Appalachian Values (review)

NEW APPALACHIAN BOOKS Opinions and Reviews Loyal Jones. Appalachian Values. Ashland, Kentucky: The Jesse Stuart Foundation , 1994. 144 pages. $19.95. The media have tried many times over the years to show the truth about Appalachia. That truth has often translated into pictures of garbage-lined riverbanks and ramshackle houses. Yes, those images are part of the truth about Appalachia. But what my fellow Appalachians and I have lamented in rhat truth is its lack of beauty. A beauty we find in the proud faces of our ancestors and the innocent faces of our children, in the artistic traditions of our people, and in God's artistic influence on our landscape. A beauty we continue to look for in stories about our homeland. That's why I'm so impressed by Appalachian Values, a new book in which Loyal Iones and Warren Brunner have managed to show both the truth and beauty ofAppalachia, seamlessly and eloquentiy. Jones, a native ofAppalachian North Carolina, is the former director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College. Brunner is a Berea photographer who has photographed Appalachia for 30 years. Published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation, Appalachian Values is a simple picture book with text. But it carries all the elements of an epic: history, romance, conflict, harmony, humor . . . The ninety-five photos and eleven brief chapters can be perused in one sitting, and it's a pleasurable read that I suspect even non-Appalachians would find entertaining. But the book has a purpose: ato counter the persistent negative stereotypes about Appalachian people." Does it succeed? First, the text. Loyal Jones's writing has stood the test of time. The essay "Appalachian Values" was originally published in 1973. Twenty years later, Jones decided to team his words with Brunner's photos for this book, the text of which is an expanded version of the original essay. Although I was only a first-grader when Jones first published his wise words, I read them now as if they were written for my family and me. The values he describes, each given its own chapter, include religion, independence , neighborliness, familism, personalism, humility, love of place, patriotism , sense of beauty and sense of humor. And while people everywhere possess 64 these values, Jones shows how and why Appalachians have tlieir own interpretations . For instance, his introduction establishes the idea that European settlers came to Appalachia in search of freedom and independence. This foundation is revisited several times throughout the book to show why Appalachians behave as they do. Naturally, that sense of independence and need for self-reliance would endure for generations, as would mountain people's emphasis on hard work, family loyalty, modesty, humor and faith, all values that served them well as they carved out lives for themselves in a rugged wilderness. On religion, Jones writes that most Appalachian values and the meaning mountain people find in life are grounded in the Bible. But that doesn't mean we go to church every Sunday. As for familism, Appalachians are "more truly themselves when within the family circle." Now I understand better why I always take off work to attend funerals, even those of distant relatives, and why spare rooms in my grandparents ' house were often occupied by temporary boarders—just until they got back on their feet. Sense of place. Iones says it so well: "Some of us think about going back for good . . . Our place is close on our minds. Each value is illustrated with anecdotes, poems, songs, and jokes. But Iones never sugar-coats the Appalachian condition. He admits that our values have sometimes led us astray—our independence keeping us from reaching out, our sense of freedom leading us to take the land for granted. Now, a look at the photos. Warren Brunner grew up in Wisconsin and came to Berea more than four decades ago. Viewing his work, I think it must be possible to become an Appalachian, to internalize a love for the hills and its people. Most of Brunner's commercial work over the years focused on weddings and portraiture. But he got interested in photographing Appalachia in the 1960s during the War on Poverty, when photographers were called upon...