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Carla Rising

What happens when greed rules?

Carla Rising
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‘Every time I think about this,
it gets me mad’

Carla Rising Posted on January 5, 2016 by Topper_SherwoodSeptember 6, 2016

This is my own, personal story about the everyday power of the US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), a very old organization that has been lobbying for the US gun-manufacturing industry in Washington since 1975. As a young … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | 2 Replies

German workers vote to strike
Amazon through Christmas

Carla Rising Posted on December 21, 2015 by Topper_SherwoodApril 2, 2016

I know this probably doesn’t do Carla Rising’s otherwise “excellent” relationship with Amazon any favors, but here’s a translation of the latest news from the proud, noble German newspaper, the Thuringer Allgemeine. (Check to see if the Washington Post has … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

Blankenship verdict:
Progress or ‘business as usual’?

Carla Rising

This week, a US jury handed its verdict to the chief executive who’d been accused of health and safety violations in connection with a deadly coal-mine accident in West Virginia. Donald L. Blankenship, CEO of the Massey Energy Company, was … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Media Commentary | Tagged Coal_Industry, Fraud, Justice | 2 Replies

The Blankenship criminal case and the history
of coal-industry rule in Appalachia

Carla Rising Posted on November 8, 2015 by Topper_SherwoodFebruary 19, 2016

I finished a first draft of Carla Rising in April 2010, just as we received news of a deadly mine disaster in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The accident at the Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 men working about 300 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Environment, History writing, Media Commentary, Poverty | Leave a reply

US Politics and News as Entertainment

Carla Rising  

Sometime after the 2008 election, I decided it was easy for me NOT to click on anything that tried to entice me with text or images of ‘Sarah Palin‘ — the unsuccessful 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, who left politics … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

The New ‘Melting Pot’

Carla Rising

In November 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, I called all the magazine editors for whom I’d ever written, and told them I was going to Berlin. One of the publications that gave me an assignment was The Chronicle … Continue reading →

Give it a chance….

Carla Rising Posted on September 3, 2015 by Topper_SherwoodSeptember 4, 2016

Today, I’m inspired by this 1969 recording of an interview that a brave and curious 14-year-old, Jerry Levitan, conducted with John Lennon, of the Beatles. It reminds me of the reason I wrote Carla Rising. Levitan asks Lennon why he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in History writing | Tagged Blue America, Carla Rising, John Lennon, Peace, Red America, Topper Sherwood | Leave a reply

Ten surprising lessons
from Carla Rising

A good bit of the action in Carla Rising really happened in the United States, in the 1920s.  Some of the resource material came from The West Virginia Mine Wars: An Anthology, by David Corbin.  I helped David get Mine Wars into print in 1991.

Here are some things I learned about the Battle of Blair Mountain since the 1990s: Continue reading →

John Brown’s Raid:
A New Historical Interpretation (Video)

Carla Rising

In his West Virginia: A History for Beginners, John Alexander Williams carefully explains to young readers how social scientists gather evidence, make reasonable inferences from that evidence, and then interpret the information they have before them. People come up with … Continue reading →

Posted in History writing | Tagged Battle of Blair Mountain, Black History, Black resistance to slavery, Carla Rising, Hannah Geffert, Harpers Ferry, historical research, John Alexander Williams, John Brown's Raid, John Stauffer, Louis Massiah, Scribe Video Center, slave rebellion, slavery, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Topper Sherwood, West Virginia: A History for Beginners | 1 Reply

Writing and Publishing
History in West Virginia

Carla Rising Posted on July 26, 2015 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 6, 2018

For more than 20 years before moving to Berlin, I was a freelance writer and publisher in my home state of West Virginia. As I pitched and sold stories to US magazines, I published West Virginia: A History for Beginners … Continue reading →

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What next?

Carla Rising Posted on December 13, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodDecember 13, 2018

As we watch Trump’s closest legal counselor marched off to serve a three-year prison term, the world wakes up this morning with the understanding that the president of the United States is the oligarch of an international criminal enterprise. Aside … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Tagged Justice, Trump | Leave a reply

On Language & Literature:
A little history
of Technological Aesthetics

Carla Rising Posted on December 8, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodDecember 8, 2018

The tone and form of newspaper headlines, the copy-editor’s headline-writing style still in practice today, was developed for fast, efficient, and practical use of the telegraph machine, after 1850. Most US telegrams, back then, were fewer than 15 words. Fast-forward … Continue reading →

Posted in History writing, Journalism, Media Commentary, Publishing, Writing & Publishing | Leave a reply

From the Archive: Introduction
to a Community Discussion Guide

Carla Rising Posted on September 4, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodSeptember 9, 2018

This is the Introduction to a community Discussion Guide 
for West Virginia: A Film History  As Lon Savage suggests, there are many wonderful reasons for West Virginians — or other Americans, for that matter — to take interest in history … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, History writing, Labor History, Media Commentary, Topper Sherwood, US history, West Virginia | Tagged history, History writing | Leave a reply

United Mind Workers: Vision & Mission

Carla Rising Posted on August 28, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 31, 2018

This is related to my next fiction. (cc) Topper Sherwood VISION STATEMENT Labor in the future is better because Intellectual Workers are organized. Teachers, politicians, actors, journalists, and other members of ‘Intellectual Labor’ are recognized for serving society (here or … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, History writing, Intellectual Labor, Journalism, Labor, Publishing, Utopian Society, Writing & Publishing | Tagged Intellectual Labor, Intellectual Workers, Labor history, Media, Social Networks, Utopian Society | Leave a reply

Mary Lee Settle (1918-2005)

Carla Rising Posted on August 26, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 26, 2018

The thing that impressed me most about the writer Mary Lee Settle (1918-2005) was her intellect — in the questions she chose to pursue and the all-fulfilling ways she pursued them. When she spoke to us in Charleston, for example, … Continue reading →

Posted in Publishing, US history, West Virginia, Writing & Publishing | Tagged Mary Lee Settle, Norman Mailer, PEN-Faulkner Award for Fiction | Leave a reply

A Small East-West Fiction

Carla Rising Posted on August 14, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 14, 2018

“Why do you do that?” she asked him. “Do what?” “You call something ‘the best-ever.’ ” “Do I?” “A lot.” He thought about it. “I guess because it’s a popular expression. In English,” he shrugged. “In American, you mean,” she … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary, Writing & Publishing | Tagged #advertising | Leave a reply

Lessons of the 20th Century
(Journalism)

Carla Rising Posted on August 8, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 8, 2018

I “came up” as a journalist in Charleston, West Virginia (pop: 72,000, then), first working for a newspaper, the Charleston Gazette. I fell in love with the Gazette and the people there, because it exhibited more daily integrity than any … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Publishing, US history, Writing & Publishing | Tagged #integrity, #Journalism, @wvgazettemail | Leave a reply

Origins of Anti-Semitism in Europe:
‘A New Hypothesis’

Carla Rising Posted on June 26, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodJune 26, 2018

Origins of Modern Anti-Semitism: ‘A New Hypothesis’ “(T)he great outburst of anti-Semitism in Western Europe in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300) and, carrying over into the Later Middle Ages (1300-1500) and into modern times, was due not so much to … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Fascism, Judaism, Media Commentary | Tagged Europe, Fascism, history, Judaism | Leave a reply

This says it….

Carla Rising Posted on June 13, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodJune 13, 2018

… Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

In this Age of Viral Tyranny….

Carla Rising Posted on June 10, 2018 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 1, 2018

I. In this age of Trumpish tyrants, too many of us live and work in places where someone else — boss or client — is neither partner nor comrade, but “king.” Where we’re obligated, (for form’s sake) to take the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary, Resistance, Sustainability, Writing & Publishing | Tagged poetry, technology and society | Leave a reply

What People Are Saying...

"Carla Rising will lure many readers into imagining what it would have been like to have been part of the struggles (for change)....likely to engage both your thoughts about history and your emotions about this intense conflict."
— Paul Nyden, Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail

"Very strong first novel from Topper Sherwood.... Sherwood's writing gave me a real feel for the landscape of West Virginia, as well as the landscape of the times. I'll eagerly read anything else he writes."
— Catherine in L.A.

"Carla Rising left me entertained and curious — so curious, in fact, that I did a lot more research into the U.S. mine wars; the book captured the time period very well."
— Forbes writer Ken Silverstein

"I read Carla Rising twice. Enjoyed it even more the second time."
— John Alexander Williams

"...a propulsive, compelling and readable drama."
— Doug Imbrogno
Charleston Gazette-Mail

"Anyone who likes a good mystery, thriller, historical drama, or just a plain fantastic read...buy this book. ...(It) deserves to be a major motion picture."
— Paula Grgich-Warke

"I can think of five friends who should read Carla Rising."

"What an adventure!"

"I just finished reading this - couldn't put it down until I did.... It's really, really good!"
— Joan C.

"What a deeply engrossing novel, Topper! You fleshed out the characters until I could visualize each one. The plot was heart-pounding, like a thriller. ...The research was astounding and made me want to dig deeper. ...Kudos, Topper, to a novel I will gladly suggest to others."
— Lynne Sandy

"A Novel Worth Reading"
— Paul Epstein

"(Topper Sherwood) has a vast reservoir of original ideas...with very worthy motives as his aim."
— Hallene M. Dick

"A tense book, skillfully evoking the Appalachian landscape and the miners' hopes of bettering their lives."
— John Borland

"(Carla Rising) has captured my heart. I cannot wait to continue reading today. ...I love how you describe in detail the characters' feelings, senses and surroundings. I feel like I'm there. The book definitely draws me in...."
— R.M.

"Carla Rising is a DAMN FINE read."
— Fish!

“I gave Carla Rising to a good friend here. She talked to me a long time about it today. She loved it, and whizzed through it in less than 36 hours. Could not stop reading. … She gets it. All of it.”
— Hilary Chiz

"Hell of a great read! I hope everyone reads this book."
— Ren Parziale

Get Carla Rising here!

CarlaFrontCoverClick here to get Carla Rising as softcover or ebook!

Author’s Statement

As a journalist in the 1990s, I enjoyed researching articles on the “West Virginia Mine Wars” of 1890-1923 – although these labor battles are not easy stories to tell.

To me, the traditional “heroes vs villains” story – even the “poor underclass vs. wealthy oppressors” – wasn’t enough. Both sides could claim “victory,” for example, following the 1921 “Battle of Blair Mountain.” And both sides clearly suffered abysmal defeats in these conflicts which continue to polarize the region a century later.

In writing Carla Rising, my first novel, I was extremely mindful of parallels/allegories for today’s audience. Most notably perhaps: the rise of oligarchs, like my Sheriff Riley Gore, in local/national politics around the world today.

The political domination of energy companies of that time reminded me of the rise of “Big Data” today — of Amazon’s and Google’s effect on publishing, and media-making, especially in the United States. In a word, I personalized the plight of coal miners whose lives and work were cheapened by their employers – much in the same way that Internet firms have cheapened conscientious and time-consuming work of research and writing for news media, for books and nonfiction broadcasts.

Another allegory: During years of studying and publishing about these events of 1921, I was struck by the collaboration between the coal company’s private police/military force and public officials. Federal and state officials did not challenge the presence of a private company’s paramilitary force playing a role in the mining conflict – similar to Blackwater’s role in Iraq or, perhaps, private prisons in today’s United States.

Carla Rising also presents the split on the Left during that time – a split that resulted in the conscious purge of leftists during and after the New Deal, including the black-listing of Socialists and Communist Party members. After the 1980-88 administrations of Ronald Reagan (who participated in black-listing in Hollywood), it was easy to see how more mainstream liberals filled the void left by yesterday’s “reds,” a process of demonization that continues today (2017), pushing the United States further and further to the right.

Some of Carla Rising‘s characters represent the vulnerable middle class – most notably, Mary Rising, Carla’s mother – caught in the middle and pressured to take sides in an increasingly polarized environment.

So, there are plenty of modern allegories to find in Carla Rising. I hope you enjoy it.

– Topper Sherwood,
Berlin, 2017

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