From Ashes to Heroes
A view from the streets, both in and out of West Virginia. | March 30, 2022
This new issue of WestVirginiaVille is jam full of good writing, significant subjects, and images worth a second glance. If you did not get e-mail notice of it, stay in the loop on fresh takes on life and times in West Virginia and intriguing humans with Mountain State links by free subscribing to: WestVirginiaVille.substack.com | Peace. Douglas John Imbrogno, editor
‘Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down’: What are you going to do when your complicated family keeps following you around, even as you may wish to let them go? A personal tale from beyond the grave by the Reverend Doug Minnerly, an Honorably Retired Minister member of the Presbytery of West Virginia, who’d rather deal with cigar ashes.
West Virginia Hero’s Life Screens: The remarkable life of Cabin Creek native Dave Evans unspools when the documentary “The Wake Up Call” screens at FestivALL Charleston 2022, Thursday, June 23. Dave lost both legs below the knees in a terrible Vietnam War ambush. It didn’t hold him back from a courageous life criss-crossing war zones, as he and his teams gave back to thousands prosthetic legs, arms, and hands. His own losses and the heartbreak he witnessed never shut him up about the disastrous politics of warmongering.
Many Fights, One Big Fight: John Hennen’s, “A Union For Appalachian Healthcare Workers: The Radical Roots and Hard Fights of Local 1199 chronicles the history of a union’s long struggle to stay the course in representing overlooked, unrepresented workers. The book conveys the human longing for fairness within an often heartless industry.
‘First Streets in West Virginia’: A photo series and essay on how the streets of Huntington WV, have changed since the author first stepped onto them in 1980, when bored, horny teenagers cruised round the desolation of the ‘Superblock,’ now occupied by Pullman Square. The streets and shops aren’t the only thing that have changed.
Barriers to Mental Health Care for Black West Virginians: Black West Virginians suffer from an increased rate of mental health concerns, including anxiety and depression, writes Haadiza Ogwude, in a reprint of a ‘BLACK BY GOD’ article. Yet Black West Virginians are at a significant disadvantage when dealing with mental health issues compared to their white counterparts.
‘A Tragedy Full of Joy’: Did you know the official NBA logo is a silhouette of West Virginia native and basketball great Jerry West? Being the most famous athlete ever from the Mountain State concealed a life with more than a few traumas. John W. Miller ponders West’s life after encountering the star’s 2011 memoir “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life.”
‘Day 34 of Russia’s Cowardly Invasion of Ukraine’ | Last month, this newsletter printed Facebook posts by former West Virginia resident Michael Willard, who now lives in Florida, plus dispatches by one of his two daughters in Kyiv, Mia, who with her sister have sheltered there since Vladimir Putin’s attempted mugging of the land. Mike catches us up on Putin’s folly.
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