Marilyn M.
Iowa
| "Barb! Your book inspires me daily!"
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Carrie
West Unity, OH
| "I have really enjoyed reading your book. It is very well written!"
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Donna Marie Pingry
Tennessee
| "What I liked about Letters to Lori...that's easy...everything! The mark of a good book with me is a book I just can't put down until I finish. Letters to Lori fit that bill to a tee. Just when I thought the book..a biography..couldn't get better, I realized that Opal had other plans. Opal wanted the readers to realize that we all can make commitments to God and keep them, imperfect as we are. The book took a deeper, more spiritual level for me. Opal's last regrets were that she didn't rebuild the mission. I disagree. Opal's life was a beautiful mission that goes on today in the lives of the people she touched and now that circle will be expanded to the readers of this book."
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Tara
Tennessee
| "I am really enjoying Letters to Lori!!! I can hardly put it down once I start reading. You did a great job!! I feel like I'm sitting right next to Opal listening to her. I just read about her trip to town to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. All her "firsts"... car ride, the street lamp coming on by itself, etc. How hysterical? I laughed and then reread it to Scott and the boys. (that's another reason I haven't finished it yet. I will be reading it and then reread a whole bunch of it to Scott and the boys.) Well, I'm sure I will enjoy the rest of the book. I love this kind of reading!! (I love history and stories of how life was "way back when"!) I'll tell you what I think about the rest of the book when I finish. So far... GREAT JOB!"
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Heather Lanza
Maryland
| "Well, I finished chapter 2 last night. What I have read so far is really good. I agree with everyone when they say you can’t put it down. You did a really good job of writing it so you feel like you're right there in the story waiting to see what happens next. I was reading the part about Katie and the pastor and how they would speak Latin to each other and I was imagining being the people around them hearing the different language and wanting to know what they were saying. It’s great mom. I look forward to reading more tonight! I’m proud of you!"
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Becky
South Carolina
| "I just finished Barbara's book. How lucky she was to have met Opal Myers. The book was interesting. I can't imagine living the way they did. Opal was a better woman than I am."
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Brenda Davis
Knoxville, TN
| "My husband and I began making trips to "Cutter Gap" in 1995. We became friends with Opal's youngest son, Larry, who still lives on this historic site. Through the years we have had many of the locals, along with Larry, share with us the impact that "Miss Opal" had on their lives. How I wish that we had gotten to know her before her death! Stories that the mountain people have shared with us about her tell of a woman with an unusual capacity for love and giving. Now, thanks to you for compiling this wonderful book, and thanks to our good friends, Jay and Jacque Hofer, also "Christy" fans, for giving it to us as a gift; we have gotten to know her in an even deeper way, because this is her very own words. Thank you so much for compiling this beautiful history of a very special lady, Opal Corn Myers. I can not begin to tell you how much I enjoyed reading it."
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Jonna
Alabama
| "Barbara, Your book arrived yesterday. I was like a kid on Christmas!!! Even tho' I'm already reading two other books, I had to start your book. I read over 30 pages before putting it down. I highly recommend it to the CF(ChristyFest)ers! I just wish I'd ordered the Cd, too. Bless you for giving us this story!”
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Tara
Cordova, TN
| “You'll be glad to know I finished Letters to Lori. It was very good and I loved reading it. You did a great job. Scott says it really must have been a good book because I read it cover to cover! I'm bad about picking up books and reading a few chapters here and there and never finishing them. A book has to be really interesting to me in order for me to finish it. So, your book passed my ADHD brain test!! ;o) I do like to read books like Letters to Lori. I know it must have been a long process to research and then write the book, and hopefully other people will enjoy the book as much as I did.”
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Rhonda
Milford, OH
| “Barbara, I had dinner last night with my aunt that I bought your book for at Christmas and she loved it...she said Opal sounded like her and my mom's mother and the way they grew up...she said there were parts she cried through. She said it was like reliving her childhood all over in many parts.”
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Jay
Ellet, OH
| "Your book remains one of my all-time favorites. Keep it right by my bedside. Hope you and yours are doing well."
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Donna B.
Tennessee
| "Just wanted to tell you thanks for keeping the mission alive. I'm thankful to those that have worked hard to keep alive the stories of the mountain people. My people are from Del Rio dating back to the 1780's with the Huffs, Stokelys, and Jones. My 5th and 6th great grandfathers lived on the Old 15th - Jehu Stokely and his son Royal Stokely with wife Jane Huff Stokely, as did others of their family. Being the genealogist of my own family, I am blessed to have seen the Christy Series. It gives me an idea of how my own people in that area lived. Thank you."
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Marilyn
Iowa
| "Dear, Barb. After reading your book for the second time, I'd like to share my thoughts on one topic: Why Opal picked you.
1. You're objective - you're neither kin, a resident of Appalachia, nor a historian looking to prove or disprove something.
2. You're honest. You wouldn't "pretty up" or "tear down" her memories.
3. You're a Christian. And without Christ as her Cornerstone and God as her Almighty Rock, Opal's life would consist of nothing more than a "feel-good" social-service type of recitation of fact.
4. And in you, she saw in you possibilities for growth and witness. And one of the great truths in Opal's life was her amazing ability to visualize potential: to see people, not only for what they were, but also, for what they could become. she saw in you an "author-in-hiding" and knew you could do her proud. And you have!"
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