Pick Your Poison

West Virginia educator and author Becky Hatcher Crabtree enjoys rural life on her beloved Peters Mountain in Monroe County, West Virginia. Her life experiences influence her writing, especially this year as eminent domain was used to take part of her farm for a gas pipeline. In this story, her main character, Stella, faced some of those same issues. In actuality, Becky sat chained to a 1971 Pinto, her first car, across the pipeline path in a short-lived attempt to slow construction. She notes that Stella may have handled the problem with more sense. Crabtree taught and coached in remote Alaska villages where she experienced Arctic cultures and activities prior to retiring to rural West Virginia.