Foreword by John Loughmiller

Earl Hamner is known to most of us as the author of many of the stories used for the television series “The Waltons”. Hamner recreated the years from the Great Depression through World War Two and captivated us with his stories of growing up on a rural mountain near Charlottesville, Virginia with that period as the backdrop. 

 

“The Cordova Kid”, by David Barnes, is written in a similar style but more powerfully. It’s like a warm, gentle wind that whispers of a time we wish we could visit, if only for a day. In his book, Barnes transports us back to rural Kentucky during the years from 1948 through the early 1960s and tells us what it was like to be a ‘farm kid’ experiencing a life that would be considered a sparse existence today.

 

It’s a coming of age book that pries long forgotten memories from the deep recesses of the mind and brings them to life once more. For younger readers, it opens a portal to a time that will seem dreamlike – a time that was simpler but not easier; a time when people just naturally did what was right; a sepia colored time that occurred just before America lost its’ innocence in the mid-1960s.

 

The recollections of David Barnes, his brothers, and his life-long friends portray vignettes that will make you laugh, make you cry, and provide a lesson or two. If you know Barnes personally, the memories recounted in the book will give you a new perspective on him and reveal stories you’ve never heard before. Some of these stories are poignant, some are hilarious, and all hold your attention without diminishment of your interest level; even for a moment. And although the book was originally written for the Barnes’ family members and a few close friends, it’s so nostalgic, so inspiring, and so true in the telling, it had to be made available to anyone who remembers what it was like to sleep with unlocked doors and have neighbors that cared about you.

 

For some, the book will be an entertaining sampling of personal recollections told by David Barnes and his brothers as they recalled friends and relatives they knew from school, work, surrounding farms and church. These folks will read about many of the events recounted here and remember exactly when and where they happened. But for those who are strangers to the Barnes family yet still experienced the time period first-hand, the book will reward you in ways you never expected; it will take you back to your own childhood and provide recollections of halcyon days long past when you were young, when your parents were still alive and when summers were warm and full of mystery.

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- John Loughmiller is the author of four published books, including

  "A Family Affair - The R.L. Drake Story"