Journey Out of Darkness

My intent was to capture the thoughts, views and the images formed by a child growing up in Harlan County Kentucky during the great depression and the lasting effect it had on them. Conditions were worsened with the feuding between the coal operators and the Union. I hoped to capture the feeling of the helpless, not only the youth but many who were hopelessly trapped in conditions they had little or no control over. It was like being in a prison with no bars on the doors or windows. Life here wasn't easy but I leaned early that no one can control your mind, I made every little task a goal and a game to channel all my thoughts and imagination to a positive ending. I used music and sports as a diversion that kept me mentally young throughout my Harlan life and military career. I'm hoping it will last me another twenty years. There are many books about Bloody Harlan, its coal strikes and killings. Some things that happened there are not seen in print. I'm eighty years old, career military man, born 1932 in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. I struggled to leave my life in the hills for the new world with the clothes on my back at eighteen, only to find my struggles had just begun because of my lack of my education and social skills. I participated in team sports till the age of thirty three; I still enjoy golfing, fishing and other outdoor activities. I don't consider myself an author, I write only nonfiction about what I see, hear, touch, taste and think. Tommy K. Absher