True Stories About Southern Appalachia:  Past and Present

Our Living Heritage is dedicated to Cleo Edwards, Howard Burleson, Max Hopson, Garrett Hopson, Gladys Campbell, Dewey Barnett, and Garland Hughes whose lives were mountains I have stood upon. 

There are several reasons for the vitality of Joslin's reporting.  First of all, what he writes about is real, and nothing proves the present so much as reality itself.  We know that Joslin has seen the places he describes and has talked to the fascinating people that populate his pieces.  (excerpt from Foreward by Robert J. Higgs, Professor Emeritus, East Tennessee State University)

Pieces of the Past, Wilder Mine, Stanley Cover, Herbal Teas, Christmas Past, Iron Mountain Gap, Orchard at Altapass, Jeffress Park, Banner Elk, NC, Edgar Tufts, Banner Elk Hotel, Elk Park, NC, Eseeola, Bakersville Courthouse Ghost, Charles McKinney, and Joe Willis are just a few of the people and places in Our Living Heritage.

These are tales and photographs that show how hard work and faith in well-worn ways have preserved a worthy, rewarding way of life.