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Sky Of Stone
{{italic title ''Sky of Stone'' is the third in a trilogy of memoirs by Homer Hickam, Jr. about his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, that began with ''October Sky''. In ''Sky of Stone'', Hickam has gone off to college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. His mother, who is living separated from her husband in Myrtle Beach, contacts him and asks him to return home to Coalwood to help his father. He arrives to find his father, the mine superintendent, is being investigated by the coal company because of a fatal mining accident. After wrecking the family car the young Hickam needs to pay for the repairs, and he takes a job in the coal mine for the summer in a program set up by the United Mine Workers of America for college students. His father, who although he wanted to see his son grow up to be a mining engineer is fervently anti-union, and his mother, who swore her sons would never work in a coal mine, are both against this. He defies the wishes of his parents to take the j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homer Hickam, Jr
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. Homer's ''Iliad'' centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The ''Odyssey'' chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coalwood, West Virginia
Coalwood is an unincorporated coal town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The coal mine in Coalwood reached its peak in the 1950s and ceased production on October 1, 1986. As of the 1990 census—the last time the town was counted separately—the population was 900. The town is the setting of Homer Hickam's best-selling memoir ''Rocket Boys'', as well as its film adaptation, '' October Sky''. History Coalwood was founded by George Lafayette Carter in 1905. He came on the back of a mule and eventually found rich seams of coal, and bought 20,000 acres (80 km). He constructed a mine, calling it the Carter Coal Company and built offices, houses, a schoolhouse, the Carter Coal Company Store, a church and more. Carter hired a dentist and doctor to provide service to his miners. In 1922, Carter sold the mine and properties within the town to the Consolidation Coal Company. The company rebuilt the community and recruited new employees to work in the mines, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
October Sky (novel)
''October Sky '' is the first memoir in a series of four, by American engineer Homer Hickam Jr. originally published in 1998 as ''Rocket Boys''. Later editions were published under the title ''October Sky'' as a tie-in to the 1999 film adaptation. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boy's pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. The book won the W.D. Weatherford Award in 1998, the year of its release. Today, it is one of the most often picked community/library reads in the United States. It is also studied in many school systems around the world. ''October Sky'' was followed by '' The Coalwood Way'' (2000), ''Sky of Stone'' (2002), and '' Carrying Albert Home'' (2015). ''Rocket Boys'' was made into a film in 1999, titled ''October Sky'' (an anagram of "Rocket Boys"). Retrieved November ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regions statewide, a research center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and a study-abroad site in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. Through its Corps of Cadets ROTC program, Virginia Tech is a senior military college. Virginia Tech offers 280 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to some 34,400 students; as of 2015, it was the state's second-largest public university by enrollment. It manages a research portfolio of $522 million, placing it among the top 50 universities in the U.S. for total research expenditures, top 25 in computer and information sciences and top 10 in engineering, with the latter two the highest rankings in the state. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". VT has produced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its year-round population was 35,682 as of the 2020 census. Myrtle Beach is one of the major centers of tourism in South Carolina and the United States. The city's warm subtropical climate, miles of beaches, 86 golf courses, and 1,800 restaurants attract over 20 million visitors each year, making Myrtle Beach one of the most visited destinations in the country. Located along the historic King's Highway (modern U.S. Route 17), the region was once home to the Waccamaw people. During the colonial period, the Whither family settled in the area, and a prominent local waterway, Wither's Swash, is named in their honor. Originally called alternately "New Town" or "Withers", the area was targeted for development as a resort community by Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Mine Workers Of America
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada. Although its main focus has always been on workers and their rights, the UMW of today also advocates for better roads, schools, and universal health care. By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming, and there were only 60,000 active coal miners. The UMW was left with 35,000 members, of whom 20,000 were coal miners, chiefly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. However it was responsible for pensions and medical benefits for 40,000 retired miners, and for 50,000 spouses and dependents. The UMW was founded in Columbus, Ohio, on January 25, 1890, with the merger of two old labor groups, the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union.The Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caretta, West Virginia
Caretta is an unincorporated community located in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Caretta was named for the transposed syllables in the name of Mrs. Etta Carter, the wife of George Lafayette Carter.Homer Hickam, ''We Are Not Afraid: Strength and Courage for Our Nation from the Town of "October Sky"'', HCI, 2002, p. 15 It is the only place in the United States with this name. This coal town was originally owned first by The Virginia Pocahontas Coal Company, then by the Carter Coal Company, and the final operators in Caretta were the Consolidation Coal Company. Caretta is home to the Big Creek People in Action, an organization founded in 1990 by citizens of McDowell County in order to improve the local quality of life. The organization also boasts partnerships with numerous colleges, churches, and other groups who volunteer in the area. Caretta's coal mine was connected to the mine in nearby Coalwood, made famous in the book ''Rocket Boys''. The Carter Coal Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement"Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals" The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through . The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived from , an event that commemor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
October Sky
''October Sky'' is a 1999 American biographical drama film directed by Joe Johnston and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern. The screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on the memoir of the same name, tells the true story of Homer H. Hickam Jr., a coal miner's son who was inspired by the launch of '' Sputnik 1'' in 1957 to take up rocketry against his father's wishes and eventually became a NASA engineer. ''October Sky'' is based on the lives of four young men who grew up in Coalwood, West Virginia. Principal photography took place in rural East Tennessee, including Oliver Springs, Harriman and Kingston in Morgan and Roane counties. The film was a moderate box office success and received very positive critical reception; it continues to be celebrated in the regions of its setting and filming. Title ''October Sky'' is an anagram of '' Rocket Boys'', the title of the 1998 memoir upon which the film is based. It is also used in a period radio b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2001 Non-fiction Books
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by 2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following 0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Memoirs
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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