FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2020
Village of WestVirginiaVille Announces Appointment of Connie Kinsey to its ‘Office of Paragraphs’
Connie Kinsey of Ona, W.Va., will be joining the WestVirginiaVille Council as a Minister in the Office of Paragraphs. She’ll offer advice and consultation on the best paragraphs of non-fiction and fiction prose to include on the site.
Connie is a former military brat who has put down deep roots in a converted barn on a dirt road at the top of a hill in West Virginia. She lives with two dogs and a cat, and is pursuing happiness, one cup of coffee at a time.
Her writing has won awards, and has been published online and in print. Connie’s memoir of her 4th grade year in Hawaii during the Vietnam War is also available at Longridge Review, a publication featuring “the finest essays on the mysteries of childhood experience, the wonder of adult reflection, and how the two connect over a lifespan.” She blogs now and again at W.Va. Fur and Root: a hillbilly diva’s blatherings and is wild about comments. You can reach her by email at c_kinsey@frontier.com.
Perhaps the best introduction to Connie’s world-view, is to reprint the ‘About’ page from her website:
By CONNIE KINSEY | When I bought my home, I inherited with it a rustic sign bearing the words ‘W. Va Fur and Root,’ complete with bullet holes. I find the sign appealing and it hangs in my kitchen. The previous owner ran a salvage, tanning, and gingseng business out of this structure, which I refer to as a former barn, but was more accurately an outbuilding. Rumor has it he expanded too quickly and during the 1980s recession was forced to file bankruptcy. I dislike that his misfortune gave me the home where I was finally able to put down deep roots.
The sign partly channels an old t-shirt of mine with the slogan: ‘West Virginia: No Place for Wimps.‘
*The sign hung from* a homemade bracket on the front of the barn for a good while. It wasn’t until I stumbled downstairs one day in my nightgown to find a good-old-boy standing in my kitchen, holding untanned deer hides, that the sign came inside. The chains that attached it to the barn still swing in the breeze. I suppose I should hang wind-chimes on them.
Over the years, the sign has come to have a personal meaning for me. In some respects, it channels Kate Long’s “Root Hog” song, plus an old t-shirt of mine bearing the slogan: ‘West Virginia: No Place for Wimps.‘ I like the old wood and simple lettering, complete with the old-style abbreviation.
Mostly, it reminds me life is a comedy and you never end up where you think you will.
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2 Comments
Connie Kinsey
And I love you, Jackie Sue. I think you will love ths site.
JACKIE SUE DENNEY
how did i miss this one.. I love it..