Customer Reviews

River of Memories: An Appalachian Boyhood

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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The following are some of the comments I have received regarding River of Memories:

As I read well into Saturday night, I had the feeling you were actually writing about MY childhood. The winters, the one-room school, the stream, the grapevine swing (Snap! Thud! you lost your breath, and your body met the ground) and the challenges we faced but were so content, well fed, and happy we didn't realize how strong we would become because we learned that mountains were there to "go over, around or tunnel through." (Ginger Davis)

I bought a copy of your book at long last. I read it today. I really enjoyed it!!! You did a great job. Patrick was really talking up your book at our last meeting this spring. Mary Williams, one of our writing classmates, died last week. She, too, was looking forward to reading your book. (Brenda Beatty)

I wanted to share with you the inspiration I've had from the introduction of your book. I've many times mentioned that I should keep a journal for each of my girls with my view of things they do throughout their childhood. You statements in the introduction made me realize I should stop talking about it and do it before time slips away and they're no longer small children. (Che'rie Collins)

I have just completed your book, a gift from my daughter. It is a most enjoyable book, and you should take great pride in it. You capture our heritage and our humanness from crowning glory to warts. We live in a great corner of this world. Those of us, the senior generation, have been protected not by terrain but by culture, small enough to know and be known. (Jim Waugh)

While attending 'Festival of the Hills' in Ironton on Saturday, my wife and I visited your display and bought a copy of River of Memories. That next day, I took up temporary residence in our swing on our front porch and never ventured far from there until two thirds of your book had been read. It just wouldn't let me put it down! While my wife and I grew up in Waterloo, Lawrence County, Ohio, which is about as far north of Huntington as Bowen Creek is south, we both had a similar childhood as yours, but, you tell your stories much better. And, I'm sure others who have had the pleasure of reading your book can readily identify with it, too. Every little community had its unusual characters and an Emmitt and Lessie store. But, of all your stories, "Magnolias Forever" holds a special place for me. Your book is truly gratifying. Well done, David! (Duane Null)

Thank you for sharing your work with me and for using your talents to help preserve the culture and history of our state.
(Nick J. Rahall, II, Member of Congress)

Can't imagine any trip could be better than what you described in your book. Well done. "River of Memories" would make a great movie. You have shown how wonderful growing up in the '50s was for many. Laura wrote all her books (5 or 6) after she was 65 years old. Hope you keep writing. (Pat Phillips)

I finished your book last night. Please forgive me. I do not have your gift of expression in writing. I loved the book. What a wonderfully blessed life you have! Thank you so much. (Teresa Radcliff)

I absolutely loved this little book. I prefer this kind of personal reminiscing to works of fiction. I think what I loved most about it was the fact that your life in West Virginia, growing up was a bit similar to my own upbringing in Northwestern Nebraska. I also attended a one-room schoolhouse with an outhouse and a hand pump for water from 1st through 8th grade. Gee, it was fun! (Shelley Thorton-Roby)

Thank you for writing "River of Memories." I enjoyed, laughed (and cried a little). Many thanks for the memories. (Imogene Adkins Wilson)

I have read many books on Appalachian life, but yours was the best. I could actually see the house, smell the cooking, and hear you kids fighting and playing as I read the book. How lucky your family is to have all of this on paper to share for generations. (Debi Herbert)

I absolutely loved your book. You don't write...you paint a picture. (Jane Kolstad)

I finished your book last night. I read it in two sittings. It was the only book, other than the Bible I have read in years. I enjoyed it very much, and it touched on so many memories of my life. (Verlin J. Adkins, Jr.)

Mr. Thompson's is a wonderful tale of a young man growing up in rural America. It tells of a wonderful childhood filled with loving memories in a time when a child was still allowed to be a child. It has both good and bad memories that add up to the formation of an interesting individual and family that anyone would enjoy getting to know. If everyone could only be so lucky as to know someone like this it would improve the world as a whole.

I have just spent the day enjoying River of Memories An Appalachian Boyhood. It has taken me to a world I knew little of, growing up at the same time in West Virginia in very different circumstances.

What an engaginging and wonderful way to preserve the past!

This is a well written account of country life in West Virginia in the 40 and 50's.I could not put it down!
BeBe Beatty

I really enjoyed David Thompson's book River of Memories. I to grew up in WV and his words brought back visions from my own childhood. This is just a good read to escape from the everyday stress and hassles and return to a time when we valued family more than the materialisms we strive for today.

A soothing massage for my soul! That is how Rivers of Memories made me feel after reading it. David Thompson's portray of his boyhood in rural West Virginia brought back memories of my own rural childhood. Recordings of his adult adventures are inter- spersed between flashbacks of happy, sad, and many times humorous
musings from his rich childhood. Mr. Thompson's book tells it all!--real and so readable. Love of family, love of country, meaning of sacrifices and need for painful experiences are portrayed in this book about authentic Appalachian hill culture.

River of Memories: An Appalachian Boyhood by David L. Thompson is an excellent book for all people of all ages. It really allows the reader to understand the way everyday life was in Appalachia. It reminds us of the importance of family, friends, hard work, and God's influence. It brings out the best of a time that has passed, but will never be forgotten.

In order for us to truly understand ourselves, we must look to our heritage. As Mr. Thompson recalls to his readers the vivid memories of an Appalachian childhood, he entangles them with the warmth of a heritage that may someday be forgotten. This work will possibly answer many questions of future generations who may ask "what is Appalachia?"

There once was actually a time and a place that the author David Thompson talks about; but I used to think that it was only in our collective dreams from the old movies of the 1950's. He captures a part of Americana that is forever lost and is no more. He takes us through his early life leading up to his tour in Vietnam much like a river flowing through our heart. It is a well written account of not just what it was like but how it felt to be a young boy of the "Baby Boom Generation" in West Virginia.

This book is not about war or its aftermath but about the human spirit and the values that make us and define who we are. This is a treasure of unique experiences and feelings. It is a pleasure and a joy to read.

MWSA's 2004 Gold Medal Award for Non-Fiction Personal Memoirs

David L. Thompson's River of Memories: An Appalachian Boyhood is a walk back in time for Appalachians in general and West Virginians in particular.

Having grown up in an area just a few miles from David and only a few years later, I was filled with nostalgia, as I recalled the simpler times from some fifty years ago.

He showed us a scared little boy being wheeled off to surgery. I felt every bit of his trepidation, but had to laugh when I pictured his wide, fearful eyes on their way to the operating room.

I cried when he drew me into the deep respect for a mother who had always demonstrated the love and caring of the mothers of yesteryear. As we witnessed her family mourning her passing into the arms of God, I had to set the book down and weep.

For a feel-good read of a wholesome, stirring book, full of laughter and tears, I can think of no other I would recommend more highly than River of Memories: An Appalachian Boyhood.