Author Archives: Rusty
A Milk Jug Birdhouse, poem by Helen Losse
A Milk Jug Birdhouse My mind rejects what my eyes can see. A girl— using a phone book for a booster seat— sits at a table in the yard, beside an abandoned clothes dryer. She’s carving a birdhouse from an empty milk carton. … Continue reading
Blitz, fiction by Caroline Kepnes
It was snowing pretty hard and I was driving with one eye open. Not another car in sight, I never could understand how a person lives in a place where other cars are up on you all the time. I … Continue reading
Frack Your Wells and Fuck Your Water
Why isn't anyone talking about this? Or am I not looking in the right places? And by the way, duh. Gas drilling in Appalachia yields a foul byproduct Map shows the Marcellus Shale formation in the Eastern U.S. (P. Prengaman — AP) By … Continue reading
2009 Million Writers Nominations
Good luck, chicken scratchers. Story 1: "Bent Country" by Sheldon Lee Compton https://friedchickenandcoffee.com/2009/06/30/bent—country—by—sheldon—lee—compton/ Story 2: "Justice Boys" by Sheryl Monks https://friedchickenandcoffee.com/2009/07/24/justice—boys—by—sheryl—monks/ Story 3: "Blind Lemon" by Jim Parks https://friedchickenandcoffee.com/2009/06/04/blind—lemon—by—jim—parks/
The Glorious Fit, fiction by Ray Norsworthy
November 1, 1961: Gibby is in the hayloft of the barn looking at the pages he tore out of the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. This morning when he was looking at the Christmas toys and making a wish list, Eli showed … Continue reading
News Flash–Southern Appalachia is Hot Fictional Territory!
Who woulda guessed? This is from Brian Cook at Book Publishing News. I wish I knew the original source. "Books based on life in small town southern Appalachia sell like hotcakes!" stated one publicist. According to book sales data, from … Continue reading
Rounder, non-fiction by Jennifer McGaha
I have tried many times before to write about my grandfather’s youngest brother, Bill, but I can never get it quite right—how his mouth turns into that half grin before he curls his lips to one side and squirts tobacco … Continue reading
Marcellus Shale and Natural Gas Drilling
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVNgwMGEObE&feature=player_embedded] This series of videos taken in Colorado tells me it's not just coal, either. In Northern Appalachia now (where I grew up) there has been a boom–maybe even a mega-boom–in natural gas drilling of the Marcellus Shale area, and … Continue reading
A Requirement for Respect
Self-explanatory. by Rebecca Gayle Howell. Originally delivered on behalf of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, at 21c Museum. Louisville, Kentucky. December 06, 2009. The people of Eastern Kentucky – West Virginia, East Tennessee – have been treated as the ‘Other America’ for … Continue reading
Coal Giant Massey Called Out for 12000 Pollution Violations
(Photo: U.S. National Archives, 1974) All that coal comes with baggage and outrage and few enough people seem to even know about it, let alone get their backs up about it. Environmental groups to sue Massey Energy for ignoring thousands of … Continue reading
