A Voice for Country Working People

FEATURED AUTHOR—SILAS HOUSE A Voice for Country Working People George Brosi "I'VE FOUND A PURPOSE IN MY WRITING," Silas House thoughtfully revealed as we sat at the dining room table of his home in Lily, Kentucky, late last February. "I realize I'm not the first to proclaim this, but I do think this theme can be visited again in a fresh way. ... I want to give a voice to country working people. Most Americans revere politicians and movie stars, but it is the working people who make the world go around. And, they have the best stories!" Silas House has the credentials to speak for working people. When he was young, he lived in a trailer in Lily, a little settlement in Laurel County between Corbin and London, Kentucky. His mother worked in the lunchroom of Silas's elementary school while his father worked at the CTA fiberglass factory retiring only a year and a half before a devastating explosion at the plant killed and maimed several employees in the section where he had worked. When Silas was nine-years-old, they moved to a house on Robinson Creek in Lily. Silas's great-uncle Dave, the family's most renowned storyteller, lived nearby beside the Lily Holiness Church where most ofhis family attended services. Silas's paternal aunt had a store, "Dot's Grocery," on old Highway 25 not far away. Here young Silas could always listen to the stories of the oldtimers . Just down the road from his house were the homes ofboth Silas's aunt Thelma (Sis) who was rearing her daughter, Eleshia, and his uncle Sam who was raising his son, Terry Dean. The three households customarily shared meals together, and Silas, an only child, considers Eleshia and Terry his brother and sister. "We still love to ride fourwheelers up on Slate Ridge," Silas enthuses. "Sometimes we build a nice fire up there and just feel like we have left civilization behind." Silas spent his summers in Leslie County, Kentucky, about forty miles east of Lily. There, in the Rockhouse Community, two of his maternal uncles, Sam and Jack Hoskins, lived side-by-side. During the summer when Silas was eleven years old, a second cousin murdered Jack. Abruptly, the family dynamic changed. Relatives no longer told stories about Jack or sang his favorite songs, and pictures of him were nowhere to be found. At the time, Silas couldn't understand, but now he realizes the memories were all too painful. Silas feels that the aftermath of this murder resonates throughout his work. Clay's Quilt, Silas's first novel, revolves around Clay's quest to learn about his mother, who died when he was a young child. Silas feels that all his writing is propelled by an urgency he feels to comprehend his fictional families. This is meaningful to him because of his desire to understand his own family. Silas's father was from Clay County, the county between Laurel County and Leslie County. His family arrived there from North Carolina before the Civil War. Family names include Porter, Maggard and Ferguson. Silas's paternal grandmother was a Brown, whose family had a store. His grandfather was a logger/farm hand who was run out of Clay County and settled in Happy Holler in Laurel County. He died of pneumonia in prison while serving time for murder. Silas's father served in Vietnam and met his mother at Finley's Drive-Inn, a landmark in London, the Laurel County seat. Because six of his father's eight siblings moved north for work, Silas's maternal family was dominant in his life. Silas's mother, Betty, was from an old Leslie County family with names including Sizemore, Hoskins, Couch, Begley, Keen, Morgan, and Bowlin. Betty was one of nine siblings, but she never knew her father. Her mother, who was of Cherokee and Irish ancestry, was often referred to as "the wildest woman in Leslie County." When Betty was nine-years-old, her mother died, and Betty went to live with her mother's first cousin. Moving from a constant party atmosphere to a Holiness home was a considerable transition for her. Silas...