"That You Remember" – The Buffalo Creek Disaster with Author Isabella Reddy

About this episode

JR interviews author Isabella Reddy about her novel inspired by the Buffalo Creek Disaster and its historical significance.

Host: JR Guest: Isabella Reddy, author of That You Remember JR sits down with acclaimed author Isabella Reddy to discuss her novel That You Remember , a work of historical fiction loosely based on the Buffalo Creek Disaster — a devastating flood that struck Logan County, West Virginia on February 26, 1972 , killing 125 people, mostly women and children, after a coal slurry dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company catastrophically failed. Isabella shares how she spent 10 years researching the story, including visiting the region, reviewing court depositions from the landmark Gerald Stern lawsuit against Pittston, and even going inside coal mines in Beckley, WV and Wales. The spark that drove her to write the novel? A poem recited online by a disaster survivor, whose words — "I can't remember... I can't forget" — moved her to tell the story. The Buffalo Creek Disaster : What happened, who was affected, and why it's been overlooked in mainstream history Coal culture in southern WV : The deep bond communities have with coal mining, the role of unions (UMWA), and the economic reality of Logan County Research process : Visiting Logan County, going into homes, attending…

People in this episode

Host: JR

Guest: Isabella Reddy

Topics covered

• Buffalo Creek Disaster
• historical fiction
• coal culture
• community impact
• research process
• character development

Keywords

• Buffalo Creek Disaster
• Isabella Reddy
• That You Remember
• coal mining
• Logan County
• historical fiction
• community
• research
• Pittston Coal Company

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pittston Coal Company, UMWA

Books & works: That You Remember

Places: Logan County

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