Look back with love;: A recollection of the Blue Ridge

by Alberta Pierson Hannum

Look back with love, is a rate evocation of a people and a place unique in the culture and lore of America. The Appalachia--eight states that rise like a mighty crescendo in Virginia and slash their way through West Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee into Alabama and Georgia. The the southern highlanders, for almost two centuries hdden behind the awesome barriers of great and ancient mountains, a people little known and even less understood. With tenderness and spirit Alberta Hannum writes of a time that was and perhaps shall never be again; of what has been called Shakespeare's America, and its people she has known so well--of their speech and and song still vibrant with Elizabethan cadences; of their lives often poor in the way of the world but rich with pride and honor and belief in independence.

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Born in 1906.
Died in 1985.

Reviews

[Tamara Suttle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mountains are like music, the great kind of music that is everything you have ever known about and something more. They are a powerful music that rolls up from the earth. The southern mountains begin their particular theme along the Potomac, quietly, swelling into long full rolls of South Branch harmony. Nothing is out of line or out of tune there. Then, abruptly, like a stroke of genius, you have the roughs of the Virginias and Kentucky, mounting and slashing but just right -- there, nothing else would have done. And, before you can quite regain your composure, the whole thing sweeps together into wild, almighty crescendos, Tennessee and the Carolinas pushing their forested lofts up and up and up into intense blue sky! Then worn and satisfied, the motif goes off quietly again, into Alabama and Georgia."

And, so the author begins her memoir covering 8 states about individual communities with personal stories - many of whom were my relatives! And, while I will admit being thrilled to stumble across those names in the stories, I would have been taken with this author's sensitivity to much that is good and much that is hard about life in Appalachia.

I lived in those beautiful North Carolina mountains for 10 years and I miss them terribly. Hannum reminds the reader of the heart and core values of this subset of the United States and in doing so reflect much of what my family (now and back then) holds dear. I needed that because our political leanings (both their and mine) differ often and greatly from each other. Hannum's lens reminds me of how even now our core values bridge that massive gap.

I'm sorry that Alberta Pierson Hannum is not still alive. She died in 1985. I would like to have told her how much her sensitivity toward "my" people meant to me . . . means to me . . . and how grateful I am for her ability to bring to life on the page my ancestors, their history, and this unique and treasured area of our nation.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Appalachian Mountains - both the Great Smokies and the Blue Ridge Mountains - their people, and those who came from Scotland to originally settle this area of the country.

The book is old - published in 1969. But several used copies can be found for sale online. That's how I found my copy. Admittedly there was no book jacket still attached and it was quite worn with yellow pages, some stains on the cover, and stamped with a library's information inside the cover. But, given the subject matter and the author's approach, this all seems to further authenticate the author's memories of familiar faces and a simpler time.

Alberta Pierson Hannum, well-done! Well-done!

[Patti Clark Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written about those that pioneered the highest peaks and high mountain meadows in the Appalachian Mountains. The author uses the words written by one of its early residents, a member of one of the original families who settled these beautiful mountains; and through his words, she tells some of the history of the daily lives of those he knew. I proudly share his name and the heritage of his family, some of whom still live where their ancestors first settled.

Look Back With Love speaks of a people who were, and are, resourceful, courageous, loving and peaceful, living lives in the beautiful highland mountains of North Carolina. It’s tale is actually taken, in part, from the writings of a family member who became a sort of scribe to tell the tales of the people he knew well.

Looking back with love has so many meanings. If you love learning our nation’s history by learning how we used to live, this book offers a wonderful series of little images into the lives of the real people who settled the North Carolina highland mountains in its earliest days. If you can find, it, buy it (or look for a library copy).

[Robert Arndt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recollections of Appalachian life.