Talking about hard times

Carl E. Feather

Nov. 5, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The place and time Henry Riffe writes about in his book, "From the Mountaintop to the Valley of Jolo, McDowell County, West Virginia," are alien to America's teenagers, but he says they could learn a lot from his life.

Riffe, who lives in Appomattox, Va., says that is one of the reasons he was compelled to write his life story of growing up in the 1930s and '40s in one of the most economically depressed areas of the United States: the coalfields of southwest West Virginia.

"The life I had growing up down there, no one wants it today," Riffe says.

Count him and three of his siblings among them. A brother and sister, Charles and the late Louise Falke, came to northeast Ohio to find better lives. Another sibling landed in North Carolina, and after working 11 years in the coal mines, Henry bailed out of West Virginia, moving to northern Virginia.

A brother who stayed behind lived hand to mouth the rest of his life. A sister's husband found work with one of the big mines, and they ended up doing "O.K."

Riffe, 74, believes God has kept him alive so he could tell his story in this book.

"My hope is someone who is struggling in life will read this and get help from it," he says.

He is visiting the area this week and will do a book signing at the Kingsville Public Library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, he will be at the Ashtabula County Nursing Home starting at 2 p.m.

His hardcover book is $19.

Riffe's brother-in-law, the Rev. Robert Falke of North Kingsville, grew up in Jolo, W.Va., and gives the book a positive review.

"It's more about his life and what happened to him in life," Falke said. "It probably tells people you can do a lot with your life if you get confidence. A lot of people think they cannot accomplish anything because of their (lack of) education, but it's more about what they can do if they are willing to try."

For Riffe, that involved moving his young family from West Virginia to the Washington, D.C., area, where he succeeded at a number of ventures. But, as is common with migrants from the Mountain State, Riffe's heart could never escape the' orbit of mountains and kin.

Riffe said the message of the book is to "keep pressing on, no matter what," and he wrote it knowing there would be some reader who would need to hear that encouragement.

"I kept in mind all the time I was writing the book for young people," he said. "Young or old might get a lift from it."

online: dorrancebookstore.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0322-39468990