Tons of Stone above my Head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons

This book is the second of four volumes of stories with leadership lessons. I began writing this book in 1989 at the urging of my younger brother Jack who is an archaeologist. For years, he had heard my stories of the nine years I worked in the coal mines and thought they should be preserved for posterity. During these nine years I worked in the UMWA for four years as a ventilation man, rockduster, scoop car man, and roof bolter and five years as a production foreman and a construction foreman. I am a certified mine foreman of gaseous mines in Ohio. In 1993, I published an article consisting of some of my coal mining stories and part of a diary I kept while underground in Appalachian Journal. Two years later in 1995 using more of my coal mining material, I co-authored an article with Jack, which was published in Tennessee Anthropologist. About 90 of the stories in this book were also published in The Marietta Times in my weekly leadership column that I have written for ten years, Everyday Leadership. Tons of Stone above my Head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons was written for a variety of people. It is a story book for people who are interested in the culture of coal mining or anyone who loves stories. In addition, the book offers helpful ideas for leaders and followers at all levels in organizations. Also, speakers and storytellers might find value in the variety of stories, which might trigger their own stories. Finally, this book could prove useful for those studying American coal mining culture in its heyday. Many of my newspaper readers and leadership training clients have told me they enjoy most my leadership columns that relate to coal mining. Some of these people have or had brothers, fathers, or grandfathers who worked as coal miners. Other readers are just interested in such a strange, scary culture. I cannot count the number of people who have told me, I could never work in an underground coal mine! A number of my readers find the most value in the leadership lessons with which each story ends and some just enjoy the stories. Therefore, I decided upon the structure of telling the stories in the body of the text and offering the leadership lesson at the end of the book. Please note, I use the terms coal miners use. Most of the time, I include a definition of each term when it is first used. However, a complete glossary is included for your convenience at the end of the book.