Cussy mary carter is the last of her kind, her skin the color of a blue damselfly in these dusty hills. Satisfied, pa carried it out of our oneroom log house and onto the handhewn porch. The author, kim michele richardson, had done an excellent job writing the story of the pack horse project and blue kentucky people, especially it is hard to find information about blue people. She was born with a rare genetic condition, and her skin has always. She joins roosevelts pack horse library project of kentucky and becomes a traveling librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her. In the book woman of troublesome creek, richardson takes the reader on a journey through the past in a littleknown, seemingly lost part of the country, where we meet bluet, one of the last remaining blueskinned people in kentucky. Frosts piece, the blue people of troublesome creek, is usually. Frosts piece, the blue people of troublesome creek, is usually credited, but the painting not, or misattributed to abc news, various newspapers, or simply deemed unknown. She joins roosevelts pack horse library project of kentucky and becomes a traveling librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her mule to. The year is 1820 and a french orphan called martin fugate has just arrived in troublesome creek, a remote and sleepy settlement in eastern kentucky. This historical fiction novel is 47 chapters long, but for the purposes of this guide is broken into six sections. Troublesome creek is a real place, and so is hellforsartin, and as. Additional praise for the book woman of troublesome creek. In 1960, he decided to move near troublesome creek in the hopes to meet one.
Richardsons kentucky roots are obvious throughout the book, in the richness of dialect, the names of people and places. The book woman of troublesome creek by kim michele. Methemoglobinemia is the name of the condition which causes the skin to take on a lovely shade of blue. The protagonist of the book woman of troublesome creek an actual place is a blue. Behind the book the book woman of troublesome creek by. Cussy mary carter is a 19yearold from troublesome creek, kentucky. The book woman of troublesome creek was inspired by the true, historical blueskinned people of kentucky and from a childhood in foster care to a lifelong love for librarians, author kim michele richardson shares the deep, personal connection to her new novel, the book woman of troublesome creek. The book woman of troublesome creek book king county. The blue people of kentucky arent limited to benjy and luna. The fugate family of kentucky had blue skin for generations. The book woman of troublesome creek is a powerful message about how the written word affects peoplea story of hope and heartbreak, raw courage and strength splintered with poverty and oppression, and one womans chances beyond the darkly hollows.
Cussy, also called bluet, is the last of the blue people, a clan born with an exceedingly rare genetic disorder, the recessive methemoglobinemia. Tucked deep into the woods of troublesome creek, ky, lives blueskinned cussy carter, the last living female of the rare blue people ancestry. As talk of a blood transfusion took place, benjys grandmother told doctors not to panic, that he simply looked like the blue fugates of troublesome creek. Troublesome creek clayhole, kentucky atlas obscura. The artist walt spitzmiller in fact painted the portrait of the fugate family see walt spitzmiller fine art. The fugates, a family that lived in the hills of kentucky, commonly known as the blue fugates descendants with the disease gene continued to live in the areas around. A potential cure for cussys blue skin and a surprise marriage.
Thats the lesson of kim michele richardson s latest novel, the book woman of troublesome creek, a fascinating slice of historical fiction inspired by two littleknown stories from americas past. The book woman of troublesome creek book omaha public. Inspired by the true blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one womans belief that. The book woman of troublesome creek audiobook, written by. The following version of novel was used to make this guide. The book woman of troublesome creek book contra costa. Inspired by the true and historical blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service, the book woman of troublesome creek showcases a bold and unique tale of the pack horse librarians in literary novels a story of fierce strength and one womans belief that books can carry us anywhere even back home. Why the fugate family are literally the blue people of. Blue fugates of troublesome creek pictures kim michele. In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of troublesome creek, ky, lives blueskinned 19yearold cussy carter, the last living female of the rare blue people. The new york times and usa today bestselling novel, the book woman of troublesome creek is a powerful message about how the written word affects peoplea story of hope and heartbreak, raw courage and strength splintered with poverty and oppression, and one womans chances beyond the darkly hollows. Blue people of troublesome creek, methemoglobinemia, david johnson phd, biochemistry, quillen college of medicine, east tennessee state university, hbm, pulse oximeter, methylene blue, 2019. Inspired by the true blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book. Down cut shin creekthe packhorse librarians of kentucky by kathy appelt and jeanne cannella schmitzer blue fugates.
It was the strongest validation i could ever receive for. The book woman of troublesome creek audiobook by kim. The science behind the mysterious blue people of kentucky. She was born with a rare genetic condition, and her skin has always been tinged an allover deep blue. Inspired by the true and historical blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and. Cussy mary has an inherited condition called methemoglobinemia, which causes the skin to be blue.
The book woman of troublesome creek is a gem of a book and a tribute to the importance of books. Inspired by the true blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one womans belief that books can carry us anywhere. Finding the famous painting of the blue people of kentucky. I did not know about blue people existed until i read this book. The book woman of troublesome creek book tulsa city. As a member of the pack horse library project, cussy delivers books to the hill folk of troublesome, hoping to spread learning in these desperate times. In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of troublesome creek, ky, lives blue skinned 19yearold cussy carter, the last living female of the rare blue people. Bluet is the last of the kentucky bluesreallife people born with blue skin in the dusty hills of troublesome creek. The book woman of troublesome creek is about the wpa pack horse library project of 1935 and the factual blue people of eastern kentucky. Its a tribute to the librarians who traveled on horseback and mule to provide books to the poor and isolated communities in kentucky. Thats the lesson of kim michele richardsons latest novel, the book woman of troublesome creek, a fascinating slice of historical fiction inspired by two littleknown stories from americas past. Through her eyes, we experience the sense of being inferior and the fear of discrimination that was as bad for blues as for african americans with whom they were equated by whites. Inspired by the true and historical blueskinned people of kentucky and the dedicated kentucky pack horse library project, the book woman of troublesome creek provides an authentic appalachian voice to a story of hope, heartbreak and raw courage and shows one womans strength, despite it all, to push beyond the dark woods of troublesome creek.
The book woman of troublesome creek, by kim michele richardson. For nearly two centuries, the blue skinned fugate family living in the areas of troublesome creek and ball creek in the hills of eastern kentucky, passed their unique characteristic from generation to generation, remaining largely isolated from the outside world. Because cussy mary and her father are blues, the people in troublesome creek often wont speak to them unless it is absolutely necessary. Inspired by the true blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one womans belief that books can carry us anywhere even back home. He married a woman named elizabeth smith, who was said to be as pale and white as the mountain laurel that blooms every spring around the creek hollows. Inspired by the true blueskinned people of kentucky and the brave and dedicated kentucky pack horse library service of the 1930s, the book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one womans belief that books can carry us anywhereeven back home. The most detailed account, blue people of troublesome creek, was published in 1982 by the university of indianas cathy trost, who described benjys skin as almost purple. The book woman of troublesome creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one womans determination to bring a little bit of hope to the darkly hollers provided by publisher. The book woman of troublesome creek by kim richardson.
The book woman of troublesome creek is about the wpa pack horse library project of 1935 and the factual blueskin people of eastern kentucky. A year ago i awoke to a surprise email from douglas fugate, a former librarian and a descendant of the blueskinned people of kentucky. As coal mining arrived in kentucky in 1912 and the fugates moved outside of troublesome creek, the blue people began to disappear. Richardson tackles numerous topics from kentucky in the 1930s horrific coal mining conditions, the true blueskinned people that lived in appalachia, and the pack horse library service.
Troublesome creek, ky home to blueskinned fugate family and christian katrina front pagesthis is the most absurd picturethe american govt should be. Kim michele richardson the book woman of troublesome creek. The new year was barely fifteen hours old in troublesome creek, kentucky, when my pa adjusted the courting candle, setting it to burn for an alarming length of time. They are mostly known as the blue people of kentucky.