west virginia's story. in truth, it is west virginia history. the coal fields of southern west virginia, the authoritarian rule of the mining community by the mining companies. the grinding poverty, the grinding poverty of the great depression. the days of the two room schoolhouse. when teachers trainereined supr, and students learned without computers. the simple, whole some ways in which folks entertain themselves. the untimely death of men who worked hard with enhance coo th, and for meager wages like my dad and her father. the coming of the unions, i remember. the ordinary lives of working people is also here, laced with a personal love story that is very, very dear to my heart. my aim with this book was to capture an earlier picture of west virginia, west virginia. anencapsulate some of my work fr the state that i love, and record special moments from a life, which have made me laugh, made me cry, make me be filled with great pride. i set a high bar. i hope that i have reached it. thousands of people, scores of thousands, some of whom i know well, some of whom are her

here in west virginia we are being destroyed by coal. southern west virginia in particular, our waterways are completely polluted with heavy metals. our people are dying from health issues. our water contains 100 pounds more coal waste and all of the oil leaked into the gulf. host: you have called this program a number of times about mountaintop removal. since the deep branch explosion have your local officials responded to your concerns? guest: i have raised a lot of cain, written a lot of letters. the biggest issue is with the big branch. this is criminal negligence. in 2006 the u.s. attorney charles miller failed to indict massey energy for criminal negligence. host: i will let you go and we will hear from david. guest: on one side we have a concern for the environmental dangers. on the other side we worry what we will do without it. as the gentleman from texas made clear, it is obvious. everything that we use in terms of transportation revolves around oil. you cannot turn off the spigot tomorrow and expect to be able to get to work. we have t

segregationist but in the early twenties he was recruited by the local clubs klan chapter in southern west virginia. -- local coo clubs klan chapter. he joined, and later quit. he says he regrets that part of his life. in his time he said that was the way to become politically active. it is an ugly part of his party and personal history. he also filibustered the 1957 civil rights act. civil rights act. it was a classic filibuster. he was a true southern democrat at the time, much like strom thurmond. against desegregation. in the last decade or two, though, he became one of the most reliably liberal votes. a full evolution. host: in 2008 he endorsed barack obama in the primary even though hillary clinton won west virginia by a large margin. guest: the full american experience, a guy who once filibustered the civil rights act was one of the key senators to endorse barack obama before he clinched the nomination. host: now, he was the last senator to serve from the 1950's. what were his relationships with all the different presidents over the years? guest: they were up and down. he was a huge critic o

segregaonist but in the early twenties he was recruited by the local clubs klan chapter in southern west virginia -- local coo clubs klan chapter. he joined, and later quit. he says he regrets that part of his life. in his time he said that was the way to become politically active. it is an ugly part of his party and personal history. he also filibustered the 1957 civil rights act. civil rights act. it was a classic filibuster. he was a true southern democrat at the time, much like strom thurmond. against desegregation. in the last decade or two, though, he became one of the most reliably liberal votes. a full evolution. host: in 2008 he endorsed barack obama in the primary even though hillary clinton won west virginia by a large margin. guest: the full american experience, a guy who once filibustered the civil rights act was one of the key senators to endorse barack obama before he clinched the nomination. host: now, he was the last senator to serve from the 1950's. what were his relationships with all the different presidents over the years? guest: they were up and down. he was a huge crit of p

his story holds such a profoundly significant place in both west virginia and american history, b it was inhe coal fields of southern west virgia, mr. president, where a young robert c. byrd first gained the skills, the moral character, the toughness, the shrewdness that would make him a truly great man. after his mother passed away, he was raised by his aunt and uncle a coal miner he movingly called -- quote -- "the most remarkable man i have ever been privileged to know." close quote. from them, senator byrd learned early in life what it meant to be loyal, to have a ferocious work ethic, really almost beyond imagination, and possess a deep faith in god, and it was these values, these innately west virginia values, i would argue, that guarded -- that guided his offer action, made him such a unique and strong fighter for our state and who got such joy in doing that fight. he was proud of west virginia. he was proud of his ideals. he was proud of the service he could render to the people from whom he came. he believed with all of his heart that our breathtaking mountains, our rivers and our deep valleys and especiall

his story holds such a profoundly significant place in both west virginia and american history, b it was inhe coal fields of southern west virgia, mr. president, where a young robert c. byrd first gained the skills, the moral character, the toughness, the shrewdness that would make him a truly great man. after his mother passed away, he was raised by his aunt and uncle a coal miner he movingly called -- quote -- "the most remarkable man i have ever been privileged to know." close quote. from them, senator byrd learned early in life what it meant to be loyal, to have a ferocious work ethic, really almost beyond imagination, and possess a deep faith in god, and it was these values, these innately west virginia values, i would argue, that guarded -- that guided his offer action, made him such a unique and strong fighter for our state and who got such joy in doing that fight. he was proud of west virginia. he was proud of his ideals. he was proud of the service he could render to the people from whom he came. he believed with all of his heart that our breathtaking mountains, our rivers and our deep valleys and especiall