since he's one of her favorite people. I miss those "fun" days at DEP with John and Ed Griffith. John was the second person I ever interviewed in West Virginia in 1997.
On Sunday, Judge Haden's daughter stopped by. She apologized that her mother couldn't come, she was in Philadelphia. I certainly enjoyed meeting his daughter, though. Bob Gates was there and they talked aobut her late father, who had issued such momentous rulings in Trish's case.
Other old friends included J.R. Hodel--the chief at data at DEP who always gave what I wanted immediately, and his wife, Martha, who had been an AP reporter for many years. Gary Zucett's wife stopped and said she was writing articles, and hopefully a book, about what it's like for children to live near mountaintop removal. She met Kayla, and hopefully they will talk. And I hope she writes about how it is for children to live near all mining.
Two fascinating books had booths across from ours. Two brothers had come to sell one of their late father-in-law's book. After he died a few years ago, they found hundreds of copies. Their father had risen from poverty to become a beloved school teacher. Married to his childhood sweetheart, the book chronicles "a simpler time." They had a lovely display, including the valentine he had sent his girlhood love. A wonderful story: because everyone knew everyone else's business in his small community, he had ridden his bike tot he next town to mail the loving missive--only to have the girl's brother open the valentine and mock his sister! Somehow their love survived that mishap.
The other was the most amazing book I've ever seen. Boxes shaped like books or hat boxes, or even a a hand carved wooden chest contained a packet of handwritten letters, bound with a faded ribbon and dried rose. "Dearest" was the genius of Michael London www.londonhousepublishing.com. He writes as Michelangelo Altiere, in honor of his grandmothers. That packet of letters, each written by Michael or his daughter-in-law, comprise a historical love story set along the Ohio River in the late 1800s. This is the first of a planned series of "Experience Novels," Michael plans to write. He is proud of the extensive research for historical accuracy. The story has already been recognized by the Buckeye Book Festival and the design by the largest design show in Chicago next year.