Customer Reviews

Tales of the Mine Country

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My grandfather was a miner in Shamokin, and lived the hard lives described in this book. This book describes the hardships of the miners occupation, but also brings the neighborhoods of that time "alive". Particularly interesting was the description of the children and their place in the town and their early introduction to the mines. By reading this book, I was better able to understand my mother's family stories about my grandfather, and explain this bit of American history to my daughter when we visited Shamokin, PA.

Delightful stories written in a down-to-earth manner. Light and humorous without being technical. Having been raised in Shamokin from 1970 to 1980 and still visiting family and friends to this day, I only saw/see the remains of a town that was built with coal mining as its staple. Awaking in the morning to a view of the huge culm banks from my bedroom window one could only envision as a young boy how they would have gotten there. McKeever's book tells us how with stories of the hard work that went into the mining industry, complete with the dangers to the health and well-being of those involved. Supports my memories of several of my grandfather's friends over for breakfast on a Sunday morning with the terrible, raspy coughs that they developed while working in the mines beginning as young boys. Coughs that lasted for minutes sometimes while they tried to refill their lungs with air. All of these men are now passed on but this book provided me with many a memory of their stories of an area I was too young to have seen in its hey-day. A hard-working, hard-drinking region for many knew life could be short due to the dangers the mines afforded their health and well-being daily. In many ways, McKeever's stories combined with many I heard growing up make me glad that I was born several generations after mining was at its peak. For sure, it would not have been the chosen occupation for me!

Delightful little book. Learned much about early coal mining years in Pennsylvania but felt like I was there experiencing it effortlessly. Mr McKeever is a subtle and fun author. Wish he wrote more.

My Dad grew up as the son of a coal miner in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Dad is getting old now and is disabled and I bought him this book for Christmas. He really loved this book. It brought back wonderful memories for him and he told the family lots of great stories that the book reminded him of. I think it was the best Christmas present I ever bought him. I plan on buying copies for myself and all my brothers and sisters to remind us of our Dad.

Not too bad for a self-published volume. Readers who grew up in Shamokin, Pa., may appreciate the descriptions of their familiar home-town surroundings. (Residents of small blue-collar towns, for some reason, are often tickled to see their town's name in print.) This little collection of stories succeeds in conveying a sense of the culture of this region, which provides endless fascination for the coal coterie, but may leave others out in the cold. The coal industry which once fueled American industry is dead and gone. As this book reminds us, there is not much left but culm banks and memories.