Literature Appetizer
Ben Kusserow
A Northern Appalachian's Journey

Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.

Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.

The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.

A Northern Appalachian's Journey
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Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan: Literature Appetizer

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Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan: Literature Appetizer

I learned to read much later than than expected. Part “I was good at faking it” and part “teacher about to retire just let me play and not do any work in second grade.” Third grade started my long journey with despising the act of reading. It wasn’t until Grad School that I started to enjoy the books and articles that were assigned to me.

One of the things my mom said to me growing up was “Ben, you don’t hate reading. You just haven’t found the right book.” Non-fiction books discussing nature fascinate me. I’m reading a book at the moment about all the habitats in the world, and that is a more gripping read to me than any classic I read in high school. But just as you shouldn’t stick to one genre of music, I thought I should expand what I was reading when I bought Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan.

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron: Literature Appetizer

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron: Literature Appetizer

On the last day of our ten day hike through the North Cascades, we decided to finish with a sunrise. Our last night on the trail we made sure to set everything up clearly so when we went to pack it in the morning, nothing would be misplaced.

Waking up at 3am, we walked slowly through the forest, up the mountain, and ascended just as the sun was rising. As much as this sounds like a fairy tale, we also could have been in significant danger. Yes, there are the usual risks such as dehydration or twisting an ankle, but we were also in mountain lion territory. As a corpuscular hunter, we were walking at the exact time they love to hunt. To mitigate being a cat’s meal, we made sure to always be within eyesight of one another as well as talk (or sing) loudly.

Dinosaurs by Michael J. Benton: Literature Appetizer

Dinosaurs by Michael J. Benton: Literature Appetizer

My parents have often joked that I grew up backwards. As a child I was quiet, serious, and always followed the rules without question. I often scolded my classmates for not doing what they were supposed to. As I have grown, I have found expressed my passion for certain subjects more and more. One of the most prominent things I get excited about is dinosaurs.

How could you not get excited about dinosaurs?

Nature: The Stories We Tell, and Don't

Nature: The Stories We Tell, and Don't

Recently, my father wrote a book. It is a great dive into questioning how we think about the Gospel. “The Gospel is the story we tell about Jesus and the Good News” is one of the main arguments in his book. Stories change overtime, depending on the teller and listeners. I do not have the authority to speak on the Gospel, but I have studied another topic that is just a story we tell; nature.

When I say nature is a story, I don’t mean that the trees don’t exist. I don’t mean that the mountains formed over millions of years because we needed a good backdrop for a picture. What I mean is the way we describe our relationship to the rest of the living organisms on this planet reflects our values and mindsets as a society.

This isn’t a new idea, and I first heard some of these ideas when I was in school. But this isn’t going to be an academic deep dive. I want to tell you exactly what I said to my co worker when we entered this room earlier this month.

Our Home, Our Rules

Our Home, Our Rules

One of my favorite experiences in teaching was “nature time,” as my students called it. Myself and a few other staff would take our students into a safe place in the woods. I would gather all the kids and say “There are two rules for the next hour. 1) Do not harm any living thing. 2) You must always be able to see a staff member. Now go!”

Often, kids would sit their stunned…unsure of what to do. It would take about 10 minutes for students to realize they had time to just play, as long as they were safe about it. Sometimes kids would just chat, thankful to be able to relax. Sometimes they would build forts. One time I had a gaggle of students come back with only a smile not covered in mud.

This freedom is the basis of Home Rule, and I think it can be used to fight the Climate Crisis.

Soul Full of Coal Dust by Chris Hamby: Literature Appetizer

Soul Full of Coal Dust by Chris Hamby: Literature Appetizer

Back in 2019, I showcased a book called Ramp Hollow: the Ordeal of Appalachia. One of the key messages of that book is the people living here have had their land, their homes, their lives taken from them countless times. It is truly the spirit of Appalachia to recover from unthinkable tragedies over and over again.

In Soul Full of Coal Dust, Chris Hamby illustrates that even the lungs of miners are up for grabs. After years of working in the mines, coal miners couldn’t get the legal help they needed to survive. This story is one of a community of people, from out of state lawyers to long time coal miners, to give the miners the support they desperately need.

Finding the Mother Tree by Dr. Suzanne Simard

Finding the Mother Tree by Dr. Suzanne Simard

“Survival of the fittest,” is the foundation of the Darwinian Evolutionary Theory. The weakest don’t have as many opportunities to pass along their genes, causing them to become extinct. But does ‘fittest’ have to mean competition?

Humanity has only been able to achieve civilization by working together. Cooperation often leads to the advancement of our species, rather than its downfall. Would that strategy work with other organisms? More than just small levels of symbiotic relationships; can non-humans make complex, cooperative networks?

The Ocean is on Fire

The Ocean is on Fire

Recently, a fire broke out in the waters outside the Yucatan Peninsula. While news sources will get into specifics, “it was the Pemex oil company responding to a gas leak,” many were horrified at the mere idea of the ocean catching fire. Some compared the fire to the Cuyahoga River fire, and how we can fix it by working together.

Honestly, I’m not worried about these ‘big flashy problems.’ Like the Cuyahoga River fires, the solution is simple; stop polluting in a certain area. I’m more worried about the slow, gradual changes in the Climate Crisis. The question isn’t whether the crisis is here. The question is what are we going to do, since it has already arrived.