The longstanding narrative surrounding Kentucky, which entails rampant Kentucky drug use and poverty, has provided easy and injurious stereotypes. Some cynically opportunistic natives have melded these tired tropes into highly profitable books and personal gain.
Thankfully, Wendell Berry is not J.D. Vance. In contrast, Berry’s work is a paean to Kentucky’s natural beauty and its inhabitants’ work ethic, grit, and resilience that embraces and affirms rather than scolds its denizens.
His literary gifts opened doors to prestigious fellowships at Stanford and through the Guggenheim Foundation, with an early stint on the NYU faculty, but Berry identified as a farming Kentuckian. His family had farmed in his native Henry County for five generations, and he and wife Tanya continued the legacy when they bought 11 acres in 1965 (the homestead would eventually grow to 117 acres).
Amid this pastoral backdrop, he became a prolific author, producing 25 books of poetry, 24 volumes of essays, and more than a dozen novels and short-story anthologies. He also became an outspoken peace and justice advocate, opposing war, coal- and nuclear-power plants, the death penalty, and myriad other causes.
His writing has earned Berry a National Humanities Medal, which President Obama bestowed in 2010, as well as membership in the National Academy of Arts and Letters and the first living scribe to be inducted into the Kentucky Writers’ Hall of Fame in 2015.
Yet, he is unknown to many in the Bluegrass State. If you asked Kentuckians to name a famous native or former resident of their state, you’d more likely hear Harlan “Colonel” Sanders, Ashley Judd, or, until earlier this year, John Calipari.
The
Library of America (LOA), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the works of esteemed American writers, and Edwin C. Matthews, a prominent civil-rights and environmental lawyer who’s an avid fan of Mr. Berry’s writing, hope to change that.
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Max Rudin, president and publisher, The Library of America.For more than 40 years, LOA has strived to, according to president and publisher Max Rudin, “publish authoritative new volumes of great American writers … keeping the multivocal, democratic spirit of our literary heritage a vital part of the culture.”
The nearly 400 volumes published to date in the Library of America series are widely available in bookstores and online. Every year, through the support of its members and donors, LOA publishes 2,000 books and distributes them to school libraries, in classrooms in underfunded schools, and military bases to expose impactful writers to a broader swath of society.
Rudin believes the works LOA publishes helps connect an increasingly fractured population: “It’s a powerful reminder of our shared experiences and aspirations, including promises fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled. However much we may disagree, it’s a heritage that has shaped who we are and still binds us together.”
Matthews approached LOA about publishing Berry’s work to honor his 90
th birthday, which occurred on August 5. He’s a native of Idaho, which although the topographic polar opposite of Kentucky, he shared Berry’s deep connection to the natural world and a sense of place. And, as a lawyer who was pro-environment and anti-death penalty, Matthews shared his social consciousness.
“For me, his writing represents having the integrity to follow your own views, regardless of the criticism you may encounter,” Matthews said. “Language is crucial to human civilization. We can’t lose great works of writing without losing our cultural identity.”
Matthews noted that Berry’s writing not only speaks lovingly about nature, but also about how everyone needs and deserves to benefit from it. Clean water isn’t just a scientifically defensible idea, it’s a moral obligation. He’s someone who has decided to live a gospel of mindfulness, doing the best he can and living true to his principles.
To honor Berry’s literary legacy and its impact, Matthews will have books of Berry’s essays donated to 202 public libraries spread across all of Kentucky’s 120 counties. The four volumes, all edited by Jack Shoemaker and published by LOA, include:
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Wendell Berry Volume 1 Essays, 1993-2017- Essays 1969–1990
- Essays 1993–2017
- Port William Novels & Stories: The Civil War to World War II
- Port William Novels & Stories: The Postwar Years
Morgan Lockard, manager of the Ft. Thomas-Carrico branch of the Campbell County Public Library, is a Wendell Berry fan: “Having grown up in southeastern Kentucky in the Cumberland mountains, my family has been solidly Appalachian for generations. Wendell Berry has been a voice for protecting the natural landscapes of Kentucky and was involved with many activist movements.”
She continued, “His work is a great starting ground for any Kentuckian to understand our past [and] inform opinions on our present and future. I have always enjoyed Berry’s ability to draw you into a place, his descriptions of nature, and his passion for the causes he believes in.”
Lockard appreciates the opportunity that providing such valuable donated resources provides an opportunity to remind library patrons of the availability of traditional and new-generation resources: “Our role and function [includes] a large gamut of services -- computers and technology training, meeting and study spaces, and educational programs that serve an array of interest and ages. We are often sought out as a reliable information source of information [within] a safe space.”