Shovelful of Sunshine Author Stacie V. Hutton Assists Coal Miners' Families
(PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- In her award winning children’s book “Shovelful of Sunshine," author Stacie V. Hutton utilized as her source material letters written by coal miners to their families to pen a story of hope and inspiration, showing a young girl’s pride in her father's job as a brave coal miner. Now, she wants to help those mining families before it’s too late.
Since writing the book, Hutton says she’s met hundreds of miners and their families throughout Appalachia who feel that their way of life and means to support them are being taken away by a misinformed, one-size-fits-all war on coal. “One of the main reasons I wrote “Shovelful of Sunshine" is that young people today need a more fair representation of coal mining and miners than what they tend to see and hear today,” says Hutton.
“Growing up in Southern Ohio, I’ve long had a sense that the rest of the country has a very skewed view on mining and miners based on decades of mostly negative coverage from the national media. As I dug deeper in the story of miners and miners' families, I learned a lot that surprised even me. For example, most of the millions of dollars of funding and manpower for the environmental groups that make the news come from DC lobbying firms, while it’s actually the local miners and their families who truly do the most for the environment there in their own backyards, usually with the full support of the mine operators."
Hutton also believes that the miners, and to a large degree, the companies they work for, are actually very responsive to environmental concerns; mining reclamation is so well done today that it’s often impossible to tell where mines once were.
"But these mine operators are being hamstrung by far too stringent regulations," says Hutton, "which result in layoffs in the industry brought about by the White House and EPA’s war on coal, which is devastating miner’s families and the businesses in these mining communities. Eventually, I worry that they’ll lose their will to fight the good fight.”
Hutton has joined forces with coal mining family advocates Linda Dials, a West Virginia miner’s wife who was profiled extensively by CNN’s Soledad O’Brian for the networks “Battle For Blair Mountain”, and mining engineer Kristi Jeffrey, a respected mining engineer and a 4th generation coal industry family member who is part of advocacy group 'Friends and Families for Coal,' which gained notoriety by sending coal to the White House at Christmas.
Hutton, Dials and Jeffrey together assert that:
- Most media coverage has tainted public opinion negatively about coal and coal mining for decades with shoddy reporting and unchecked facts from environmental lobbyists
- Most environmental activists don’t actually live anywhere near coal country, and some are even secretly being paid to come to the area to stage protests for the cameras
- Miners, both union and non-union, feel that the failure to educate the rest of the country about coal’s benefits and how most mining operations are very responsible to environmental concerns is slowly destroying the industry and their way of life
- They have pledged to help bring attention to the plight of miners and their families, and to support their efforts when possible at grass roots events
Hutton’s book, an Amazon #1 best seller, has received several prestigious literary awards, including a Gold Mom's Choice Award for Best in Children's Motivational Inspirational Books, Indie Book Award Finalist in the Best Juvenile Fiction category, an International Book Award Finalist for Best Children's Book: Mind/Body/Spirit category and a Hollywood Book Festival Honorable Mention for Best Children's Book.
New York Times #1 best selling author and long-time miner’s advocate Homer Hickam says “Shovelful of Sunshine" is “...a delightful book about a coal miner's young daughter which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a thoughtful story that is also superbly illustrated.”
Pulitzer Prize nominee Lynn Salsi says, “This book will engender classroom and family discussions about the importance of family sticking together and of American communities engaged in work, as it is both historical and educational.”
“Shovelful of Sunshine” is published by Headline Kids (http://www.headlinekids.com) a division of Headline Books, a West Virginia based publisher.
Author Stacie Hutton was born in West Virginia and grew up in southeastern Ohio. She is a former teacher and currently serves as a university trustee and designs apps for mobile devices and desktop computers. She is the author of 'American History Detective,' 'Jr. Social Studies Investigator,' and 'Was it Possible?'. Her picture book, 'Shovelful of Sunshine', uses words from a coal miner's farewell letter to his family. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and children.
Hutton, Jeffrey and Dials are available for interview requests.
Jessica Lloyd, Allen Media Strategies LLC, +1 (703) 589-8960, [email protected]
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