HardHitting Stories From a Hard-Hit People is a collection of Appalachian family history, folklore, oral tradition, and local history rooted in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. Drawing on family stories, historical research, genealogy, and regional memory, Ryan Garrett Dingus preserves the experiences of ordinary people whose lives might otherwise be lost to time.
The stories explore family, hardship, humor, race, community, faith, and survival across generations in the Appalachian Mountains. Ryan's work reflects his lifelong interest in genealogy, preservation, music, cemeteries, and the complicated history of the region he loved.
Written before his death in 2023 and published posthumously, this collection preserves Ryan's distinctive voice and his belief that family stories are part of the historical record. It is both a tribute to the people who came before him and an invitation to consider how family history becomes story, and story becomes history.
