The Lamentations of an Old Hillbilly: A Collection of Poems, Recipes and Stories of How Faith Guided My Life.

By Gene Ladd

Gene demonstrates from his own life that while events appear disasterous, in faith unseen events are preparing a desirable outcome. The book is based on a Bible verse that says once you put your hand to the plow, if you look back you are not worth of the kingdom. Gene has emerged from every challenge in his life in a blessed place only because of his faith, not his own devices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982255916

Gene Ladd

Gene Ladd is from the mountains of Western North Carolina. He was born in a two-room tarpaper shack with no plumbing or electricity. In his 85 years he has been a cook, an evangelist, an actor, a radio/TV personality in New York City, a delimeister, owner of a health food store, an herbalist and a meditation and energy healing coach, devoted husband and father on his way becoming a poet. He writes about life in the mountains and the lives of the children of Appalachia, the people country singers sing about.

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Copyright © 2020 Gene Ladd.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version

(Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic

Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5590-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5589-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5591-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919088

Balboa Press rev. date:   10/19/2020

Dedications

HANK, LEFTY, ROY, Ray, Eddie, Ernest, Bill, Kitty, Minnie and Grandpa, Willie and Paul, Waylon and Jesse, the Johnnies, the Georges, Merle, Ferlin, Buck, Ray, Roger, Patsy, Brenda, Porter, Jim, Sonny, Dolly, the Marties, Emmylou, Loretta, Crystal, Allison, Elvis, Tricia and Garth, Jerry Lee and Jerry Jeff, Dwight, Blake, Eric, Luke, Charlie P and Charlie D, Bobby, Vince, Kris and Chris, Tanya, the Jeannies, Jean, Dottie and Jan, Tom T, Randy, Ronnie, Rodney and Rosanne, Joey and Rory, Kathy, Connie, Bonnie, Doc, Lester and Earl, Lady A and Little Big Town, Toby, Rickey, Alan, the Carters, Alabama, the Oaks, the Isaacs, the Whites, the Goodmans and the Chuck Wagon Gang.

The pickers, producers, writers and technicians who capture the sounds that chronicle our Hillbilly experience.

The bootleggers, distillers, brewers and bartenders who keep us half crazy for half our lives. And finally, all the evangelists and preachers who bring us to the only answer to a life of joy and happiness for the second half.

Contents

The Bull Mountain Shack

The Green Tree

WWII

Oakley

Atlanta

Coming of Age

Rome

You Are In the Army Now

WTFM

No More DJ

The Story of Pleasant Stone Farm

Life After Radio

Pleasant Stone Farm, the Store

The Best Laid Plans

The Final Mountain is the Steepest

Roaming Home

Foreword

"No man having put his hand to the plow,

and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven"

Luke 9:62

This is not my autobiography or a memoir. The autobiographical accounts ahead are events that demonstrate how faith will see us through no matter how bleak the circumstances may appear. When our dreams and goals appear to be falling apart, if we keep our hand to the plow our lives will be enriched in ways we never expected.

Keep your hand on the plow and your eyes on the row,

Otherwise who knows where your plow will go.

Hillbilly - : a person from a backwoods area

Synonyms: bumpkin, chawbacon, churl, clodhopper, cornball, countryman, hayseed, hick, provincial, rube, rustic, yokel

Antonyms: cosmopolitan, cosmopolite, sophisticate

Webster and most other sources of accepted definitions will tell you that hillbilly is derogatory and an insult indicating a person is socially backward and without sophistication. Those of us who choose to be known as a hillbilly, believe it has a much different meaning. We believe that a hillbilly has survival skills and resourcefulness that only comes from being born and raised close to the earth. To us city slicker is derogatory indicating a person has little or no common sense and few if any survival skills. We often find city slickers to be caught up in meaningless nonsense, and often we think they are phony bologna. You can’t eat sophistication. We feel that our poverty was a blessing that forced us to cooperate with the natural cycles of life and nature. We feel that we know our Creator in the simplicity of life and that if we treat Mother Earth with respect she will take care of our physical needs. Waste and gluttony are sins. Generosity is rewarded. We believe that if we help our neighbors they will help us when we need them.

The term hillbilly was first recorded in the 1800s. It referred to people from the hills of Southern Appalachia. It was well establish in the idiom during the Great Depression. Generally it referred to people from the hills. The hills being the Blue Ridge, Smoky and Appalachian Mountains including the Alleghenies and smaller chains like the Swannanoa. They were welcomed to the campsites because they were industrious workers, good cooks and musicians. Hillbillies could make do with meager resources. Above all they were quick to share the little they had with the less fortunate. They had strong faith and believed there was a blessing in every situation no matter how challenging it might be. Their grit is part of the DNA of those of us who proudly proclaim ourselves to be hillbillies today. We tend to have a low opinion of sophisticated cosmopolitans.

In reality most of us have become sophisticated cosmopolitans, but we cling to our heritage in anyway we can. The two most often used ways to cling to our past are food and music. We are a subculture. We