Lackey, whose maiden name is Herndon, won first prize at the West Virginia Writers annual contest in 1997. The book is currently in its second printing.
Lackey was born and raised in the Buffalo Creek area. She married Dave "Bud" Herndon and moved to Summersville. She later started writing books, with Ghosts as her first.
"I began seriously writing when my children were in high school," Lackey said. "I took classes, writing workshops, et cetera, and my short stories were becoming published in literary magazines and winning prizes."
Ed Davis, a creative writing professor at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio, called Ghosts "a powerful, moving story."
"While there have been numerous books, both fiction and nonfiction, written on the Buffalo Creek, West Virginia disaster of 1972 that destroyed fifteen towns and killed 125 people, Ghosts on Buffalo Creek is the only one I’ve read about the psychological and spiritual aftermath. Through Lackey’s fully-realized characters and plot I come to know and care deeply about the wounded survivors of a terrible tragedy," Davis said in his review. "Ultimately, Ghosts is less about the historical tragedy it’s based on than it is about the universal process of grieving losses and moving on; in other words, about growing up."
Ghosts on Buffalo Creek (2nd Edition, SegBooks, 2007, $12.00), now in its second edition, is available by calling Joyce Lackey at 304-846-9492, by e-mailing her at airflower_99@ yahoo.com or writing her at:
Joyce Lackey
P.O. Box 107
Richwood, WV 26261
There will also be copies of the book available for sale at McCormick's in Logan and at the signing at the Logan Library tomorrow at 5.
Post a Comment
