One to One with Bill Goodman:
Fontaine Banks Jr./Sidney Saylor Farr
premiered November 23, 2008
The authors of two recent Eastern Kentucky memoirs sit down for separate conversations about their lives in and out of Appalachia on this edition of One to One with Bill Goodman. Fontaine Banks Jr. discusses Memoirs of a Political Legend, and Sidney Saylor Farr talks about My Appalachia: A Memoir.
Banks, whose memoir chronicles his 50-year political career in Frankfort, discusses his family history in Eastern Kentucky, his education at Berea College, and his service as chief of staff for former governors Bert Combs and Ned Breathitt. He walks Bill through a typical day as chief of staff and talks about important programs initiated during his time in Frankfort. Banks also mentions some special moments, including meeting Martin Luther King Jr.
Farr’s My Appalachia was named Book of the Year by the Appalachian Writer’s Association. The memoir tells her story of growing up in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky, where her devotion to family led her to accept crushing responsibilities that steered her away from her own goals. Farr confesses that unearthing painful memories for the book was no easy task. She also talks about some of the other books she’s written, including Appalachian Women: An Annotated Bibliography; More Than Moonshine: Appalachian Recipes and Recollections, a narrative cookbook; and What Tom Sawyer Learned from Dying, which vividly describes a man’s near-death experience.
