This even extends to our little celebration in April when clans from all over the nation get together and search for their inner hillbilly. This can be troubling for those of us who have no problem parading around in our “best” bibs, whilst imbibing some good homebrew, and generally “swangin’” around the town of Pikeville some.
Believe it or not, however, this is not the only instance in the history of “Hillbilly-dom” where the user of the term “hillbilly” has come to grief, and overcome the situation, I might add.
Over in the town of Richwood, West Virginia, there once lived a man by the name of Jim Comstock, a newspaper editor by trade, who published one of the best local newspapers ever in the history of our great land, “The West Virginia Hillbilly”. Mr. Comstock had a very well developed sense of humor for an editor. The motto for his paper? “A weakly (SIC) paper, edited by an editor who can’t write, for people who can’t read.”
The name “West Virginia Hillbilly” upset many within the Mountain State, what with its great motto “Montani Semper Liberi” or “Mountaineers are always free”. Many an appeal was made to Mr. Comstock to “please take that degrading name off your newspaper!” and at length Mr. Comstock acceded, and actually changed the name of his newspaper.
The very next edition of the “West Virginia Hillbilly” came out with a new title, Jim Comstock style. In small normal type at the top of the paper were the words “The Mountain Laurel, formerly”-and in its usual bold banner type-“The West Virginia Hillbilly.”
(“What?!? I changed it!”)
The intelligence of Jim Comstock showed through in every edition of his newspaper. He had fans all over the country, and as great as the outcry that brought about this mock name change was, the outcry over an actual name change would have drowned it out quite easily.
Jim Comstock was at ease at with who he was. He knew and loved his state of West Virginia, his town of Richwood, and its inhabitants. And he did not cower in the face of those who know nothing of the joys of being a hillbilly.
And I would suggest to all of you who are in town to celebrate with this great Hillbilly nation that you take heart as Jim Comstock did while he was alive, and own up to who you are. Do not let the Philistines cause you to forsake your heritage.
There are those whose butts are too tight to ever ease up and have a good time. If that is the case, let’s hope that they stay in whatever uptight state they may find themselves in. As for the rest of us, we’ll all be in Pikeville this week, enjoying being what God in his Wisdom made us to be, and what everybody sensible would want to be for a few glorious days in April-Hillbillies!
Believe it or not, however, this is not the only instance in the history of “Hillbilly-dom” where the user of the term “hillbilly” has come to grief, and overcome the situation, I might add.
Over in the town of Richwood, West Virginia, there once lived a man by the name of Jim Comstock, a newspaper editor by trade, who published one of the best local newspapers ever in the history of our great land, “The West Virginia Hillbilly”. Mr. Comstock had a very well developed sense of humor for an editor. The motto for his paper? “A weakly (SIC) paper, edited by an editor who can’t write, for people who can’t read.”
The name “West Virginia Hillbilly” upset many within the Mountain State, what with its great motto “Montani Semper Liberi” or “Mountaineers are always free”. Many an appeal was made to Mr. Comstock to “please take that degrading name off your newspaper!” and at length Mr. Comstock acceded, and actually changed the name of his newspaper.
The very next edition of the “West Virginia Hillbilly” came out with a new title, Jim Comstock style. In small normal type at the top of the paper were the words “The Mountain Laurel, formerly”-and in its usual bold banner type-“The West Virginia Hillbilly.”
(“What?!? I changed it!”)
The intelligence of Jim Comstock showed through in every edition of his newspaper. He had fans all over the country, and as great as the outcry that brought about this mock name change was, the outcry over an actual name change would have drowned it out quite easily.
Jim Comstock was at ease at with who he was. He knew and loved his state of West Virginia, his town of Richwood, and its inhabitants. And he did not cower in the face of those who know nothing of the joys of being a hillbilly.
And I would suggest to all of you who are in town to celebrate with this great Hillbilly nation that you take heart as Jim Comstock did while he was alive, and own up to who you are. Do not let the Philistines cause you to forsake your heritage.
There are those whose butts are too tight to ever ease up and have a good time. If that is the case, let’s hope that they stay in whatever uptight state they may find themselves in. As for the rest of us, we’ll all be in Pikeville this week, enjoying being what God in his Wisdom made us to be, and what everybody sensible would want to be for a few glorious days in April-Hillbillies!
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