Mountain Hands: A Portrait of Southern Appalachia

by Sam Venable

Book Overview

Hazel Pendley creates heirloom-quality quilts. Ed Ripley wraps bits of fur and feathers into trout flies the size of gnats. Edna Hartong still makes an item that has all but disappeared from the American scene: lye soap.
All of these people, and many more like them, are Appalachians who work with their hands. Journalist Sam Venable and photographer Paul Efird spent four years combing the hills and hollows of Southern Appalachia to find these talented...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572330902
• ISBN13: 9781572330900
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Gravedigging

I love this book you learn about people making things with their hands which is almost a lost at now. My daddy story is in this book. Now that he has passed away. His story lives on. Thank you Sam

Mountain Hands

Sam Venable may not be a familliar name to some readers. To those of us who own and treasure his books, he is a trusted guide into the backwoods and hollers of Southern Appalachia. Most of his literature concentrates on his ability to tell a tale, and in this medium he is a modern master in a league with Patrick McMannus or Garison Keelor. However, this book is a departure from some of his other books. In "Mountain Hands", Sam Venable and Paul Efird have produced a labor of love that depicts the hard life, and gentle times of the craftsmen of southern Appalachia. It is an unvarnished and genuine glimpse into the homes and hearts of forty people who keep the embers of mountain craftsmanship glowing. The photographs (Ultra High Quality Black and White), enrich the text with a warmth and charm born of a love of the craft. The subjects are as varied as Doll making, Fly Tying, Grave Digging and Fiddle and Mandolin making. One theme runs true in each and every story, a respectfull and honest glimpse into the craftsman as well as the craft. This is an excellent that can be read chapter by chapter over a period of weeks, or devoured in one sitting as I did. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, this is one book worth purchasing in hard cover so your children and grandchildren can treasure it as much as I am sure you will.