and teammate at western virginia university. -- president hardesty's wife and teammate at western virginia university. my friends, have great, how truly great it is to be with you. i want to thank president hardesty again, and west virginia university for hosting this event, and for publishing this book. i also want to thank dr. connor, the west virginia university press, the beverly college of arts and sciences, and the countless others who worked long hours on weekends also to make this book a reality. thank you, dr. weinstein, for making this beautiful national archive facility available for this event tonight. they call it robert c. byrd, " child of the appalachian coal fields." i call it "the volum onevolume " [laughter] [applause] this is my story. and this is ermma's story. here it is. to ermma. it is her story. but, it is also 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,