Equal parts oral history, personal narrative, handbook of old-time mountain ways, reference book, Coal Bloom  is a biography as well—but this time, of the hills themselves, and the men and women they produced during America’s rise to power in the twentieth century. (The title refers to an outcropping of coal on a mountainside from which “old timers” could deduce rich veins of coal beneath the surface.) Coal Bloom recalls a way of life that today's young people literally cannot comprehend--no electricity, no television or radio, almost no money, a huge and growing family, and nothing to eat except what you grew yourself or could barter for. Still, as bleak as life could be during the Depression, the pride, optimism and can-do spirit for which West Virginians are known flow through the book like clear streams from the hollow.  Much of the book is dedicated to the West Virginians who gave their youths and often their very lives to America in World War II.  A gripping account of the author’s service on Guadalcanal and in other legendary battles is fleshed out with interviews with other surviving marines and much other historical material. The final portion, and the heart of the book, follows the intertwined fortunes of the mining industry, the United Mine Workers of America, and the small, company-owned coal camps where the miners lived and spent their wages. The coal and timber industries fueled the state’s evolution from a qiet wilderness into an industrial giant. Coal fed the nation’s industrial expansion, helped achieve victory in World War II, and helped establish a rising standard of living afterward.  The UMWA at mid-century enjoyed more clout in Washington than any union before or since.  But with the coming of mechanization more coal could be mined with fewer men and jobs became scarce. Many of West Virginia's young people scattered north toward the automobile industry, or south to the Carolinas--ironically, the same regions many of their grandparents and great-grandparents abandoned in search of good wages in the coalfields.

Sample chapter / Bibliography / Press release

  
STILL AVAILABLE! 

Praise for War and Work
"A heck of a guy. Thank God for the Marines!”
Stephen Ambrose, Historian and Author
“War and Work reveals the author’s Appalachian community values and the strength they generate…One of the Greatest Generation.”
Dr. Joanna Roberts, MD 
“Thurman saved the lives of a lot of the guys on our boat as we landed on Guadalcanal. He was determined that the boat would get in there!”
Lt. Colonel A.L “Scoop” Adams, USMC Ret.
“His first-hand account of the Pacific Campaign recalls some of the best reporting of the War, mixing harrowing accounts of hand to hand combat with the sort of humor that can only arise between strong men facing near-certain death…”
Post-Herald/Raleigh Register, Beckley WV 

"The Greatest Generation" meets Matewan. An American original, the epic story of a young man's journey from a rural childhood through the most notorious battles of World War II, followed by a 30-year career in the most dangerous occupation in America. With dozens of historic photos and a down-to-earth, often humorous style, War and Work shows off the uncommon wisdom, intelligence, and humility of this member of the Greatest Generation. A distinctly American journey through peace and war, work and family, love and redemption." iUniverse

Sample chapters / Bibliography / Press Release