Since its launch in 2016 the Ohio Valley ReSource has documented the extraordinary change underway in what has long been a bedrock element of Appalachian economies and culture: the coal industry.
Our coverage shows how the industry’s sharp decline challenges coal-dependent communities that are now left with the legacy costs of mining and the task of reinventing local economies.
We have compiled our years of reporting and interviews in a book, “Appalachian Fall: Dispatches From Coal Country On What’s Ailing America.” In it we share the ground-level stories of those dealing with coal’s collapse and its costs: out-of-work miners blockading a railroad; men and women sickened by an epidemic resurgence of black lung disease; families and communities struggling with polluted water.
We introduce you to the innovative and dedicated people tackling the worst effects of an addiction crisis, mass economic dislocation, and environmental injustice, people who are inventing new ways to make a living and revive rural communities.
We also explore what those stories reveal about America today: What does the nation owe to a region that provided fuel for others for a century, and what is at risk if the country stands by watching as Appalachia, and its people, fall further behind?
“Kirkus Reviews” calls it “blunt, essential reading on today’s Appalachia.”
“Appalachian Fall” is published by Tiller Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
