THE OA is proud to showcase an exclusive glimpse into Scott McClanahan's forthcoming book, CRAPALACHIA: A BIOGRAPHY OF A PLACE, a Two Dollar Radio title due to be released on March 19th. Our serial previews will be posted in monthly installments leading up to the book's publication! Click here for our interview with McClanahan. Pre-orders of CRAPALACHIA are available now.

"A firefighter cannot be a coward. He can be a lot of things, a prick, a thief, a liar, but he cannot be a coward."

My father had been working at the paper for several years when a young, black woman came into the office to place an announcement of her engagement. My father conferred with the editor, who left the decision up to him. He told the woman that he would not print the story until other newspapers would also print such news. More than fifty years later, he still regrets his answer.

Smut Milligan’s filling station was about fifteen feet off from Lover’s Lane and it was sunk down a little below the level of the road. It was a wooden building, painted yellow, and had a tin roof…. He had a lot of merchandise in it; as much as there is in a general country store. But he sold more liquor than anything else.

So much of the information I provided has been embellished, distorted and fabricated. Please allow me to say that, to the best of my recollection, these pages strike me as one of the most unprofessional pieces of writing I’ve seen in some 35 years of a publishing, editing, writing and communications consulting career.