- [Interviewer] All right. So Rice, Rice, where'd you grow up? - I grew up mostly in what
they call Napper Branch which is located in Beach Fort Kentucky. - [Interviewer] And this is Leslie County? - [Rice] Yes. - [Interviewer] Tell me
about your childhood. You had both your parents growing up? - Yeah, we was all family. - [Interviewer] How, Mom and Dad? Good childhood? - [Rice] Yeah, we had, - [Interviewer] What kind of stuff? I mean, you grew up, you know it's a very poor part of the country. Would you, would you consider your family, - We were very poor. - [Interviewer] Yeah. You had electricity? You had running water? - We had electricity, but we
didn't have running water. We didn't have indoor plumbing. We had, what's known as
an outhouse of coercion. We had a well, we had a
garden, we had simple things. - [Interviewer] What kind
of work did your father do? - Basically, I remember him working some for the state at one point. Didn't seem like a very long time. And what's ironic about it,
my daddy, well, he's older now but he drunk a lot and I
didn't know who he was. I didn't. I didn't really
know who he was 'til I was like four or five year old. You know, it's just
something that I guess where I was with my mother. I was a mommy's baby. [Laughs] And I was with my mother
the most of the time. - [Interviewer] And you got
a high school education? - Yes. - [Interviewer] What kind
of work have you done? - I've been a timber cutter. Straight, that's what
I do. Timber cutting. - [Interviewer] Which is
the only real alternative to coal mining for most men, right? - Well, I just was afraid of coal mines. I'll just be honest. I didn't like the being underground. I didn't like the thoughts of it. You know? It was just something. I felt free out in the woods. And another reason that
I took on timber cutting, I had to work. I had to work. So what do you do? Somebody offers you a timber cutting job. Pick up a saw and try it. It wasn't easy. It never was easy, but it
got easier as time went on. Even though I didn't know nothing. I didn't know nothing about
my timber cutting, you know and I've had some very bad
experiences, timber cutting. - [Interviewer] What kind of stuff? It's a dangerous job, just
like coal mining is too. - Yeah. Yeah, they say it's dangerous, you know, And I can only speak for
tiller cutting because it's all I've ever done. - [Interviewer] What kind
of stuff have you seen? - Do what? - [Interviewer] When
you say that you've seen dangerous things, what kind
of stuff have you seen? - Timber cutting. - [Interviewer] Logging. Yeah. - I've been hurt twice pretty bad. I got hit in the face really
bad once and knocked out. Knocked to bled to death on the spot. And then I got hurt later years which really put me out
of the timber cutting. When there was a tree pushed down on me and busted my hard hat, cut
my head, busted all my disc in my neck and five in my lower back. And I've had an operation on my back but my neck is not, it can't be repaired. - [Interviewer] But you're
still working today. I saw you this Sunday morning and you were out there working. - Well I wasn't doing a lot. Still, I wasn't doing no. See there's a lot difference
in me now than then. - [Interviewer] Yeah, but
you're planting potatoes. - What now? - [Interviewer] You were
planting potatoes this morning? - I was digging them up. - [Interviewer] Oh, digging them up. - Yeah, I was digging them up. It's fall. - [Interviewer] Yeah. It
shows you I'm a city slicker. - Yeah. It was fall. - [Interviewer] Have you traveled? - What? - [Interviewer] Have you traveled? - Not much. Not, very little. Very little. Biggest
'venture I've ever been on was my 8th grade school trip which was to Mammoth Cave in, down toward Elizabethtown, I guess, somewhere down that way. - [Interviewer] But
you're very happy here? - Oh yeah. - [Interviewer] It's a
beautiful part of the country. - I wouldn't know no other life of course. - [Interviewer] Yeah. - 53 years in the woods. What else do you know? But you know I've found it interesting, you know, and I know like I said, I don't like being belittled whatsoever. When I went to school I could sit in school and
listen, enough to pass classes. I could make the grades I wanted to make. If I wanted to just pass a
class, I could just pass it. If I wanted to make straight
A's I can make straight A's. And it was just all in
what I wanted to do. I never found it to be
a complicated thing. I never did. - [Interviewer] What are your
favorite things about living in Appalachia and what are the
hardest parts of living here? Because it's not an easy life. - It's not easy, but well, to me, it's just life and it just, what you would consider horrible may not, even to me be more than just day to day. I mean, it might not be that way for me. You know, I've been men in lifetimes. Growing up, I packed coal. I packed water. I was in the snow. There was times that
I'd get up of a morning. And what bucket water
was froze, fire was out. Snow would blow in the house. We had that. We had a lot of that. And, you know, even my my family today has got is so much better even though we ain't got it good either. I mean, what you would consider good. But to us it is good. And we're very happy with what we have. It's all on being thankful for
what you do have, you know? And I think God did, I was
born here in the Appalachians. He give me a whole, I've
got a whole experience that millions of people will never have. If you understand what I'm saying. - [Interviewer] Yeah. Do you feel like you've lived
the life that you wanted to? - Yeah, pretty much. You know, I've done things I
shouldn't and I regret things, some things, and I won't mention them because it's no need
to because they're gone and ain't no changing them. But yeah, I do. I do really enjoy my life. And I enjoy living in Appalachia and I'm proud of Appalachian people. - [Interviewer] Yeah. What is
it about the Appalachian is that makes them so unique because they they seem to be so willing
to help their neighbor. They seem to be so kind. - It's the teaching. It's the teaching of loving,
Godliness, Christianity. Who was our parents and our grandparents? They went to church, they believed in and they would correct you
when you was doing wrong. They instilled it in you as a child. They did. - [Interviewer] Yeah. - You understand that? - [Interviewer] And they
were great role models too. - Yeah. That makes, and not just that, but when you have experienced these things and I'm talking about personally
experienced the things and the things that you
can't see for instance and then it gives you a
whole outlook on life. If you understand what I'm
saying, then it gives you a whole different. And then in the end,
you know, we all think about being rich. And I have been guilty of it too. But when you look back,
would you trade what you have for all the wealth in the world? No, I would not. I would not trade it. I would not try trade
everything I've experienced and have for all the wealth in the world. Because money couldn't
value what I've lived. even though it's been hard at
times, I've been, like I said I've been out, I've cut
timber and snow drifted up to my waist and work week in and week out, week in and week out for my family. And that was, you know,
that was something to do for, is your family. And when you can't give
that kind of effort for your family, you don't
know what you've missed. - [Interviewer] Growing up
here in, in Eastern Kentucky, What's your favorite memory? - [Rice] Hmm. You know,
my favorite memory, that would be, I have memories
of my little Fox that I had - [Interviewer] You had a pet fox? - [Rice] and I still miss it. I still miss. - [Interviewer] It is
a pet Fox that you... - [Rice] I raised her from this little, well, my daughter and my
granddaughter and my wife they really, I'll give them credit because they's the ones
that set up with it and seen to it, you know, a lot of times when it was very small. I was the one found it. But I remember a dog that
I had when I was a kid. And he was my friend
because my sister was blind. And my brother, he was, he was retarded to some extent in, you know,
he couldn't be out with me. I didn't have neighbors, and I didn't have nobody to
play with, but my doll and I was out, I was out
walking in the hills. My dog was with me all the time. He was my best friend,
you know, and the woods. And I always tried everything that I saw out in the woods to see if it tasted good. If it tasted good, I would eat it. I knew blueberries or huckleberries. We call them huckleberries. I would eat them, but I didn't know what they
was for a very long time. I would eat planting salad. I didn't know what it was for a long time. A lot of the things that grow out there but they were some things
that I was backed up. (laughs) Well, some of them, you
know, it's just some of them. - [Interviewer] So your Fox,
it behaved like a pet dog, or? - She was more like a cat. She was really quiet and
she was extremely smart. You could only, you could take the Fox and teach it one time. And then it would mind you on command. You could say, "come
here", she would come here. You would tell her not
to bother something. And you told her not to,
she would not bother it. If you understand what
I'm saying, she was, well like I said about my fire, she
mind it better than children. Because once you taught her, she did not stray away from that. - [Interviewer] And she
wasn't trying to get away. She was your pet. - No, she didn't want to get away. She was given all the freedom
of outdoors as she wanted, you know? And she died in my lap. She died in my lap. - [Interviewer] Did you
ever consider leaving? - Consider leaving? - [Interviewer] Yeah. - No. I will never consider
leaving left where I live. - [Interviewer] Do you know
anything about your grandparents or your family? - I remember my Grandma Bessie
which is Kyle's grandmother. Well, it'd be his
great-grandmother that's as far as I remember grandparents. I do not remember my father's parents. - [Interviewer] But do you
know, like, how they survived? What life was like for them? - Well, Grandma just
lived, you know, simple. She was very simple. You know, she was very simple. She worked hard. She raised two daughters. She was single all of her life so I don't believe she was ever married. - [Interviewer] Huh.
And you have children. - What? - [Interviewer] How many
children do you have? - I have one of my own. And I've raised, well, two, three I guess you'd call it raising them. The boys was great big
when me and my wife married you know, I consider the
younger one as more raised than I did the older one
because he's like 13, you know, at the time. And it wasn't long 'til he was on his own. 'Cause he, he left early,
you know, for sure. Career and truck driving and whatever. - [Interviewer] Yeah. And you do you, what do you do for food? You grow your own food? - I grow some of it. I don't grow all of my food. I do like what I raise, you know I grow some, I grow beans. I grow corn. I grow just about anything
that's capable of being grew in the garden here, but. You know, we have other
stuff, we buy stuff, you know? - [Interviewer] So you do
go to the store and stuff. - Yeah. We do buy a lot of stuff. - [Interviewer] But this is a
very simple life compared to what most people. - Simple, yeah. And I'm
asking and everybody knows me. It's just simple. If I have enemies, I don't even know it. - [Interviewer] No, I
hear everyone loves you. - Because I'm real easy natured. I don't bother people. I don't steal and no way. And I don't lie on people, you know the chatter that people
does from time to time you know what I'm talking about? I don't, I don't live that type of life. - [Interviewer] What, what's
the most important lesson you've learned in your life? - Most important? I think the most important
thing that anybody can learn is to know right from wrong and know the God, you know. Know that Jesus Christ is their savior. I think that's the most important thing. And then once you know that
you can pattern by his examples and people are happy,
you know, that's just me. Now. I can say it. That's what I experience. Because if you live your life. I'm not saying I live perfect. Don't get me wrong. But if you do these things,
that's where peace is. Peace is something that
you'll accomplish through life and I'm sure that the day that one dies they don't have to look back and say, I can't go where I've not got peace. You need peace. And that's the only true
peace that I've found. That is the only true peace. - [Interviewer] What do
you think of the future of this region? It seems like the, the jobs
are becoming harder to find. - There is, - [Interviewer] Drugs
are kind of taking over. - Jobs are sometimes hard to find. How willing are you to work? How much will you bear? And what I mean by that, do you think it's easy to
step out here with a chain saw and cut timber every day? In all kinds of elements. Do you think it's really easy? No, it's not. And even then, you know, it would push you to the almost joy,
endurance 'til you just say I don't know if I can go
another day with this or not. But you have to reach
down and you have to go. And sometimes people are
not willing to do that. People say I'm not gonna
work, because that just pays $7-$8 an hour, I'm not going to do that. Well, are you, are you not? It's all in your willingness. I think a lot of job
is willingness to work. There's people need
stuff done all the time. It may not be your ideal
thing to do, but you, it may not pay your ideal wage but, what do you do? Sit down and do without? Or do you get by with what you can. You understand what I'm saying there? That's when I really, you know, that's the way I look at things. I know we don't have the top of people thinks you
have to have a structure and infrastructure and
what you probably do. And our population is so small. It's so small. And we have very intelligent people, but if you know it and it's not in the books as a education,
it doesn't matter. You can't get that job. If you understand that. Being intelligent is one thing. Being schooled is another. Plenty people intelligent. Plenty people very intelligent here. Very willing. And then we have some that ain't. (laughs) And that's, I guess that
goes with all society. I do not know. Like I said, I did not have the experience of living in a city and I don't want it. I see enough of it on TV. I see enough. Would I want to go out here
and burn buildings down and tear up things? No, no, I wouldn't. It wouldn't be. And B, I don't even know
my next door neighbor. I don't even know their name. You know, I don't understand that because we've always been
sociable with one another even though we're apart, to
some extent, we're still social. We know our neighbors. We know neighbors to avoid. (laughs) You know, everybody deserves equal. They deserve equal. You know, we see a lot of this. They say equal and then
it doesn't turn out equal. And that, I couldn't be
the judge of it anyway. I wouldn't have no knowledge
of how to judge over people and make things equal because
I do not have that type of, I don't know what you call it, but anyhow I do not see the world like that. You know, and I do not
understand everything. You know, I don't understand everything. I always thought should be good to people. People be good to you. And you live happy. At times they may step on your toes and you may take low and go on. And at times you may accidentally step on their toes and not realize it. You know? And what I mean by stepping
on toes is offending somebody, saying something you shouldn't to them, out of a heated moment saying something that normally you wouldn't say. And then they, people sometimes
they'll do stuff to you. And then you say, let it go. It's easier to let it go. It is. It's just a lot easier to
let things go than to pursue. This is much easier. - [Interviewer] All right,
Rice, thank you so much for sharing your story
and talking with me. - You know, like I said, that's
about as simple as I know. And I would like to think I'm simple. I would, I wouldn't want to
think that I was any better. I wouldn't want to think I
was any better than anybody. - [Interviewer] Excellent.
Thank you so much. - Alright. - [Interviewer] I'll let you
get back to your potatoes. - Okay. - [Interviewer] Thank you.
