Conecuh People: Words Of Life From The Alabama Black Belt

by Wade H. Hall

This intimate collection of interviews captures the stark, hardscrabble existence of the simple, unsophisticated, land-bound people who were once the backbone of the Deep South. Bullock County, Alabama, where the headwaters of the Conecuh River form, is one place where such people made their homes.
Author Wade Hall, the first of his family to graduate from high school, is a native of Bullock County. In the 1970s and early 1980s, during visits back to his home county, he recorded the memories of some of the county's oldest inhabitants, including the nineteen people who now speak from these pages. What they shared were recollections of a culturally and technologically isolated time - in which life was hard but honest and people persevered with stoicism and a simple, unfettered religious faith.

Hardcover

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Patrick Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I developed an online tourism guide for this book at the Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative. The guide has photos, links, an excerpt, and a review based on the charming town of Union Springs. The book was adapted into an annual play performed at the historic Red Door Theatre there. For any readers interested in visiting the area, check out the SELTI guide here: http://southeasternliterarytourismini...

I interviewed Wade for the guide, and he is wonderfully entertaining in person.