Running on Red Dog Road: And Other Perils of an Appalachian Childhood

(Paperback)

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"Mining companies piled trash coal in a slag heap and set it ablaze. The coal burned up, but the slate didn't. The heat turned it rose and orange and lavender. The dirt road I lived on was paved with that sharp-edged rock. We called it red dog. Grandma told me, Don't you go running on that red dog road. But I do." Gypsies, faith-healers, moonshiners, and snake handlers weave through Drema's childhood in 1940s Appalachia after her father is killed in the coal mines, her mother goes off to work as a Rosie the Riveter, and she is left in the care of devout Pentecostal grandparents. What follows is a spitfire of a memoir that reads like a novel with intrigue, sweeping emotion, and indisputable charm. Drema's coming of age is colored by tent revivals with Grandpa, poetry-writing hobos, and traveling carnivals, and through it all, she serves witness to a multi-generational family of saints and sinners whose lives defy the stereotypes. Just as she defies her own. Running On Red Dog Road is proof that truth is stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to life and faith in an Appalachian childhood.

Reviews

Every once in a while, a voice comes along that makes you yearn for a childhood you never lived. Author Drema Hall Berkheimer invites you to skip along with her, big sis Vonnie, and best friend Sissy into the coal mining hills and hollers of West Virginia, at a time when gypsies and hobos were as common as doctors who made house calls. * Kathleen M. Rodgers, award-winning author of Johnnie Come Lately *
Running on Red Dog Road took me away to a time and a family that I will never forget. Drema Hall Berkheimer is a masterful, joyful, humorous storyteller who is just getting started. What a great book. * Fawn Germer, International Speaker and Oprah-featured bestselling author *
Time and again I have been carried away by these stories, by the observations of a very shrewd little girl of her elders, both wise and the foolish. But dont let the sly humor fool you. Like the West Virginia coal country Drema Berkheimer writes about so affectionately and beautifully, there is always something going on here just beneath the surface, something grave, firmly rooted, even eternal. * Bill Marvel, author of The Rock Island Line and (with R. V. Burgin) Islands of the Damned *
Drema Hall Berkheimer is a pure storyteller, one of the most wonder- fully gifted Ive ever read. As they make their way through Running on Red Dog Road, readers will smile continually, laugh out loud occasionally, and turn misty-eyed at times of joy or sadness as this child of Appalachia shares so lovingly her growing-up experiences with her cherished family and friends. Her phrasing is so exquisite and her words so perfectly chosen that her writing is a mixture of prose and poetry. Its best read in private, so there will be no distractions as the reader travels hand in hand with the author from beginning to end. * Dr. George T. Arnold, Professor Emeritus, W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Marshall University *
Running on Red Dog Road is an American treasure. Echoes of Mark Twain resonate in Ms. Berkheimers tales of life in West Virginia in the care of loving and wise grandparents while her widowed mother helps save the world as a Rosie the Riveter. This family is an icon of what we should wish to be. Truly a needed voice in our world. * Julianne McCullagh, author of The Narrow Gate *
I love this memoir. The voice is masterful. Berkheimer layers into a perceptive child narrator an understated love of her family, a sassy streak that dodges consequences, and a precocious questioning of the society that surrounds her. * Robin Underdahl, coauthor with Anshel Brusilow of Shoot the Conductor: Too Close to Monteux, Szell, and Ormandy *
A competent historian could get the details right about mid-century Pentecostal Appalachian culture, but only Drema Hall Berkheimer could set us right in the middle of it. Through the eyes of a little girl who doesnt miss a thing, we experience spicy stew in the gypsy camp, and creative avenues to intoxication, and river baptisms. If the child Dremas observations could not always be shared with her grandparents, they are now shared with us. That will be to the delight of every reader. * Dr. Douglas M. Gropp, member, International Team of Editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls; Academic Dean, Redeemer Seminary *
A sweet, whimsical, and often touching account of the authors childhood during a kinder, gentler era. It triggered great nostalgia during my reading. * Dr. William L. Grose, retired NASA scientist and Assistant Director of Atmospheric Sciences, NASA Langley Research Center *
In this gem of a book, Drema digs deep into her memory pool to bring forth images of well-developed places, characters, and things. In this highly technological age, we need this story to understand how ordinary people survived, thrived, and endured. * Njoki McElroy, PhD, storyteller, performance artist, and author of 1012 Natchez: A Memoir of Grace, Hardship and Love *

Author Bio

Drema Hall Berkheimer was born in a coal camp in Appalachia, the child of a West Virginia coal miner who was killed in the mines, a Rosie the Riveter mother, and devout Pentecostal grandparents. Her tales ofhobnobbing withgypsies, moonshiners, snake handlers, hobos, and faith healers, are published in numerous online and print journals. Excerpts from her memoir, Running On Red Dog Road and Other Perils of an Appalachian Childhood, won first place Nonfiction and First Honorable Mention Nonfiction in the 2010 West Virginia Writers competition. She is a member of West Virginia Writers, Salon Quatre, and The Writers Garret. A longtime resident of Dallas, she lives with her husband and a neurotic cat that takes after her. Her husband is mostly normal.