Ted Olson lives in Johnson City, Tennessee, and teaches Appalachian Studies and English at East Tennessee State University. Kathy H. Olson teaches English and writing classes at Appalachian State University. She lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.

“the first book-length collection of James Still appreciation/criticism”—Appalachian Heritage; “the first book-length collection of scholarly essays...detailed”—Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine; “scholarly examination...notable literary figures...critical essays...entirely readable”—Metro Pulse; “sheds considerable light on the life, writing and the man”—Appalachian Journal.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction Ted Olson      I. EARLY LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCES      Rivers of Earth and Troublesome Creeks: The Agrarianism of James StillH. R. Stoneback      Headwaters: The Early Poetics of James Still, Don West, and Jesse StuartChris Green      Jesse Stuart and James Still: Mountain RegionalistsDayton Kohler      II. RIVER OF EARTH      The Still Life in River of Earth: Exploring the Novel’s Biographical ContextCarol Boggess      Sense of Place in River of EarthRuel E. Foster      A Vision of Change: Appalachia in River of EarthMartha Billips Turner      “This Mighty River of Earth”: Reclaiming an Appalachian MasterpieceTed Olson      III. THE SHORT STORIES      Slick as a Dogwood Hoe Handle: Craft in the Short StoriesJoe Glaser      “Menfolks Are Heathens”: Cruelty in the Short StoriesFred Chappell      “The Nest”: Images of Lost IntimacyRon Willoughby      Creative Energy in “Mrs. Razor”Joyce A. Hancock      Looking the Story in the Eye: “I Love My Rooster”Randolph Paul Runyon      IV. THE POETRY      Introduction to The Wolfpen PoemsJim Wayne Miller      The Poetry: “The Journey of a Worldly Wonder”Jeff Daniel Marion      Still’s Poetry and the Western TraditionAleksis Rannit      “The Stillness After”: Reflections on the PoetryRobert M. West      “The Long Way Around”: Space, Place, and Syntax in “White Highways”Diane Fisher      V. THE WRITINGS ABOUT AND FOR CHILDREN, AND THE FOLKLORIC WRITINGS      “We’ll have to do something about that child”: Representations of Childhood in the Short StoriesKathy H. Olson      Journeys of Childhood in the FictionCarol Boggess      “Read my tales, spin my rhymes”: The Books for ChildrenTina L. Hanlon      The Wolfpen Notebooks: A Record of Appalachian LifeJim Wayne Miller      VI. THE MAN AND HIS ART: REASSESSMENTS      Man on TroublesomeDean Cadle      Jim Dandy: James Still at EightyJim Wayne Miller      The Seamless VisionFred Chappell      A Master LanguageWendell Berry      Quality of Life, Quality ofJane Mayhall      A Man of the WorldHal Crowther      Index