A Long Row to Hoe

1992 signed and inscribed first edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation (Ashland, Kentucky), 6 1/8 x 9 3/8 inches tall red cloth hardbound in publisher's unclipped dust jacket, gilt lettering to spine, illustrated, 285 pp. Covers very slightly rubbed and edgeworn. Signed and inscribed by the author on the blank front free-endpaper, with a gift inscription to the prior owner from a friend below this. Otherwise, a very good copy - clean, bright and unmarked. Due to the weight of the book, additional postage will be required for standard international orders. ~N~ Billy Curtis Clark (1928 - 2009) was an American author of 11 books and many poems and short stories, heavily influenced by his native Kentucky. This is his autobiography of his astonishing primitive river bank childhood in Catlettsburg, Kentucky at the junction of the Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers. Clark was a member of a sprawling, ragged family. His father was an intelligent, fiddle-playing shoemaker with little formal education. His mother often took in washing to help provide food for the family. The boy grew up in a derelict house, 'The Leaning Tower,' on the banks of the Ohio River. Always hungry, often dirty, and without sufficient clothing, he led an adventurous life on the two rivers, swimming, fishing and salvaging flotsam from the frequent floods. Billy was the only one of his family to seek an education, and through his traps, his river salvage, and odd jobs, he earned money to put himself through school. His final chapter ends with a powerful account of his parent's pride at his graduation.…