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MEMBER:
KENTUCKY PRESS
ASSOCIATION,
ASSOCIATED PRESS,
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OPINIONNEWS-EXPRESS
A P P A L A C H I A N
How to contact us for editorial page comments:
• Editor: Russ Cassady
• Phone: 606/437-4054; Fax: 437-4246
• E-mail: [email protected]
NEWS-EXPRESS
APPALACHIAN
APPALACHIAN NEWSPAPERS, INC.
PIKEVILLE, KY.
(606) 437-4054, 437-4055, 432-0148
MANUFACTURED WITH PRIDE IN
PIKE COUNTY, KY.
Pennington’s
family expresses
thanks to
communityThe family of Mayfield Pennington
wishes to express their heartfelt thanks
to all the hundreds of friends of Mayfield
who came to his wake on Friday, Feb. 15,
and to his funeral on Saturday, Feb. 16 to
to show him their last respects and love.
We are deeply grateful to the many peo-
ple who made generous contributions to
the costs of the funeral, and thereby con-
tributed to make this a solemn and digni-
fied farewell to our beloved father and
brother.
Also our sincere thanks to the
Appalachian News Express, which has
provided excellent coverage of
Mayfield’s Boxing Gym over the years,
and which we hope will continue to do so
when it is continued in Mayfield’s spirit
by his close friends.
Elizabeth (DeeDee) Christensen
Author explains
his actionsSome concern has been raised over my
use of actual area names in my recently-
published novel “Everything Important
Happens on a Hillside.” Please allow me
to explain. Although the names of the
characters in the book are those of actual
people from the towns of Pikeville,
Prestonsburg and Paintsville, Ky., the
three towns I’ve lived in for most of my
life, they are neither disguised satirical
portraits of the actual people nor mod-
eled after them. Characters in a book are
sometims hard to name because most
names already have associated qualities
that define the character at the onset. For
instance, a fictional name like Jack
Bingham has to belong to an architect or
an insurance agent; in no way can he be a
country music star or a politician. And
names like Jill Randolph sound phony,
but lots of writers can’t do any better. In
other words, the right name, especially in
a novel, is a hard choice.
During the first draft of my novel, I
used a woman’s first name that I had
heard for many years, one that stuck in
my mind. Although I had never seen the
woman, I once spoke to her on the
phone. And when I envisioned this cer-
tain character in the book, no other name
but hers would fit. The character just had
to have the name Lillian Pearl. But after
using this particular name, it was easy to
go on from there; each time a new char-
acter emerged, I simply named him or
her after someone I knew; a relative, a
friend, a close acquaintance, just people
whom I have have known throughout my
life and, for the most part, people whom
I’m quite fond of. But the rule was that I
had to be connected to them in some
direct way.
Of course in a work of fiction, there has
to be heroes and villains, but I tried to be
non-judgemental about who would be
who in the book. It was just that the name
had to fit and in no way directly reflect
the character of the real person nor his
or her situation in life.
I was simply using that name for an
imaginary character totally unrelated to
the actual person. I did Google some of
the names and found that some of them
have as many as 50 matches throughout
the world and my own name, John
Preston, is a dime a dozen, especially in
Eastern Kentucky.
In the end, I chose to do this for the
simple ease and fun of it, in good faith
with no malintent, hoping that the people
named would be pleased to be in a book
— and, of course, it would help sell the
book, at least area-wide — thinking:
When was the last time these people have
sat down to read (according to nearly all
early responses) a good entertaining and
informative novel?
Though all in all, if anyone is offended,
shouldnwt it perhaps be the ones I left
out of the book?
But in hope that my book may reach a
wider readership, beyond the Big Sandy
Valley (which it is beginning to do) all
this will make no dif ference at all.
See John H. Preston author Facebook
page for more details.
John H. Preston,
Louisa
The crossroads at whichAppalachia finds itself also pres-ents challenges that beg thequestion: Are we sustainable?The definition of sustainabilitymay depend on the individual;however, in the purest sense ofthe idea of ‘being sustainable’ onefinds it simply defined as the abil-ity to maintain. That which is sus-tained (or maintained) can bemany things: Our culture; ouridentity; our industry; our ‘way oflife.’ All are things worth “sustain-ing” obviously. However, in manyways, environmental extremistshave hijacked this term and usedit as a political weapon to attackanything or anyone they perceiveas detrimental to their agenda.These radicals prefer to simplyadvocate for an extreme agenda,without any realistic plan, thatmoves us forward in a positiveand productive fashion — inshort, an agenda or plan that sus-tains us as a community or aregion.
Their agenda is a retrogradeagenda that would see us usingbox fans and wet sheets for air-conditioning and whcih wouldclose every coal mine and capevery natural gas well that pro-duces resources for energy pro-duction. They use it as a weaponagainst the perceived injusticesfrom coal companies, natural gasproducers, or any industry thatgets in the way of their pre-deter-mined notion of social justice orperceived social ills.
Frankly, I like my air condi-tioning and respect every personthat goes to work to mine coaland that helps drill more naturalgas wells. And, what I resent arethose who seek to co-opt a wordor phrase in the name of ‘sustain-ability’ or ‘being sustainable’ with-out any forethought that whatthey actually aren’t doing is sus-taining or maintaining, let aloneimproving, anything in ourregion.
Therefore, radical groups thatproffer themselves as the purvey-ors of the sustainability agendaaren’t really for sustainability butfor regression.
My hope is that we can emu-late the efforts underway inWilliamson, W.Va., where a truesustainable agenda is takingplace. Those launching this effortunder the banner “SustainableWilliamson” appreciate and sup-port coal and natural gas and ourculture, because they are peoplejust like you and me, who havegrown up in Appalachia andappreciate our way of life andthey want to sustain that forfuture generations.
However, they also recognizethat we must work together anddevelop a strategy that moves usbeyond the single-industry econ-omy and lays the groundwork fora new paradigm that strengthenscoal and natural gas, but alsoincorporates new energy develop-ment, while also building astronger community in generalterms from healthcare to educa-tion.
All of Appalachia must rethink“our vision … to create good pay-ing jobs and demonstrate ways toretain wealth within the localeconomy.”
I would encourage givingSustainable Williamson a closeexamination, because I am proudto say I have and it’s the future ofhow we need to think inAppalachia — working togetherto build an stronger, sustainablecommunity that moves us for-ward from healthcare to energyto education.
Are we
sustainable?
LETTERS
POLICY
• All letters must be signed by
the author and include your
street address and a daytime
telephone number for verification
purposes. No letters will be
printed anonymously.
• All letters are subject to edit-
ing for spelling and grammar,
and all libelous statements will
be deleted.
• Letters should be either typed
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exceed 300 words.
• Mail letters to the editor to:
Editor, News-Express, P.O. Box
802, Pikeville, Ky. 41502. By
fax: 437-4246.
• Letters only represent the
viewpoint and opinions of the
writer, and not necessarily of the
News-Express staff.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 • Page 4A
POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to P.O. Box 802,
Pikeville, Ky. 41502.
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Pikeville, Ky., post office.
Published Wednesday, Friday
and a Weekend Edition by
Appalachian Newspapers,
Inc., 129 Caroline Ave.,
Pikeville, Ky. 41502.
(USPS 347-510)
Jeff Vanderbeck, Publisher
Russ Cassady, Editor
Melissa Keller, Advertising Director
Bobby Gilliam, Production Manager
Lisa Moore, Office Manager
Randy White, Sports Editor
Right
thoughts
Roger Ford
