Hailed in her native Campbell County, Tennessee, as “the Mother Teresa of the coal country,” Tilda Kemplen was a teacher, activist, and founder and executive director of Mountain Communities Child Care and Development Centers (MCCCDC). In recognition of her work on behalf of impoverished children and families in central Appalachia, Kemplen was presented in 1980 with the American Institute for Public Service’s Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefi ting Local Communities.

Kemplen movingly describes her struggles to educate herself, her years as a teacher in rural schools and mining camps, and the establishment of MCCCDC. The book is more, however, than a catalog of Kemplen’s accomplishments; it is a testament to the personal qualities that fueled them. Kemplen’s straightforward observations on her life and work offer unique insight into a range of issues related to Appalachian and Native American life and culture.