B.J. Sharp-Gudmundsson and Doug Chadwick of Patchwork Films are proud to announce the second in a series of video documentaries highlighting the history of Pocahontas County and its people: “ 30”  Cal Price and The Pocahontas Times.

The feature-length video documentary is sponsored by The Pocahontas Free Libraries and will highlight the history of one of the standout small-town weeklies, The Pocahontas Times, in Marlinton, West Virginia, which was the first newspaper in the county, the only one today, and the last known newspaper in the United States to use handset type.  The man at the press for the first half of the 1900’s was Calvin W. Price, one of America’s great country editors, whose editorials are quoted all over the country.  He was a sage, philosopher, journalist, and a conservationist of the first order, believing that you don’t grow good people on bad land. “America must protect its vital resources if it is to continue to flourish as a nation.”

When Calvin Price died in 1957, the editor of  The Marlinton Journal wrote:

“Until I can put into words my memories of this most loved man, I can only say that

I have suffered a great personal loss.”

The Price Family is still “at the press.”  The spirit and traditions of “Cousin Cal” live on.  The workers are still women, obituaries are still on the front page, and readers around the world still expect to get their paper on time.

Historians for the new film project are Dr. John Cuthbert of West Virginia University, Dr. Robert Conte of The Greenbrier and Mr. William McNeel of The Pocahontas Times.  Special contributing journalists are Mr. Charlie Peters, retired founder and editor of  “The Washington Monthly”, and Dr. Char Miller, Senior Fellow for The Pinchot Institute and award-winning biographer of “Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism.”

The West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival

will present  a  special “Sneak Preview” of this exciting new film at Landmark Studios

in Sutton, West Virginia on October 11, 2002 at 7:30 pm.   Also to be presented at the film festival will be “Out of the Storm” which is also a Patchwork Film and was sponsored by the Pocahontas County Historical Society.

For information contact B.J. at 304-645-4998 or Doug at 304-653-4916.  Contributions may be made to “Pocahontas Free Libraries Film Project” and mailed to the McClintic Library, 500 Eighth Street, Marlinton, WV, 24954.