Canary In The Coal Mine

One doctor's courageous fight to save a small town from a silent epidemic that threatened the community's future--and exposed a national health crisis. When Dr. Will Cooke, an idealistic young physician just out of medical training, set up practice in the small rural community of Austin, Indiana, he had no idea that much of the town was being torn apart by poverty, addiction, and life-threatening illnesses. But he soon found himself at the crossroads of two unprecedented health-care disasters: a national opioid epidemic and the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever seen in rural America. Confronted with Austin's hidden secrets, Dr. Cooke decided he had to do something about them. In taking up the fight for Austin's people, however, he would have to battle some unanticipated foes: prejudice, political resistance, an entrenched bureaucracy--and the dark despair that threatened to overwhelm his own soul. Canary in the Coal Mine is a gripping account of the transformation of a man and his adopted community, a compelling and ultimately hopeful read in the vein of Hillbilly Elegy, Dreamland, and Educated.

Bitty is a canary whose courage more than makes up for his diminutive size. Of course, as a miner bird who detects deadly gas leaks in a West Virginia coal mine during the Depression, he is used to facing danger. Tired of perilous working conditions, he escapes and hops a coal train to the state capital to seek help in improving the plights of miners and their canaries. In the tradition of E.B. White, George Selden, and Beverly Cleary's Ralph S. Mouse, Madelyn Rosenberg has written a singular novel full of unforgettable characters.

Travel back to an era during the 1940's and early 1950's and experience life in a coal camp located in Southwest Virginia, As seen through the eyes of a young boy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Gentry ( Frankie ). Be a witness to the trials and tribulations, the joys and heartaches, and meet the unforgettable characters who contrbuted to the close-knit environment of the times.It's a story of life and death, happiness and sorrow, but most of all, it's a story of love.

Continue to follow the journey of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Gentry (Frankie) through joys, trials, and heartaches as he comes of age in a Southwest Virginia coal camp during the 1950's in the sequel to Canary in a Coal Mine. Frankie's friends, family, and occasional adversaries all come together to help him navigate the twists and turns of growing up in the uneasy times of coal mine closings, miner strikes, and new opportunities. His story will surely resonate not only with those who populated coal mining communities but others who experienced life in rural America. Bob L. Hayes grew up in the coal-rich Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and attended the schools included in this novel. He later worked for the FBI during the reign of J. Edgar Hoover and served as the chief financial officer for two colleges in North Carolina. He completed this novel just weeks before his death in 2011 at the age of 70.

One doctor's courageous fight to save a small town from a silent epidemic that threatened the community's future--and exposed a national health crisis. When Dr. Will Cooke, an idealistic young physician just out of medical training, set up practice in the small rural community of Austin, Indiana, he had no idea that much of the town was being torn apart by poverty, addiction, and life-threatening illnesses. But he soon found himself at the crossroads of two unprecedented health-care disasters: a national opioid epidemic and the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever seen in rural America. Confronted with Austin's hidden secrets, Dr. Cooke decided he had to do something about them. In taking up the fight for Austin's people, however, he would have to battle some unanticipated foes: prejudice, political resistance, an entrenched bureaucracy--and the dark despair that threatened to overwhelm his own soul. Canary in the Coal Mine is a gripping account of the transformation of a man and his adopted community, a compelling and ultimately hopeful read in the vein of Hillbilly Elegy, Dreamland, and Educated.