Archive for

Jan 2

Mother Jones of Marfork Holler: Remembering Judy Bonds

by Beth Newberry

Judy Bonds of Whitesville, W.Va., was an activist and community organizer, who in the latter part of her 58 years, tried to end the Mountaintop Removal (MTR) method of strip mining, particularly in the Coal River valley of southern West Virginia. While her work and life were centered on the mountains surrounding her ancestral home of Marfork Holler, her organizing work had national and international tendrils. She died a year ago of cancer on Jan. 3, 2011.

Jan 2

Winners of our Launch Contest

We’ve had a great response to our first issues and enjoyed connecting with many of you on Facebook and Twitter. As promised, we threw the names of followers, commenters and tweeters into a boot and drew four names of winners who will enjoy custom prize packs of Appalachian goodies, either MoonPies from Chattanooga Bakery or a variety of stationery from Yee-Haw Industries letterpress of Knoxville with a Yay! Mountains! magnet from Yay! Life! Products.

Congratulations to Hannah Allen, Dave Tabler, Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer and Douglas Lauderdale!