Whitesburg, KY--Nov. 30, 1990
Author Caudill Commits Suicide
Author Harry M. Caudill, whose book "Night Comes To The Cumberlands"
helped inspire President Johnson's war on poverty, shot himself to death
yesterday in view of the mountains he loved so fiercely. He was 68.
Caudill shot himself in the head, said Edison Banks Jr., Letcher County's
assistant commonwealth attorney.
Caudill was pronounced dead about 3 1/2 hours later at Whitesburg
Appalachian Regional Hospital.
"He did it in typical Harry style," said Banks, a former student of
Caudill's. " He was looking at the mountains and shot himself once in the
temple area."
Pat Gish, a longtime friend of Caudill's, said that Caudill had
Parkinson's disease. Mrs Gish, who publishes "The Mountain Eagle" newspaper
in Whitesburg with her husband, Tom, said " It was the result of a long
struggle with poor health."
Banks said: "Apparently, he was sick. We found notes to the effect that he
had been sick."
Caudill, a retired lawyer and state legislator, taught Appalachian history
for eight years at the University of Kentucky until 1985.
Caudill is best known for his 1963 book, " Night Comes To The
Cumberlands," an expose of poverty in Appalachia.
The book vividly describes Appalachia's problems and brought the region
into the national spotlight.
----- Original Message -----
From: <carrollms(a)aol.com>
To: <CAUDILL-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 8:44 AM
Subject: Harry M. Caudill 1922- Letcher Co, Ky
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Caudill, Cornett, Amburgey, May, Adams, etc.
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/EFI.2ACEB/416
Message Board Post:
Seeking ancestry of Harry M. Caudill, Lawyer and Author, wrote Night Comes
to the
Cumberlands, and Slender is the Thread, etc. He was born in 1922 and
may have died sometime around the late 1980s based on comments on his last
book. He said his father was Cro Carr Caudill born Dec 9, 1892. He lived and
practiced in Letcher County.
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