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In the avalanche of inspirational books written in the aftermath of the horror of
September 11, 2001, comes this book by the author of three inspiring books about the town
of Coalwood, West Virginia. However, it stands above them by its very warmhearted approach
to truths that touch each of us.
Hickam is a born storyteller and shares stories from his own memories of a town now
enshrined in his best sellers ROCKET BOYS and SKY OF STONE. This town could be Anytown,
USA, in the 1940s and 1950s, but what set it apart was its sole reliance on one industry
--- the production of coal. The coal company owned everything in town –-- the stores,
the homes --- they hired the doctor, the dentist, even the ministers. The only function of
the town was to produce coal from the dangerous mines that lay beneath the spectacular
mountains and valleys of West Virginia. The people of Coalwood learned to rely on one
another perhaps more than people in towns with a diverse economy, but that very same
insular society gave these people a core of strength to be admired, especially in our
seemingly rootless times. Hickam's down home storytelling style brings home some subtle,
and often not so subtle, truths about ourselves. Chief among them is the knowledge of who
you are and what you are capable of.
Hickam outlines Four Coalwood Attitudes: (1) We Are Proud of Who We Are, (2) We Stand Up
for What We Believe, (3) We Keep Our Families Together, (4) We Trust in God but Rely on
Ourselves. And then sums up the book with The Coalwood Assumption: WE ARE NOT AFRAID.
In the first section, "We Are Proud of Who We Are," Hickam says, "Figure
out where you stand in the long line of people and events that got you where you are. I am
confident that if you take the time to do that, you're going to find yourself surprisingly
impressed about who you really are. Simply by existing, you had to come from a long line
of survivors who managed to get through perilous times, even more perilous than these
today. And, not only did they survive, they had families who branched out and had other
families. Your ancestors got through droughts and flood and arduous ocean crossings. They
fought in wars, got beat down, only to stand back up again. Perhaps they were slaves but
got themselves free through sheer will, courage and perseverance. Whatever they had to do,
they did it, or you wouldn't be alive. They endured. And as they endured, so can you ---
and prosper, too."
The book arose from public reaction to a speech that appeared on C-SPAN, and Hickam was
elated when HCI said they'd like to publish it. "That's all I needed to hear!"
he said. However, Hickam is quick to disavow any claim to being a philosopher, minister,
psychologist, or sociologist. "Any wisdom I might have," he says in an
interview, "came from the people who raised me, so I started talking about the things
they believed, and how they conquered fear and taught me to be unafraid." Through
these poignant memories of his youth, Homer Hickam helps lead you beyond fear to find the
courage and strength to live more happily and look toward a future with optimism.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
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