Soul Full of Coal Dust

I received a digital galley of “Soul Full of Coal Dust,” in exchange for a fair review. What a joy to be able to read impassioned, investigative journalism that benefits disadvantaged coal miners over unethical coal companies, ethically dubious legal firms that hide expert opinions that are unfavorable to their coal company clients and expert medical witnesses who give opinions that ultimately benefit coal companies over severely ill miners. If there is any justice, this book will become a national best-seller and will be passed around to future labor organizers, community activists and progressive lawmakers.

I read this this with indignation at all the hurdles these miners and their families had to endure from the late 1960’s until 2014, when the US Labor Department implemented the final protective regulation in a string of wins that finally broke the adversarial legal system that coal miners with black lung had to endure before procuring legally entitled benefits— the use of new, harder-to-deceive continuous coal mine air sampling devices and the closure of several regulatory loopholes that overwhelmingly favored coal companies.

Hamby was part of an investigative unit that won the Pulitzer Prize highlighting the gauntlet that miners had to overcome —including Don Massey, the vile, convicted CEO of Massey Energy, the dubious legal ethics of a prominent West Virginia law firm—Jackson Kelly and the disgusting actions of. a Johns Hopkins physician, Paul Wheeler, MD , who systematically ignored x-ray guidance from accredited bodies that would give these radiologists some objectivity in detecting whether miners had features suggestive of coal workers pneumoconiosis. Through the work of dedicated lawyers like John Cline and investigative reporters like Hamby and others, they were able to eventually expose this unholy trinity (coal companies, law firms and physicians), which Hamby thoroughly and skillfully details.

Hamby does a yeoman job of humanizing these miners and the suffering they endured through defeat after defeat until justice finally arrives. I cherished reading this book— not only because my grandfather suffered through Black Lung when as a boy,I watched him expectorate black mucus and had to pause every few feet before having to rest, but who never missed Church and never once complained, and as a physician, who was thoroughly disgusted by the actions of Paul Wheeler, MD whose arrogance and ignominy should follow him to the grave. This book deserves a wide readership and should serve as a reminder that we need a free press, activists and muckrakers, and a strong regulatory framework so that less affluent individuals aren’t trampled by the politically connected and the powerful. Buy this book!!

LOVED this.....
Given I am from Kentucky it was so wonderful to hear true writing regarding and story telling (a true story) about what has been going on and happening in coal mining towns! I truly enjoyed reading this and from an UNBIASED reporting not a company that would stand to gain from coal mining or strip mining~ "Black Lung" has devested many families and taken family members for generation after generation! These poor parts of America the working men trying to put food on the table....they have very few choices. I was once told it it chancing being shot from making moon shine to sell...or coal mining~ So very SAD~
I highly recommend this book!
I give this 5 STARS~

Incredible writing on an interesting and important topic. I found this book very interesting and informative. Would highly recommend.

As rich (in description) as the seams of coal that are responsible for the wealth and heartbreak that fill its pages, Soul Full of Coal Dust emphasizes the dangers wedded to mining from the opening pages. As an Appalachian resident, I confess that I went into this one expecting a reiteration of the sad truths of which I am already aware. Hamby does touch on Appalachian legacies: ecological beauty and poverty, fierce struggles and opioid addiction- but he writes like an angry poet who has seen something beloved done wrong and he made me look at my home differently - from the roads, which he writes this way: "the two-lane blacktop of Route 85, entering the rural county’s circulatory system: road, river, and rail line twisting in tandem—arteries bringing metal and men, veins sending fuel and waste," to the very people who live here. Hamby's work traces the rise of black lung as a threat to miners - its disappearance (i.e. cover up) its resurgence, and the ways mining still impacts Appalachia today. Of black lung, he writes many impassioned passages, but this will serve as an example: But even this record of violent death pales in comparison with the toll from the disease that slowly steals miners’ breath. For the poor souls taken by this scourge, there are no news stories commemorating the anniversary of their sacrifice, no public apologies to grieving widows, no rallying cries of “Never again!” They simply suffocate in a slow-motion disaster that plays out over years in homes tucked deep in mountain hollows." I think this work is very important to understanding this area of the country and will be of interest and value to those concerned with labor laws, environmental protections (and lack thereof) and the labors we ask others to undertake (underground in this case) for our comfort and ease.

Gripping investigative journalism. Like Erin Brocovitch or whistle blower stories, this could be easily translated to a movie. Wonderfully written and reported.

Thanks to Little Brown and Netgalley for sharing the ARC of this upcoming nonfiction title. Initially I thought this was another recounting of poverty and the opioid epidemic in Appalachia so I wasn’t expecting much. I didn’t realize until reading that the topic was the legal battles surrounding miners’ black lung disease. This was an excellent and infuriating read, although hopeful in the end. I recommend this for anyone who is a fan of social and legal justice stories. If you enjoy any books or movies that center around the lone idealistic lawyer up against a large corporation doing bad things, this read will be perfect for you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

What a fabulous read! Being from Appalachia, I do not trust many people who write about the area where I´ve spent the majority of my life. When I read the description of this book, I was cautiously hopeful. To be honest, the cover -- with its stereotypical depiction of a desolate area in bland black and white -- did not relieve my reluctancy. From the first paragraph, however, I was hooked. Chris Hamby´s Soul Full of Coal Dust is an intriguing read that will certainly appeal to those of us who have witnessed and experienced the coal mining way of life. Hamby´s research details the legal battles and political policies that impacted generations of miners who have suffered from Black Lung. To those who know little about the subject, the book offers a critical look at a search for justice. Though Hamby writes a thorough history of the issue, the narrative structure makes this book anything but dull. Instead, the story of the two men at the heart of Hamby´s investigative journalism is extremely engaging. He expertly weaves stories of the people who rose up to fight against powerful coal companies backed by political authority spanning decades. Hamby offers an empathetic examination of miners who sacrificed their health to build a country that, in turn, not only neglected them but actually waged an ongoing war against them. Unlike many books written about Appalachia (especially by ¨outsiders,¨) this one captures the true sense of miners and their family members. Hamby has a genuine understanding of the ongoing complexities facing this region. This is the view that is often overlooked by writers who oversimplify the men and women of a beautiful area often exploited for its abundant natural resources. I highly recommend this important read!
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.