BILLY C. CLARK

by Kelly Foster

Billy Curtis Clark was the seventh of eight children born to Mason and Bertha Clark on December 29, 1928, in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Clark was almost born on the bridge between Kenova, West Virginia, and Catlettsburg, Kentucky, that has recently been named after him. His mother was in Huntington, West Virginia, buying second hand clothes when she felt the first labor pains. She hurried home, across the bridge, so that her child would be born in Kentucky and not thought of as a foreigner. Clark was born into poverty in a town where one was classified as "have" or "not have". His mother had a second grade education, and his father had even less. Clark was the only one of his siblings to graduate from high school. He had a dream to become educated and to get away from the life he had been raised in.

At the age of eleven, Billy Clark left home, and for the next five years he lived on the third floor of the city office building. He cleaned the jails, wound the town clock, and served as a volunteer fireman to put himself through school. Clark said, "The house where I lived with my family is long gone, but it is not what I look for when I come back to Catlettsburg. The city building seems like my home, because I lived there, in a small room upon the top floor, sleeping on an old army cot" (Shaffer 53).

After high school Clark served in the Korean War and became eligible for the educational benefits under the G.I. Bill. He then enrolled in the University of Kentucky. While at the University of Kentucky he began publishing fiction in magazines such as Boys' Life, Coronet, and Nugget. Clark's first piece published on a national level was about his mother and was featured at Christmas time. A piece about his father was published the following Christmas.

Clark worked during college to help support his family. His father was a shoe repairman who suffered from several strokes, and his mother took in laundry to try to keep the family from starving. Clark left school periodically to work at Ashland Oil. While at Ashland Oil he met Ruth Bocock, and in 1956 they were married. They have two children Billy C. Jr. and Melissa Beth. In 1963 Clark left Ashland Oil and returned to the University of Kentucky as a writer-in-residence. He was at the University of Kentucky for 22 years before he moved to Farmville, Virginia where he is currently a writer-in-residence at Longwood College and where he has begun one of his most important jobs of his life, publishing Virginia Writing. Virginia Writing is a journal that contains prose, poetry, art, and photography of young talented Virginians. While in Kentucky Clark also published Kentucky Writing which was the basis for Virginia Writing. Although Clark now resides in Virginia, it is very obvious to the reader that his writings are about his experiences in Catlettsburg, Kentucky.

His first novel, Song of the River, was written at age 14 and published 14 years later without a single word of the original manuscript being changed. It was one of the dozens of fading manuscripts that his wife retrieved from the back seat of his '48 Plymouth after they were married. Four years later, some 21 manuscripts had been sold (Booty 3).

Song of the River could easily be labeled as being Clark's childhood story. It is a novel about an old man named John who lives on a shantyboat on the Big Sandy River. All of the young children are fascinated with John's lifestyle and his talents with the river and nature. He is the innocent spirit of the river, and he has a lifelong obsession of catching a huge catfish called Scrapiron Jack. The fish gets its name, "Scrapiron," because so many hooks have been lodged in its mouth and body during the two generations people have tried to catch him. There are vivid parallels seen in Clark's life on the Big Sandy River and old man John's life on the Big Sandy River in the novel. It is stated in Song of the River that John grew up on the Big Sandy and that he loves the river. Clark stated in an article from Longwood College that the river was his home. The character John and Clark were both looked down upon by the society around them. John was seen as an outsider because he did not live in the town and he did not practice the common everyday type of lifestyle. Clark was ridiculed by the people of Catlettsburg and labeled as one who fell in the "have not" category and would not attend college because he was poverty stricken. After reviewing Song of the River and Clark's life on the river one could easily wonder if there was an "old man John" in Clark's boyhood.

After reading Song of the River many conclusions can be drawn to reinforce the theme that old man John actually belonged to the river and the world around it better than he fit in with society. Because John was part of the river he had better relationships with it and its creatures than with other human beings. The novel never talked of John cleaning himself up except when he went into town. "He washed his face and hands and brushed his clothes" (60). This statement makes the reader realize that John was always content with himself until it came time to go into town. This is when John had to clean up in order to make a good impression on the townspeople. Once John reached town, people automatically began to talk about him and take advantage of him.

One day, John entered a local restaurant in order to sell some frogs he caught to the owner. The owner underpaid John for the frogs and meanwhile in a conversation John spoke of how the water had been too swift when he had risked his life trying to save a boy from drowning and he was forced to swim to the bank. One gentleman said, "Water washes scum to the bank," (Song of the River 63). John's negative relationships with people make his positive relationships with his world even stronger.

John felt like he belonged on the river. He relied on it for everything, including companionship. While trapping, John accidentally caught a wild duck. Due to the duck's injuries and because he felt responsible, John took the duck in. John said, "I didn't set the trap for you little fellow" (Song of the River 108). The reader can easily see that John talks to the animals like they are people and they are his friends. After John gets the duck back to the shantyboat, he fixes it a splint and tells the duck he can stay as long as he wants. John shares a special bond with the creatures of the river.

The plot and setting both deal with nature and the river more than society. All of the main action occurs on the river. The river is where Jobe, a young child who admires John, drowns early on in the book. John depends on the river and the woods for all of his food and most of his supplies. The river is also where John's lifelong dream of catching "Scrapiron Jack" exists. The description of the river is very vivid compared to how Clark describes the town. Clark is always writing about how the water ripples back and forth and how old John can read it as well as the surrounding nature. John knows exactly when it is going to be a good day for fishing and when it is time to take shelter from the upcoming weather. When in town John sticks out like an eye sore, and he does not communicate well. The statement that says it best is, "He [John] could understand the thoughts of the river, but the people puzzled him" (Song of the River 69).

A Long Roe to Hoe, is an autobiographical book that begins in 1947 with the 19-year-old Clark leaving home to attend the University of Kentucky. Clark talks of when his mother rushes home during a flood to give birth to him in Kentucky. "And with a foot of water in the house, the bed where Mom lay surrounded by the waters of the two rivers, I was born, in the rivers of the valley" (71).

Clark has a group of colorful characters in A Long Roe to Hoe. Dave Peyton of The Herald-Dispatch staff describes Clark's characters as, "People as real and as unpredictable as the river, and as authentic as the tunes his daddy played on his fiddle"(3). Some of his characters were Grandpa Hewlett, a Big Sandy timberman, and Grandma Clark, a herbalist who knew the hills better than most men. Despite the poverty, Clark's childhood was full of adventures. According to Professor Wade Hall of Bellermine College in Louisville, A Long Roe to Hoe is, "A competent and engrossing autobiography, and Song of the River is a national treasure."

After reviewing the two books one begins to see how they correspond. Clark's autobiography tells the reader about his life in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. When one reads his Song of the River it is easy to see that Clark has taken his childhood memories and produced them into books. After an interview with a anonymous woman from Catlettsburg this theory was reinforced. The woman said that anyone who reads Clark's books who is from Catlettsburg knows exactly who and what he is talking about. The character's names may be changed, but it is very obvious who Clark is referring to. The same goes for the description of the setting. People from Catlettsburg are able to see in their mind exactly what Clark is portraying in his books. According to the anonymous woman, the cover of A Long Roe to Hoe looks exactly like Catlettsburg did when Clark lived there.

Clark was given a gift to write. David Peyton of The Herald-Dispatch staff said, "For if there ever was a natural-born writer, it's Billy C. Clark" (Herald 2). After reviewing his life and works it is easy to agree. Clark has received awards from the following: Time Magazine, The Library of Congress, Crowell-Collier Classics, Friends of American Writers, Best American Short Stories, Walt Disney Studios, Scholastic Magazine and many more. Although Billy C. Clark now resides in Virginia, it is expressed in his work that he is a true Kentuckian. This is why it was not surprising that Clark said in a news release, "Neither Ruth nor I will be buried on foreign soil" (Booty 3).

Clark, Billy C. A Long Roe to Hoe. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1960.

Clark, Billy C. Song of the River. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1957.

Peyton, Dave. "Billy Clark's stories hewn from log of rough childhood." The Herald-Dispatch. 31 August 1992.

Peyton, Dave. "Unlike Thomas Wolfe, he can go home again." The Herald-Dispatch. Sept. 1992.

Shaffer, Cathie. "Long road leads Billy Clark back to Catlettsburg." The Daily Independent. 19 July 1992.

Booty, Kent. News Release from Longwood College. 28 August 1992.

by Kelly Foster

Books:

Clark, Billy C. A Long Roe To Hoe. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1960.

Clark, Billy C. Song of the River. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1960.

Clark, Billy C. Trail of the Hunters Horn. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1957.

Clark, Billy C. Mooneyed Hound. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1958.

Clark, Billy C. Useless Dog. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1961.

Clark, Billy C. Riverboy. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1958.

Clark, Billy C. Champion of Sourwood Mountain. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1966.

Clark, Billy C. Goodbye Kate. New York: Putnam's Sons 1964.

Clark, Billy C. Sourwood Tales. New York: Putnam's Sons 1968.

Newspapers:

The Sunday Independent. July 19, 1992.

The Herald-Dispatch. August 31, 1992.

Lexington Herald-Leader. August 31, 1992.

Periodicals and Pamphlets:

Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Volume 22 1962.

Short Stories And Poetry:

The Illiterate Spider