Mountaintop Removal Clearinghouse

Pics from the Daily Kos

A symposium called “Writing about Mountain Culture, Mountain Top Removal, and the Environment” will be taking place at Marshall University on Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21.

Six authors will hold writing workshops, give readings, and engage in roundtable discussions. The authors include Chris Holbrook, Charlie Hughes, Kristin L. Johannsen, Eric Reese, Anne Shelby, and Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, all of whom worked on Missing Mountains (Wind Publications, 2005), a book dedicated to stopping mountain top removal. Denise Giardina will be the featured speaker on Saturday afternoon.

For details about times and events, email Chris Green. Anyone interested may participate (all activities are free), but space in writing workshops is limited, so interested parties are recommended to register by contacting Green.

Patchwork Films announces the release of a three-film DVD entitled “The Mountain Mourning Collection.” This DVD is aimed at bringing immediate focus to the effect mountaintop removal coal mining has on the land and its people.

The films are as follows:

The title film, filmmaker uses photography and personal stories to create an epiphany, a personal awakening, as nature’s beauty is starkly contrasted with scenes of ruin. Powerful narration is supported by traditional gospel and Appalachian music to tell this story of tragedy and hope. “Mountain Mourning” calls upon Christians and their churches to summons moral courage and effective advocacy that will bring healing and justice to this land and its people. Produced by B. J. Gudmundsson, West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year 2005 Time approximate: 30 minutes.

An outing with Maria Gunnoe in Bob White, West Virginia, provides a snapshot of the Mountaintop Removal Mining that has moved into her back yard. Filmmakers, B. J. Gudmundsson and Doug Chadwick, traverse the rocky road up Cazy Mountain to survey the aftermath of a strip-mining operation. Maria’s Native American ancestry is revealed through her memories of family and their respect for the land. Her story is one of courage and strength that is woven around the heart by musical recordings of her mother and father. Time approximate: 20 minutes.

Larry Gibson is the only permanent resident on Kayford Mountain, just 35 miles from Charleston, West Virginia. For 19 years he has held on to his fifty acres – that which remains of his ancestral home. What was once a living community is now an island of life surrounded by death. Patchwork filmmakers join Larry and his band of friends as they pass through “Hell’s Gate” and - in one breathtaking moment – come upon “the end of the world.” Time approximate: 18 minutes

Read the story in the Huntington News. Learn more about the films.