Boyd Carr, who died at age 88 this summer, was many things. West Virginia-based poet Kirk Judd recalls a man he describes as "one of the few true geniuses I have known. He was brilliant in his use of language and in the art of storytelling."
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A Portrait of the Artist in Her Studio & Out: Jes Reger
Jes Reger is an accomplished watercolorist based in Wheeling WV. In the first of a series of profiles of Tamarack for the Arts 2020 Emerging Artist fellows, she talks about the challenges of being a working painter during a global pandemic.
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5 QUESTIONS: When Life Hands You Quarantine, You Make a Web Series Out of It
Curren Sheldon and Tijah Bumgarner are the wizards behind the extremely entertaining web series, "Quarantine Life," which asks—and answers—the question: What do two mondo-talented West Virginia filmmakers do during a global pandemic that has locked down the usual creative projects into which they had been pouring their life force?
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ROADTRIPPING: “Ohio Rover” Homage to a Bridge
Needing to get out of Quarantine Dodge this week, we took a roadtrip out of the Mountain State and up the Ohio River, passing the stately suspension tie bridge between West Virginia and Ohio. Here's a jazzy, one-minute musical homage, which commences WestVirginiaVille's "Roadtripping" video series.
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DRAGLINE: The Pro-Pipeline Editorial by the Pipeline Industry CEO/Publisher
“It’s damn easy to figure out what has been lost,” Doug Reynolds wrote in his West Virginia newspapers, “but for the life of me I can’t ascertain who won.” What Reynolds fails to mention is what exactly is losing: his natural gas pipeline construction company.
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5 THINGS | 1 Bridge, 1 Motorcycle, 1 Queen, 1 Mask & 1 Batman
Here are 5 images from the life, times and artistry of WestVirginiaVille, by staff and contributors. Including a drive-by Batman, a misty West Virginia icon and more.
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VIDEO: Not Your Average Ice Cream Truck Story
The tinkling sound of a new ice cream truck cruising the streets and cul-de-sacs of Cabell County, West Virginia, has a quite remarkable story behind it by a quite remarkable mother and son.
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CHARACTERS: A Rebel of the Decidedly Non-Confederate Sort
She hated several things, one of which she called“narrowmindedness,” a catchall term for her that included racism, religious bigotry, homophobia, science-denying, disapproval of card playing, abstinence from wine and other offenses against humanity.
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TRAILER: A Peek at “Bye-Bye, Stonewall” mini-doc
Here's a peek from the trailer to WestVirginiaVille's upcoming mini-documentary, "Bye-Bye, Stonewall," on the years-long backstory on how a school in a black neighborhood in West Virginia's capital city finally got free of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson's name and mug.
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DEAR DOUG REYNOLDS: An Open Letter On Your Pro-Pipeline Column
"One would think you might have had serious second thoughts about not revealing some key information in your pro-pipeline column. After all, you were standing in the bully pulpit of a newspaper that prided itself on shedding light into dark corners of conflicts of interest and spotlighting partial truths that mask self-interest."
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MARIE MANILLA | Part 2: “Madness”
"Bev screamed: “It’s Joey!” The sweet boy so many girls loved. Did he even drive a white car? I think we all knew it wasn’t Joey asphyxiated inside that vehicle, but it could have been him. It could have, and it felt good to whip ourselves into a frenzy—yet another asylum-able offense."
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MARIE MANILLA | Part 1: Driving By Her Own Headlights
Huntington WV native Marie Manilla is an award-winning fiction and non-fiction author. In a "5 Questions" interview, she talks about the highs and lows of writing; the 'snotty literati,' who use labels to belittle writers; and the novel she scrapped after hearing pre-publication reactions by African American and transgender sensitivity readers.
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READINGS | A Stroll Deep into a West Virginia Marsh
If it’s true we are mother, father, sister, brother, related all to all, maybe that's one way to comprehend and befriend the ten thousand things. The hundreds of voices, cries, and songs rising from this manifold marsh.
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VIDEO: When the Confederate Flag Cuts and Runs
We direct your amusement to this Tiffany Thouartdope Finkton insta-rap. She made it after capturing a special moment outside the Kaoard of Education meeting to consider renaming Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston WV. The fellow who arrived with a Confederate flag was definitely not reading the room.
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VIDEO READINGS| “Terracotta Tile,” a prompted tale by Connie Kinsey
"He was rage and she was ennui. She picked up her glass and took a sip. The wine tasted bitter. She couldn’t remember when he had last been happy. He stood in front of her. Silent, but radiating a need to speak. “What?” she said softly.
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VIEW FROM THE PLAYGROUND: On Changing Stonewall Jackson Middle School’s Name
As adults decide the future of Stonewall Jackson Middle School's name at meeting Monday, July 6, 2020, we visited a playground in Charleston WV to find out what a group of students thought about the idea.
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POINTS of VIEW | ‘If You’re Silent About Your Pain’
A LETTER TO NEUTRAL COLLEAGUES: "I realize you may be actually confused about whether blacks are offended or feel pain from reminders of that dark period. Zora Neale Neale Hurston once said: "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." So, I will clarify that we are offended. We are in pain."
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‘ALEXANDRIA SPEAKS’: Why Stonewall Jackson Middle School Needs a New Name
Why rename a school long named for a Confederate general? Watch a 13-year-old student in Charleston WV tell why in an impassioned plea to the adults considering whether to rename her Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
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CHARACTERS | The One-Armed Bandit of No. 1 Holler, West Virginia
The life story of the "The One-Armed Bandit" is the stuff of heroes and legends. You may not know Gary Mays' tale, though, as the major league career the West Virginia native might have had may have been blocked by racism. But nothing ever kept Gary Mays down for long.
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NATUREGRAM 1 | Sheltering-in-Nature during a Pandemic
Could you use some Canadian geese, chuckling water and scenes of nature not trying to sell you something? Here is a WestVirginiaVille Public Service Mental Health Pandemic Video.
