Meet the Author event set for May 7

May 4—OAK HILL — Katherine P. Manley, a West Virginia teacher and author, will visit Fayette County on Saturday, May 7 for a Meet the Author event at Fayette County Public Library headquarters in Oak Hill.

Manley, author of "Don't Tell 'Em You're Cold: A Memoir of Poverty and Resilience," will speak at 2 p.m. at the FCPL Headquarters Building, 531 Summit Street, Oak Hill. The event is free, but those who wish to attend should register by calling 304-465-0121.

Manley's book is described as "an uplifting story of survival from abject poverty, set in the hills and coal camps of southern West Virginia. Katherine Manley and her family faced extreme challenges and struggles with ingenuity and traditional Appalachian stoicism. Beyond the poverty, other obstacles compounded Katherine's life: A severely disabled father and a mother who struggled with the day-to-day survival. On a cool October morning, she left in a taxi and never returned, leaving 14-year-old Katherine to take care of her father and raise her siblings in her mother's stead. Katherine went on to become an award-winning teacher, paying forward her hard-learned lessons to thousands of lucky students. This is a story of triumph that encourages everyone to never give up."

Well-known Southern author Lee Smith says "Kathy Manley's compelling memoir ought to be required reading for every person in America today — especially every person in high school. Not a shred of sentimentality or self-pity mars this beautifully written account of an Appalachian childhood spent in deepest poverty, yet Manley's narrative is neither pitiful nor sad; it is courageous and loving, filled with hope for the future. Read this book."

Another famous Southern West Virginia author, Homer Hickam, whose "Rocket Boys: A Memoir" was adapted into the popular film "October Sky," praises Manley's work.

"West Virginians are among the very best story tellers in the world, and Kathy Manley is clearly a West Virginian," Hickam wrote in a review of her book. "Her story rings with vibrancy and truth. Highly recommended."

"Don't Tell 'Em You're Cold" was published by Mountain State Press in 2019 and was a semifinalist in the William Faulkner Writing Competition. According to a review in Southern Literary Review by Donna Meredith, "Her writing has been featured in Hamilton Stone Review, Traditions: A Journal of West Virginia Folk Culture and Education Awareness, and the Guyandot Observer."

In spite of, or because of, her poverty-stricken childhood, Manley determined to improve her lot and transcend the poverty of her Southern West Virginia upbringing.

"Despite everything missing in the way of comfort and worldly goods, Kathy succeeds in school, becoming president of her homeroom and secretary of the sophomore class," Meredith writes in the SLR article. "Logan County Schools provide her with a summer job and a part-time job during the school year doing clerical work for the teachers. Kathy develops strength in ways her mother could not: 'Running from poverty had driven me to work hard, to seek a higher education, and to take all the extra jobs I could to make sure that my family and I would never experience that painful life again.' She also finds comfort from God and the belief that 'things would get better.'

"Obviously things did get better. The author earned degrees from Marshall University and West Virginia University. A National Board Certified Teacher, she has been an educator in Logan County Schools for over 35 years. ...

"(Manley) has earned multiple awards for teaching, including finalist for West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Arch Coal Teacher of the Year, and the Prodigy Foundation Teacher Achievement Award given in memory of the Rocket Boys' beloved teacher, Freida J. Riley of Coalwood, West Virginia. I admire this amazing woman tremendously," Meredith says. "She pulled herself out of poverty, never abandoned her family, and devoted her life to education so others would also have a chance at a better life.

"Long after reading this memoir, a question Kathy Manley raises will echo in my mind: 'How could all men be created equal, when some people had food and some people didn't?'"

To register for the Meet the Author event, call 304-465-0121.

Email ckeenan@register-herald.com; follow on Fayette_Cheryl