GARRY BARKER

by Mona Powell

Garry Barker was born in Fleming County, Kentucky on November 26, 1943. He was the third child in a family of nine children. Barker's talent for writing became evident at the young age of eleven. He would spend a number of hours making up stories for his friends and family. As a high school student Barker was a National Merit Scholar and after graduation attended Berea College, where he earned a degree in English in 1965. He is currently working on his Master's at Morehead University. Barker uses his writing to portray mountain people as individuals with the same basic wants and needs that human beings share and to dispel the image of the illiterate hillbilly sitting on his porch with his dog and gun by his side.

In his book, Mountain Passage and Other Stories, Barker spins the stories of the Watts family from the time of the marriage of Elsie Ward to Harper Watts, through the birth of nine children, to the twilight of the Watts family when the children are gone from the home. The traditional values that most Americans share are brought out in the warmth of the tales of Vernon, the third child in the family. Many, including Barker, find the character of Vernon an image of the writer's own life. Barker has stated, "My mother is the model for the enduring `Elsie Watts' character, and the stories mix fact and fiction so freely that even I sometimes forget which is which. But my parents haven't yet filed a lawsuit, and they still let me come home for supper." (Barker, forward). The stories are full of everyday occurrences which, seen through the eyes of the author's vision, take on almost supernatural aura.

In the story, "My Mother's Miracle", Barker weaves the tale of three year old Vernon Watts. The child has collected shards of sparkling glass, slips and falls face down into his treasure, cutting his lip and tongue to the point that the attending physician sees no alternative but to remove the child's tongue. Elsie Watts will not allow this and takes her son home, declaring, "I'll hold it 'till it grows back together.", which is exactly what happens. Barker uses this simple story to exemplify the faith that is found at times only between a parent and a child. Most parents would make great sacrifices to save their children pain and suffering, the mountain hillbillies are no different.

"A Matter of Vision", is the story of Vernon in the second grade. Vernon does not like being in the second grade because the first and second grades have the same teacher and he feels that he has learned everything that this teacher has to offer. The only solution that the young boy can find is to convince everyone that he is going blind. The teacher confides in his parents that the problem, in her opinion, stems from the fact that Vernon is far advanced of his fellow students and is bored. After taking young Vernon to the eye doctor to confirm that the problem is not his eyes, Elsie gets Vernon some medicine for his "nerves." She then confines the child to the parameters of the front yard because, "'You can't see good enough to go to the woods,' said Elsie. 'When your eyes get better, why then you can go up on the mountain again.'" Vernon soon regains the use of his vision and goes back to school to pursue his new dream of being a doctor. The teacher tells Harper Watts that his son indeed has the capabilities of becoming a doctor and Watts replies, "'The reason we moved here, down off of Caney Creek, was to get better schools for the youngens.' He sighed. 'Times is changin, and youngens has got to learn new ways. Now, me, I don't know nothin but a team of mules and a double-shovel plow, but Vernon, he's gonna have to know about them jet airplanes and telephones and televisions and stuff. I seen it comin, durin the war, and I aim for my youngens to be ready for it.'" What better summation of a parent's need to see that their child has a brighter future than the parent has had? Is this not a universal drive shared by most parents in every culture?

Another value which is portrayed in Barker's work is the respect which he has for his parents. This is exemplified in every story of the adventurous Watts family. The grim determination with which the family continues to meet obstacles which constantly spring into their lives. The resilience with which these obstacles are overcome is a testimonial of courage and wit which mountain people possess. They are not ignorant, perhaps they are uneducated in academics, but in survival skills it is hard to find an equal. Mountain people are survivors, not of a holocaust which took place in a country far removed from America, but survivors in perhaps the hardest struggle of all. This struggle is the struggle to face life every day, not knowing what will enter your path next. While facing this struggle seems at times like Don Quixote thrashing at windmills, the ability to instill in their children the hope that the future will be better for them. The courage to like their parents to continue to face obstacles, is one which is portrayed in the works of Garry Barker.

Barker, Garry. Mountain Passage and Other Stories. Kentucky Imprints, Berea, KY., 1986.

Barker, Garry. Copy of his resume, obtained from the Townsend Room.

By Mona Powell

Fire on the Mountain : A Collection of Short Stories - 1983 - 133 p. Stories dealing with life on a daily basis in the Appalachians.

Copperhead Summer - 1985 - 234 p. Barker's first novel about mountain people.

Mountain Passage and Other Stories - 1986 - 250 p. Stories dealing with mountain life. Chronicles of Elsie and Harper Watts and their children.

All Night Dog - 1988 - 164 p. Set in Southeastern Kentucky around Pineville. Deals with returning home after war.

The Handicraft Revival in Southern Appalachia, 1930 - 1990 - 1991 - 257 p. Traces the craft industry's growth in the South.