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by Harry M. Caudill (Author)
Reading the tales spun out of Harry Caudill's Letcher County law office, I can close my eyes and see the man, even hear his rich mountain voice-measured, distinctly accented, engaging, etched with wit and anger and compassion. He denounced scoundrels of high and low station, praised courage and justice wherever he found it, and celebrated the ridiculous frailty of the human condition.
Author Biography
Harry M. Caudill (1922-1990) grew up in the coal fields of Letcher County, Kentucky, with a zest for history and reading. After being seriously wounded in Italy during World War II, Caudill went to the University of Kentucky Law School and later practiced law in Whitesburg, in Letcher County. He held some local political offices, in addition to a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Caudill's 1963 book, Night Comes to the Cumberlands: A Biography of a Depressed Area was and is a very influential work on Eastern Kentucky, affecting local and national government through individuals ranging from President Kennedy to Kentucky governors and Appalachian writers such as Denise Giardina. After retiring from practicing law, Caudill wrote 6 more books, more than 80 articles, and many editorials in the local Whitesburg paper, The Mountain Eagle. He delivered frequent speeches on strip mining and other Eastern Kentucky issues.
