Up In The Holler

"Up In The Holler, Memories Of A Coal Camp Kid" tells the story of my life of adventure which took me from the wild and unforgiving mountains of West Virginia to a comfortable home in California. Along the way, I faced detours into the dark and dangerous coal mine and service aboard a wartime aircraft carrier. My experiences in trade school, marriage and family life, and numerous business successes offer readers an example of a man who lived his life with purpose.

Folks from the holler have a saying: “We were all poor, but we just didn’t know it.” We made things from scratch and lived the best we could because we didn’t know any better and we had no choice.

We do things so fast today, but it was a different world I was raised in.

Join me in a look back at my childhood in a West Virginia coal camp and the adventures of a lifetime.

Darrell E. Wilcox