From Banner Elk, NC but I absolutely love visiting the blowing rock near Boone.

The calm before the storm.

May Justus, Author & Teacher

On the mountaintop of Monteagle, Tennessee, in the Southern Appalachians, lived a woman named May Justus. She was a successful writer of children's books, most of them based on her experiences growing up in Del Rio, in upper, upper east Tennessee, a stone's throw from North Carolina. (And, as a side note, one of the areas devastated in the recent flooding related to Hurricane Helene.) In addition to being a writer, May Justus was a schoolteacher, in her home county, in the coal fields of Kentucky as an inland missionary, and on Monteagle Mountain. Monteagle was the unlikely site of the Highlander Folk School, where leaders of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement went to teach and to train. Dr. Martin Luther King was at Highlander, along with Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Septima Clark, and Stokely Carmichael.

I am writing a May Justus book, a work of historical fiction based on real people and events. You can get more information at www.mayjustusbook.com

Why May Justus, and why now? May Justus was far ahead of her time as a woman who controlled her own destiny, supported herself, and navigated life with her partner, Vera Campbell. Her story of self-determination is one that young girls need to know, even today. As America increases its efforts to suppress or even erase its own history, especially in regard to racial segregation, this is a bit of history that should be preserved.

How you can help. If you have any knowledge of May Justus, her family, inland missionaries (especially Presbyterian) in Kentucky, Cocke County, Tennessee around the turn of the 20th Century, please let me know. You can leave a message via my website (above). If you'd like to follow along with the book's development and related historical details, you can also sign up for my e-newsletter there. One more thing: will you like my FB page at www.facebook.com/mayjustusbook ...? I would be so grateful.

In Salem, Virginia. The statue reads to the Confederate soldiers of Craig County 1861-1865.

As a proud resident of Southwest Virginia and a former recipient of the prestigious John Fox, Jr. Award for short stories and poetry, I have navigated many of the challenges faced by emerging authors from the southern Appalachians. While we contend with obscurity, poverty, disabilities, and more, our resilience, honesty, and authenticity define us—even if others perceive us as melancholic, unfiltered, or backwards.

The world could learn much from us!

In that spirit, I wish to share my recent successes with you by offering a selection of poems from my book.

False Mirror, my poetry collection, was released on January 7, 2025, and has already become a best-seller in multiple categories on Amazon, including #1 in Contemporary Poetry. The book is free to download until January 11, 2025, as part of a promotional period and is also available through Kindle Unlimited.

Poems listed below:

• - Z.B.S & M.F.S
• - L.B.S
• - Sons Without Fathers
• - Human Factories for Mental Faculties
• - Desert Lamentations

Desert Lamentations

Human Factories for Mental Faculties

L.B.S

Sons Without Fathers

Z.B.S & M.F.S

Snow is waiting around for more to fall tomorrow.

It's gotta be 72° in the high tunnel today in Southwest Virginia.

I was fortunate this fall to get 1.5 days of the falls all to myself. Going on a Tuesday, during the fall, it pays off. This waterfall is one of my favorites in Georgia. What you might not know, the trail doesn’t end at the falls. If you keep going, it gets wilder and more beautiful.

My grandfather heated his house with this stove until his age kept him from feeding it recently. It’s been relocated to my shop where it will keep me warm for the rest of my life. Had to drive 6 miles with a tractor to lift it with pallet forks.

Found it on the side of the road somewhere in Whitmire, SC