Endorsements |
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"While reading "A Boy from Piney" my mind was immediately taken back to days filled with outdoor activities from dawn till dust, whether working with my grandfather out in the fields or playing hide and seek in the neighborhood till way past dark. Nolen does an excellent job of describing how most young children grew up in Loudon enjoying family, friends, neighbors, and hard work. This book is an excellent description of how enjoyable life can be, as told
through the eyes of a small boy growing up in a loving home and community. Thank you, Nolen for the trip down memory lane!" Jeff Harris Mayor, City of Loudon, 2018-2026 Loudon City Council, 2014-2018 “As another Boy from Piney all my life, I loved this descriptive walk down memory lane. I recalled so many great experiences living in Piney. The stories in Boy from Piney reminded me that growing up in Piney was a blessing from God. Read the book and you too will be blessed. Nolen has captured and communicated the essence of rural life in Tennessee in the 1950s and 1960s. These were hard times, but life was good.”
Joe Russell Charter President, Piney Ruitan Club Loudon High School Football Hall of Fame “What a joy it was to read Boy from Piney by Nolen Rollins. I have known Nolen for decades. We have had so many similar life experiences as kids. At different times, we both lived in the old Piney Store. I also remember him standing in as best man for my wedding at the Bethel Methodist Church in Piney. It was so good to remember these great experiences and days from the past. Children today should read this book to have a better understanding of what life was like just a generation ago”.
Leroy Tate Loudon County School Board for Several Decades, Selected to the All Tennessee School Board by the Tennessee School Board Association “Boy from Piney, written by Nolen Rollins, is a collection of humorous and heart-warming stories that helped shape the life of a young boy from a small, rural town in Tennessee. I’ve known the author all my life and attended the same church and schools, so I especially enjoyed the chapters about Union Fork Creek Church and Jackson School. Read the book, you won’t be sorry.”
Jeanette Chambers, Piney Resident and Classmate Loudon High School Homecoming Queen, 1967 |
“Being a Boy from Piney myself, I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Rollins telling his story of growing up in a very conservative and agrarian society in rural East Tennessee in the fifties and sixties. More often than not, these children who came from very modest and humble backgrounds would grow into adults who placed a high value on education, hard work, and faith. They have left their mark on the community by becoming excellent citizens, wonderful parents, and
they are a credit to the parents and teachers who raised them and taught them.” John Napier Loudon County Teacher, 39 Years President of Loudon County Historical Society “I really enjoyed reading through Boy from Piney. I am also a Piney boy and had many of these same experiences as Nolen. In reading this book, you will experience a time of innocence and love toward our small country community. My family actually lived on the Rollins farm, the setting of many of these stories, at one time during my childhood.”
Darrell Tuck Loudon County Teacher, 1981-2017 Loudon County Historian, 2017- Present “Leaving Loudon, once you passed Pond Creek Mill on Vonore Road or McInturf’s Curve on the way to Corinth, you entered a quite special place. Nestled between the Little Tennessee River and Steekee Creek lay an idyllic
range of hollows, pastures, and hillsides. Far more impressive were those ‘salt-of-the-earth’ folks occupying the small farms, country stores, and frame houses of Nolen Rollins’ Piney, as brilliantly described in his collection of stories, Boy from Piney.” Bo Carey President, Greer’s Home Furnishings, 4 th Generation Owner, Bo Carey History Tours |