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September 05, 2004
· A native looks at attachment to Appalachia
By Rusty Marks
Staff writer
The Charleston Gazette
In 1976, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took hundreds and hundreds
of acres around Bulltown to create Burnsville Lake. To state and federal
officials, it was a development opportunity designed to lure tourists
to the Mountain State.
But to author and film producer Mari-Lynn Evans, it meant the loss
of a Braxton County home and community that her family had shared
for generations.
William D. Currence, Evans’ grandfather, made a final entry in
his diary before leaving the homestead. “I don’t give a
damn if I live another day,” he admitted. “I am already
dead.”
Evans and her family moved to Akron, Ohio, where some relatives had
settled. But within five years, William Currence was dead. Evans believes
he died of a broken heart.
Like many displaced Appalachians, Evans is now torn between the economic
and physical realities of life away from West Virginia, and the constant
pull to return to her roots.
“My family’s here now,” she said in a telephone conversation
from her Akron home. “You develop another life. But even to this
day, when I come in even for the weekend, I tell my son we’re
‘going down home’ this weekend. I haven’t lived there
for about 30 years, but it’s still home to me.”
Five years ago, Evans had the idea to create a documentary film presenting
a truer picture of Appalachia than the stereotypical depictions seen
in movies and on TV. She and her colleagues would tell the history
of the 13-state Appalachian region through her own people.
The result, a three-hour documentary full of Appalachian stories and
music, is expected to air on public television in February 2005. But
a companion book titled “The Appalachians” (Random House)
is available now. Evans will be at Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St.,
on Friday for a book signing.
“We try to cover everything, to tell the whole story,” Evans
said of the film and the book. “We do have a love for these people
and this land, and that does come out. It begins with the land and
the natives, and goes through the history of the land.”
Evans wanted to present a picture of Appalachia that addresses not
only the strength of Appalachia and her people, but the heartbreak
of economic hard times, the uprooting of families and the destruction
of Appalachian people and communities.
“I was concerned I would over-romanticize it,” she conceded,
but she believes the final result presents a balanced picture of the
region.
“Some of the stories are very sad. We certainly talk about the
poverty in the area. We talk about why people stay when the economy
is so depressed.”
Evans and her colleagues talked to Appalachians about their lives
and experiences. But they also interviewed performers such as Loretta
Lynn, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs and Little Jimmy Dean about their
experiences growing up in Appalachia.
Evans said music plays an important role in the film. “The biggest
thing we’re known for outside Appalachia is our music.”
Evans was able to interview Johnny Cash before the singer died. Cash
was negotiating to talk to CBS News anchor Dan Rather at the time,
but decided to talk to Evans instead because he thought her project
was so important.
Historically and culturally, Appalachians have been tightly knit and
interdependent. But Evans believes there’s more to Appalachia
than simply a sense of community.
“There’s a physical tie that you have to the land. The rivers,
the hills and the mountains — there is something to that.
“I feel a lot more connected to the land in West Virginia than
I do where I live now.”
(Posted with permission from the Charleston
Gazette)
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