West Virginia Histories: Unique People, Unusual Events, and the Occasional Ghost

"Historical human interest stories."That's how a reader described Gerald D. Swick's column of West Virginia history, "Once, Long Ago," which appeared each Sunday in the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram for over 16 years. His unique combination of historical research, skillful narrative, a bit of editorializing, a handful of humor, and a pinch of snark led one fan to tell him, "When I read your column I feel like you are sitting in my living room telling me a story." The columns received a Press Association Lifestyles Writing award for excellence in journalism and contributed to the West Virginia Humanities Council awarding Gerald a Literary Fellowship in Nonfiction Writing.

The West Virginia Histories series collects the best of those columns, divided into categories such as Animals, Crime, Civil War, Education, etc. Volume 1 presents samples from each category that will be featured in future volumes. The stories come not just from large communities like Bluefield, Charleston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Huntington, Morgantown, Wheeling and so on, but from Spencer, Volcano, Wellsburg and other small towns. Gerald decided from the beginning that the columns would be about more than just "dead white guys," and stories of the state's women and its diverse ethnic groups get their due. Occasionally, especially at Halloween, he set aside the history books to examine Appalachian folklore, from cures for warts to tales of a headless ghost. Additionally, the 100 stories presented in Volume 1 include some never-before-published articles.

If you like a little humor with your history, some fun while learning facts, then open these pages and invite Gerald Swick into your living room to tell you some stories.