The Old Mountaineer
Jimmy Weekley, a 70 year old man is the only one still living on Pigeonroost Hollow, a West Virginia mountain top rich in coal reserves. Arch Coal bough out every one of Jimmy’s neighbors except for him. Over all the years Jimmy received a lot of national attention and many negative feelings from coal workers and companies. This story captured my attention because my Dad worked in coal mines as a civil engineer in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This story kept my attention through the whole time because of a lot of different things the author did with the audio.
One of the richest parts of this audio story about Jimmy Weekley is all the different characters that have their places in the story, by having new characters added all the time, it keeps the listener interested in the changing story. It is helpful to the listener that Jimmy gives brief introductions and backgrounds too all of the characters before they usually start talking. Jimmy Weekley refused to sell to the companies who have offered him a fortune over the years, but he is rethinking his descion as of recently because he is getting very old and lonely he says. It was very heartwarming hearing his grandchildren talking to Jimmy about keeping his property and how he has been doing since his wife passed away.
There are many sounds that really set the mood, time, and place of this story. The sound of bluegrass music, the opening and closing of screen doors, and the sound of bugs and birds bring the listener right to the mountains of West Virginia. It was clear to the listener whenever there were cuts to news stories, or radio broadcasts from years ago about the blasting of the mountain tops. This audio essay did a splendid job with tone in peoples voices, you could really hear when people felt concern, stressed, upset, or relaxed which added a lot of emotion to the whole thing.
The whole story can be heard here!
source: Radio Diaries
Views All Time
Views Today