Appalachia as I Remember It by Arnold R. Smith

Reviewed by Kristin

Appalachia: As I Remember It is a true telling of some of the events that the author experienced growing up in southeastern Kentucky in the 1930’s and early 1940’s.  The family members are true characters, but the surrounding friends and neighbors are fictional, probably made up from a combination of other people that the author knew.  I was interested in this book because my paternal grandparents were growing up in the same area in about the same time period.

Full of stories about growing up in a simpler time, “Arnie” shares tales of raising bees, working to buy a stained glass window for the church, going fishing, and setting off firecrackers in the school basement during a play.  Each chapter is a vignette that covers one incident or one aspect of the mountain way of life.  From family dinners to learning to drive on steep mountain roads, Arnie and his buddies had a memorable childhood.

Growing up in Leslie County, the neighboring Perry County with the “big city” of Hazard was a fascinating place to the author.  I especially enjoyed the lines:  “Mom said people from Hazard were too wrapped up in material things.  ‘Just like Sodom and Gomorra,’ she’d say.  ‘Now mind you, there’s a lot of good people in Hazard; but the bad always rubs off on the good, not the other way around.’”  Hazard is where my dad’s family came from, and I can tell you that it is a small town!  I guess the size of towns is relative to your perspective.

Just like my own family, the author’s family eventually moved to the Cincinnati area.  Always looking for a better life for their families, many coal country families left the hills of southeastern Kentucky as the mining fortunes changed mid-century.

The author has a nice, homey style that makes this short book an enjoyable read.  If you grew up in the hills, or had family members that did (and then told you stories), these tales will resonate with a familiar and pleasurable tone.