Having read and enjoyed Catherine Marshall’s Christy, based on the adventures of her mother Leonora as a Smoky Mountain missionary, I was eager to seek out the truth behind the fiction. Barbara League has produced a true gem in so doing in Letters to Lori. In the real world “Cutter Gap,” the focus of the battles against ignorance and want shift from “Christy” and the Presbyterians to young Opal Corn. Herself a graduate of the mission school, “Miss Opal” dedicates her life to the betterment of all in the cove, especially the children. Here is the story-against-odds of Opal soldiering on after the Presbyterians pull out (nearly allowing the church-schoolhouse to become a saloon), and after the public schools close the doors on her beloved building.
It is told largely in Opal’s own words, in letters to her granddaughter. It has been said that Miss Opal logged more miles in her lifetime on foot serving the mountain community than most circuit-riders on horseback. Schoolteacher, Sunday School teacher and Bible Study leader, caretaker of the sick, sex educator (with the Bible her guide), physician, agriculturist, horticulturist, botanist, host to many wayfaring strangers, wife, and mother. You will learn that Miss Opal was all that and more. You’ll read of her hardships in caring for a sick husband and four kids while leaving before sun-up & returning after sundown (on foot) to teach at the public school seven miles away. You’ll read of her triumphs in the accomplishments of her students and in keeping the community together after the outside world abandoned them.
Today, you may attend the holiday public dinners held in the cove, now hosted by Miss Opal’s son Larry Myers. But to appreciate what’s behind it all, you need to get to know Opal Corn Myers. And, thanks to Barbara League, you can do that via Letters to Lori. I HIGHLY recommend this book to all Christy fans who want “Something More,” as Catherine Marshall might say. I highly recommend it to all who would appreciate a true look at a neglected portion of REAL America through the letters of one who lived to better it with her life.
Grandfather Jay
Amazon Review
James (Jay) Alan Hofer is a freelance writer originally from Akron, Ohio. Jay began his professional writing career in news and sports. For more than twelve years, he served as a correspondent (including a term as a regional editor) for Soccer America. Jay loves traveling the back roads of Ohio’s Amish Country and has been a frequent visitor to Southern Appalachia and the Great Smoky Mountains since 1999.
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