Sherry Chandler

A John Fox Jr. Centenary

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of John Fox Jr’s The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Here’s the plot summary from Wikipedia:

Set in the Appalachian Mountains at the turn of the twentieth century, a feud has been boiling for over thirty years between two influential mountain families: the Tollivers and the Falins. The outside world and industrialization, however, is beginning to enter the area. Coal mining begins to exert its influence on the area, despite of the two families feuds. Entering the area, enterprising “furriner” (foreigner) John Hale captures the attention of the beautiful June Tolliver, and inadvertently becomes entangled in the region’s politics.

The novel sold one million copies. It was adapted for film 4 times between 1914 and 1936. The latter version, which starred Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray, was the first outdoor movie filmed in technicolor. It was also made into a play that has been running since 1964 in the outdoor theater at Big Stone Gap, Virginia (which by pure coincidence is where Eugene Debs was imprisoned about the time John Fox, Jr. died there). Oops! My memory failed me there. Debs was imprisoned in Moundsville, West Virginia.

But though Fox may have died in Virginia in 1919, he was born right here in Bourbon County, Kentucky in 1862. He is buried in the Paris Cemetery. To mark the centenary, Duncan Tavern, which houses the John Fox Jr. Library, will hold an open house today from 2 – 4. Visitors may tour the library (which houses Fox memorabilia), hear a short presentation about the author, and partake in refreshments.

As far as I can tell, the event is free and open to the public. That’s why it’s an Open House???

The illustration is from the first edition of the novel. Some of these original illustrations are housed at Duncan Tavern and will be included in the tour.