Meet Nancy W. Bell, Author of Clinch Mountain Girls

Author Nancy Bell

I’ve been a Clinch Mountain woman for more than 40 years but consider myself sort of a girl when I moved here.

Although I had lived one college year in Japan and two years in the Peace Corps in Iran, I began life in rural Appalachia young and ignorant about the homesteading life. But the land is green, beautiful, and relatively cheap, and I found friendly people.

I worked as a nutritionist in public health clinics in three counties. Farming and raising two children with my husband occupied me for several years.

Later, I became a biology teacher in the smallest K-12 school in Tennessee. 

In the 1970s young people who were part of the back-to-the-land movement settled here, and we women soon bonded. Our friendship, practical help, and moral support for each other has never ended.

Clinch Mountain Girls arose from get-togethers where stories would erupt spontaneously about rattlesnakes, wayward cows and pigs, hanging tobacco, and those first cold showers and freezing nights when we arrived here in the 1970s.

As their “sister” for more than forty years, I volunteered to write down those stories from the girls who became women. I recorded their stories, creating an oral history of the community.

What People Are Saying

  • WILL G.

    “

    What a wonderful break from the troubles of today. Such a great read for those that didn’t grow up “over the mountain.” And as someone who did, I now feel like I own a missing part of my childhood.

    ”

  • ROBERT R.

    “

    Loved it............loads of memories!!!

    ”

  • BOB W.

    “
    A terrific work of love to chronicle the lives of 24 back to earthers of the 1970’s. But it is much more than that in its exploration of meanings of community. Much of this tale is relatable to others who have come together from diverse backgrounds to form communities of work or play. Although there was constant thread of getting by with not much, their lives and friendships were a thing of envy and you get the sense that they were somehow in possession of elusive richness. I’m so proud of the author who is also my big sister.
    ”