This is the first book to celebrate the life and writing of one of the most charismatic Southern leaders of the middle twentieth century, Don West (1906-1992). West was a poet, a pioneer advocate for civil rights, a preacher, a historian, a labor organizer, a folk-music revivalist, an essayist, and an organic farmer. He is perhaps best known as an educator, primarily as cofounder of the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee and founder of the Appalachian South Folklife Center in West Virginia. In his old age, West served as an elder statesman for his causes.

No Lonesome Road allows Don West to speak for himself. It provides the most comprehensive collection of his poetry ever published, spanning five decades of his literary career. It also includes the first comprehensive and annotated collection of West's nonfiction essays, articles, letters, speeches, and stories, covering his role at the forefront of Southern and Appalachian history, and as a pioneer researcher and writer on the South's little-known legacy of radical activism.

Drawing from both primary and secondary sources, including previously unknown documents, correspondence, interviews, FBI files, and newspaper clippings, the introduction by Jeff Biggers stands as the most thorough, insightful biographical sketch of Don West yet published in any form.

The afterword by George Brosi is a stirring personal tribute to the contributions of West and also serves as a thoughtful reflection on the interactions between the radicals of the 1930s and the 1960s.

The best possible introduction to his extraordinary life and work, this annotated selection of Don West's writings will be inspirational reading for anyone interested in Southern history, poetry, religion, or activism.
| Contents Acknowledgments Introduction by Jeff Biggers Selected Prose Clods of Southern Earth: Introduction (1946) The First Jew I Ever Met and the Devil's Den (1985) Hard Times Cotton Mills Girls (1979) Harry Harrison Kroll: An Essay (1986) Knott County, Kentucky: A Study (1932) Sweatshops in the Schools (1933) Georgia Wanted Me Dead or Alive (1934) Let Freedom Ring (1936) Thoughts of a Kentucky Miner (1936) Tobe-Boy (1940) Dreams (1944) Georgia Crisis (1947) Speaking of the Poet (1951) West Answers VFW's Letter (1955) We Southerners Have a Rendezvous with Destiny (1956) The Death of Old Major (1966) Jesus, the Quiet Revolutionary (1967) Romantic Appalachia; or, Poverty Pays If You Ain't Poor (1969) People's Cultural Heritage in Appalachia (1971) Robert S. Tharin: Advocate of the Poor White Trash (1973) In a Land of Plenty: No Copyright (1982-85) Selected Poems From Crab-Grass (1931) Dedication Crab-Grass Bill Dalton's Wife Ole Kim Mulkey When I Am Old Denmark Mountain Reverie Mountaineer's Desire To— Prayer In Potters Field From Deep, Deep Down in Living (n.d.) Deep, Deep Down in Living Mountain Widow Mountain Boy Harlan Portraits Brown Brother Epitaphs From Between the Plow Handles (1932) A'Callin' Home th' Hogs Dark Winds Scratching in Memory I've Seen God Highlander Youth Between the Plow Handles <br> 4 <br> From Toil and Hunger (1940) Funeral Notes Anger What Shall a Poet Sing Symbols Visit Toil and Hunger Southern Nights Dark Night Hungry Old River Song of the Saw Stillborn Seeker They Take Their Stand Clodhopper Night on a Mill Hill Homecoming My South Georgia Mother From Clods of Southern Earth (1946) Look Here, America Miner's Widow Should I Have Said And I Have Loved Harlan Coal Digger, 1934 These I Remember Voice of the Cracker No Lonesome Road From The Road Is Rocky (1951) There's Anger in the Land Sad, Sad America Question Mark Oh, Pity Those Advice to Would-Be Poets Where Tears of...