Loyal Jones

Loyal Jones (January 5, 1928 – October 7, 2023) was an American folklorist, Appalachian culture scholar, and writer.^[1][2]

Biography

Loyal Jones was born in Marble, North Carolina, on January 5, 1928,^[3] one of eight siblings in a farming family.^[4] At the age of 12, his family moved to Brasstown, North Carolina, in proximity to the John C. Campbell Folk School established in 1925.^[4] After completing high school, he served in the U.S. Navy towards the end of World War II.^[4]

Jones pursued higher education upon recommendation from an individual associated with the folk school.^[4] Jones earned his B.A. in English from Berea College and an M.A. from the University of North Carolina.^[4] Before joining Berea College as a faculty member, he taught in the U.S. Army and at Jefferson County Public Schools.^[4]

Jones began working at the Council of the Southern Mountains in 1958 and served as the organization's executive director from 1967 until 1970.^[3] From 1970 to 1993, Jones directed Berea College's Appalachian Center.^[4] He was considered the "father of modern Appalachian studies".^[3] In 2008, the center was named the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center after him.^[5] Jones was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame in 2022.^[6]

Loyal Jones died in Black Mountain, North Carolina, on October 7, 2023, at the age of 95.^[3]

Bibliography

• Appalachia: A Self-Portrait (1979)^[4]
• Radio's 'Kentucky Mountain Boy' Bradley Kincaid (1980)^[4]
• Minstrel of the Appalachians: The Story of Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1984)^[4]
• Reshaping the Image of Appalachia (1986)^[4]
• Appalachian Values (1995)^[4]
• Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands (1999)^[4]
• Country Music Humorists and Comedians (2008)^[7]
• My Curious and Jocular Heroes: Tales and Tale-Spinners from Appalachia (2017)^[4]