I am from the coalfields of Southern Illinois. There is coal in my blood. It flows through my people, through our history, and through the land, and even though I have never worked in the mines, coal is as much a part of me as it was a part of my grandfather, his father and his brothers and their families, as it is a part of my uncles and my cousins.
My grandfather gave 32 years of his life to the Peabody River King mine in Marissa and made a living in return, but his coal miner’s life was not one without pain. He died in 2004 of leukemia, most likely caused by chemical solvents he had to use every day to clean welding grease from his clothes and body.
must read the rest of the letter.
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| Matthew Galik's grandfather at the Peabody River King mine in Marissa (Galik via Post-Dispatch) |
