book: "Appalachia:  Spirit Triumphant" (a cultural odyssey of Appalachia)

My family is from Buchanan County, Virginia.  Their parents came to Virginia as early settlers from North Carolina and Tennessee.
We moved to Summersville, West Virginia when I was small so I attended public schools in West Virginia. 

I graduated from Nicholas County High School in Summersville, West Virginia and attended Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.  I graduated from Glenville State Teachers College where I served on one its advisory boards

I am  employed by the Nicholas County Board of Education.

Living so high in the mountains where you can nearly touch the stars by night and the clouds rest on the treetops by day, gives  life a new meaning daily.

Until my website and this book,  I spent  my free time as an Appalachian Artisan, specializing in textile arts; designing and making quilts, wall hangings and  flags with an Appalachian theme.

events of  interest:
Appalachian Studies Association presenter with Penny Loeb (Senior Editor, U.S. News and World Report) - March 2003 Eastern Kentucky University

Presenter: Akabiro, Hokkaido Providence, Japan, September 2003 International Mining Congress - my specialty:  An individual preserving regional history 

random reviews and endorsements of Appalachia: Spirit Triumphant

"This book is a must read for anyone trying to understand Appalachia from the inside out, B. L. Dotson-Lewis brings a fresh perspective and a deep understanding to a place she loves, yet portrays with all its weaknesses and strengths.  Jim Branscome's valuable 1977 "The Federal Government in Appalachia," topics reveal the many half-baked attempts to "improve" Appalachia, helping the reader understand the many lives Dotson-Lewis has lovingly documented.  These are personal stories of miners who endured horrible accidents and black lung, thoughts of doctors who treat them, memories of natives who fought the nation's wars and ideals of public servants who seek to make a better Appalachia.  All wrapped into a tender picture only a native could draw."

Penny Loeb
Senior Editor for U.S. News and World Report Magazine
Author of 1998 award winning article "Shear Madness"
Casey Medals Award Winner
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"Our mining heritage unites people from all backgrounds and continents.  It was a revelation in HoKKaido Province, Japan, to see B. L. Dotson-Lewis, a tall blonde beautiful West Virginia from the Appalachian Mountains, talking animatedly with small dark Japanese school children about their shared mining heritage.  It was a wonderful experience for those of us who concentrate perhaps far too much on the physical evidence rather than the shared collective memory."

Dr. Stuart B. Smith
International General Secretary TICCIH
The International Committee for the Industrial Heritage
5 Beacon Terrace, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14, 7BU
Presenter 2003 International Mining Congress - HoKKaido, Japan
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"B. L. Dotson-Lewis captured the reality of early Appalachian people in this book. She brings the great people of Appalachia to life.  Filled to the brim with words and pictures that celebrates the remarkable achievements of Appalachia, this is a book to relish and to share with our children.

Damon Hanshaw (Appalachian author)
Elementary School Principal
Dixie Elementary, Dixie, West Virginia
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"At long last the struggles, triumphs, charm, wisdom, and eloquence of Appalachia' native sons and daughters have been captured.
B. L. Dotson-Lewis transcends the reader into the dark, dusty coalmines, down to the hollows, and high on the mountain ridges.  One is soon suspended in these heart-tending stories that revive the human spirit.  As each character's story unfolds, the strength and unyielding fortitude of the Appalachian people sings as if from the weathered pages of an old hymnal.
Taking on the role of "Appalachia's Ambassador" Dotson-Lewis has, with the stroke of her pen, intertwined the past with the present to preserve for the future renditions of a heritage worthy of being titled "a tissue-wrapped treasure."
My personal note of thanks to B. L. Dotson-Lewis for her untiring efforts."

Barbara Crawford
Sixth Grade Teacher
Panther Creek Elementary, West Virginia
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"The passionate stories B. L. Dotson-Lewis presents are straight-from-the-heart and genuine.  Thanks to her efforts, real-life Appalachians finally have a voice."

Jefferson (Jeb) Brooks
Washington & Lee University Student (2004)
Independent Study of Southern Appalachian Coalfields