It is 1890 when two boys stand on a steamship deck and stare in awe at the New York City skyline. Simon Walsh is traveling with his parents, Josiah and Sarah, to Chicago, where his father plans to help operate a family grocery store. Steven Richards is journeying with his sister, Martha, and his parents, John and Elizabeth, to Coal City, Pennsylvania, where his father plans to work in the coal mines. As the steamship docks and the families share a tearful farewell, Simon and Steven can barely contain their excitement. Their new life in America has just begun. After the Richards family arrives in Coal City, they soon wonder if they have made the right decision. They settle into a filthy house, where life proves to be more of a struggle than they ever imaginedand apparently, they are not alone. As Elizabeth exchanges letters with Sarah she discovers that the Walsh family is undergoing hardships as well. But when John perishes in a cave-in, Elizabeth cuts off communication with the Walsh family, leaving everyone to wonder if the two families will ever reunite again. Coal Dust Is White follows three generations of two brave families who arrive in America with lofty dreams and soon learn through forgiveness and atonement that it is always better to do the right thing.

In a devastating and urgent work of investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby uncovers the tragic resurgence of black lung disease in Appalachia, its Big Coal cover-up, and the resilient mining communities who refuse to back down. Decades ago, a grassroots uprising forced Congress to enact long-overdue legislation designed to virtually eradicate black lung disease and provide fair compensation to coal miners stricken with the illness. Today, however, both promises remain unfulfilled. Levels of disease have surged, the old scourge has taken an aggressive new form, and ailing miners and widows have been left behind by a dizzying legal system, denied even modest payments and medical care. In this devastating and urgent work of investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby traces the unforgettable story of how these trends converge in the lives of two men: Gary Fox, a black lung-stricken West Virginia coal miner determined to raise his family from poverty, and John Cline, an idealistic carpenter and rural medical clinic worker who becomes a lawyer in his fifties. Opposing them are the lawyers at the coal industry’s go-to law firm; well-credentialed doctors who often weigh in for the defense, including a group of radiologists at Johns Hopkins; and Gary’s former employer, Massey Energy, the region’s largest coal company, run by a cantankerous CEO often portrayed in the media as a dark lord of the coalfields. On the line in Gary and John’s longshot legal battle are fundamental principles of fairness and justice, with consequences for miners and their loved ones throughout the nation. Taking readers inside courtrooms, hospitals, homes tucked in Appalachian hollows, and dusty mine tunnels, Hamby exposes how coal companies have not only continually flouted a law meant to protect miners from deadly amounts of dust but also enlisted well-credentialed doctors and lawyers to help systematically deny much-needed benefits to miners. The result is a legal and medical thriller that brilliantly illuminates how a band of laborers — aided by a small group of lawyers, doctors and lay advocates, often working out of their homes or in rural clinics and tiny offices – challenged one of the world's most powerful forces, Big Coal, and won. A deeply troubling yet ultimately triumphant work, Soul Full of Coal Dust is a necessary and timely book about injustice and resistance.

Coal Dust Dreamer By Jim Dorris with Photos by Velma L. Dorris In Coal Dust Dreamer, author Jim Dorris is able to captivate readers with his experiences in Western Kentucky during the late 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s. By examining his thoughts and feelings through poetic and photographic snapshots, Dorris gives readers the opportunity to imagine a simpler time. Nostalgia is a present theme throughout this book, especially within the photographs, which were all taken by the author’s mother. Although a unique phenomenon at the time, Dorris’ mother captured life through taking photographs and developing them for future generations. Dorris has used these photographs and his poetry throughout Coal Dust Dreamer, hoping that readers will rediscover a part of their past, whether or not they were reared in Kentucky.

Sometimes witty, sometimes cynical, these stories were inspired by people with whom the author came into contact, events of which he became aware and influences which he came under as a boy. They convey the anxieties of the 1930s and '40s and the insecurities of the mining communities. Often raw and earthy, they paint a picture of a society peopled mainly by migrants from the older coalfields, thrown together by economic and social forces and not yet secure in their new identities. The author's awareness of British social history helps to place the stories within the context of what was happening in the world beyond the slag heap.

Betty Twigg grew up in McDowell County, WV in the small town of Anawalt. The first eighteen years of her life she had little opportunity to interact with the world outside of public schooling and church activities. Her home life was a struggle for survival in an overstuffed household of two wonderful parents and eleven children born in the Deel family. You will get a broader picture of the childhood circumstances as you read the book Visions, Values, and Victories. Although her family, friends, and cherished childhood memories were in Anawalt she knew there were greater opportunities and exciting experiences elsewhere that Anawalt did not offer. She knew there had to be a path to a more lucrative life. She held onto her visions, applied her values and reached some incredible victories in her life. She achieved her goals with hard work and dedication to employers, listening and learning, and following in the footsteps of successful individuals. Over the years she developed friendships with others with similar backgrounds and accomplishments.