THE COALWOOD WAY

Hickam’s story provides a comfortable look at life in rural West Virginia and its changing ways. While the decreasing demand for coal strangles the town’s economy, Hickam and friends build rockets as a way to escape small-town existence by means of academics and ingenuity. Frank Muller persistently indicates the end of a sentence by dropping his voice for the last word, pronouncing it with a combination of a drawn whisper and a low growl. Occasionally the word softens too much to be heard at all, but the gasp for air afterwards can be. Even the interesting characters he creates vocally speak this way. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]